Afghan asylum seeker arrested at airport with fake papers, handed suspended sentence

An Afghan woman who fled her homeland in search of a better life has been handed a suspended sentence after admitting to possession of and using false passports upon her arrival on a flight from Greece with her 10-year-old son.

47-year-old Jamila Abdullahi from Herat in Afghanistan was arrested at the airport on 14 November after immigration staff had found her to be in possession of two forged passports and two forged residence permits.

Inspector Christian Abela charged the woman with possession of forged passports, attempting to make use of them and tampering with passports.

Assisted by two interpreters, one English to Urdu and the other Urdu to Farsi, Abdullahi pleaded guilty upon her arraignment before magistrate Doreen Clarke this afternoon.

Legal aid lawyer Mario Caruana said the woman’s crimes were the result of what she’d been through. “She’s Afghan, and the word ‘Afghan’ today sends shivers down the spine of all women. She wanted to join her family.”

Abdullahi will apply for refugee status until such time as the authorities allow her to do so, the lawyer said, adding that she needed to take care of her young son.

Caruana said he wanted to appeal to the court’s humanity. “This woman has lived through so many terrible experiences and just wants a better life for herself and her son,” he told the magistrate.

The woman, who was currently being held, together with her son, at the Marsa centre, was handed an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for three years. Before sending her on her way, the court explained the implications of the sentence to her.