The way in which the handful of Maltese families that had opened their hearts and homes to Russian orphans over the years had the children in their care quite insensitively taken away from them, anyone and certainly any parent would agree, was extremely callous.

It also relayed no acknowledgement of gratitude or any inkling of respect toward those families, many of which are now left with the feeling of emptiness that the unexplained loss of a loved one provides, which took the children in as their own.

The saddest thing is that the children have now been institutionalised once again. They have been torn from loving homes and effectively deprived of the better chances in life that their Maltese host families sought to give them.

It is understood that the Russian authorities acted in the wake of the tragic and accidental death of one of the youngsters in question. If this particular case raised any alarm bells with the Russian authorities, the reasons should be stated.

More importantly, and with the full understanding that host families are not accorded the same legal rights that adoptive or even foster families have, each individual child and family should have been dealt with on a case-by-case basis instead of adopting the most simplistic of solutions and choosing to treat each case with the same draconian, blanket approach.

The Maltese families deserve, at the very least, an explanation, an opportunity to plead their case and the chance to bid a proper farewell to the children that many had grown to love as their own.