An Ethiopian woman has been given a one-year prison term, suspended to two, after she filed a false police report in an effort to gain protection under the Refugee Act.

The accused, Eebis Getu, was found guilty of all charges brought against him, namely filing a false police report and obstruction of justice.

Ms Getu arrived in Malta on 28 July. The following day, she went to police headquarters at Floriana and claimed that the Kuwait family which she was travelling with had mistreated her, and locked her inside an apartment against her will.

The courts heard that she escaped from the flat because she feared from her life. It later emerged that Ms Getu contacted the police and informed them of her false report. She said that she filed the false claim on the bases that she would receive asylum protection, and that a man from Somalia advised her to do this.

It transpired that before coming to Malta, in Kuwait, the family in question did mistreat her but they never went with her to Malta. Ms Getu travelled to Malta using a false passport, and that the same man from Somalia had provided it. The courts heard how the accused was desperate to get to Malta because her husband is residing on the island.

In his judgment, Magistrate Joseph Mifsud quoted Pope Francis where he spoke of misery not being a nameless, faceless concept, but that the thousands of refugees abandoning their homes for a better life are the modern face of misery. He also said that through modern communication methods, the public is overexposed to misery and that this has becomes the norm. He added that we must not allow ourselves to become “normalised,” and do everything in our power to improve the miserable circumstances of all those in need.

The courts made note of the difficult situation of the accused, however added that she should have gone straight to the Refugee Commissioner to file for protection. It was also said that the police were willing to assist Ms Getu however she spent days persisting on her fabricated story.