One of these men was also jailed for giving a fake passport, according to local media, EU Helpers writes.

The 27-year-old Nguyen Van Hung was detained on Sunday, August 6, in the afternoon as he attempted to board an aircraft to Berlin, according to the police investigation. He had shown a passport from Vietnam that did not belong to him.

Tran Dinh Giap, an 18-year-old, was also stopped while attempting to travel under a fictitious identity because he was in possession of a Dutch passport that had not been given to him.

The third Vietnamese national, 54-year-old Tran The Xuong, was sentenced to a year in prison after it was claimed that he had purchased the 18-year-old's Dutch passport.

Inspector Frankie Sammut has accused the three Vietnamese men of possessing and attempting to use identification documents that were not provided to them in order to travel under false pretenses in this regard.

He also disclosed that a group of Vietnamese students had just arrived in Malta to learn English at several language institutes, with some of them choosing to stay in Malta after completing their studies. Instead, they attempted to move abroad and work in Germany.

"The circumstance was causing the Maltese government discomfort and a loss of face with their German counterparts. Inspector Sammut vehemently defended the six-month prison sentence by pointing out that Malta was also being charged for the costs of the defendants' repatriation from Germany.

However, Nguyen Van Hung and Tran Dinh Giap's attorney, Martin Farrugia, raised serious questions about the legitimacy of any racial profiling that might have contributed to the arrests.

The Chief Immigration Officer must receive his passport right away in order to evaluate if additional action is warranted, the court said. Van Hung should also be held in the Young Offenders Unit, according to the court's recommendation.

Tran Dinh Giap, an 18-year-old Zejtun resident who appeared considerably younger in court, said that his stated age on his documents was accurate during the proceedings. After entering a guilty plea, he was given a six-month prison term.

The last person to be charged was 54-year-old Vietnamese national Tran The Xuong, who now resides in Slovakia. Martin Farrugia, his attorney, alerted the judge of a potential conflict of interest before the trial had started. Inspector Sammut also informed the court that Xuong had been apprehended alongside Giap on August 5. Xuong was found in possession of Giap's Dutch passport, which he had shown to immigration officers, during the arrest.

In the course of their inquiry, the police also learned that Xuong was traveling with a passport that belonged to a Vietnamese woman who wasn't there. Xuong acknowledged collecting at least €20,000 in payment for his services in a statement given to the police.