Sharjah steps up efforts to protect abandoned children

Sharjah steps up efforts to protect abandoned children

They were abandoned by unknown parents. But they live lives of dignity

Image Credit: Gulf News

Last year, Sharjah witnessed six cases of newborns being abandoned.

Published: 09:00 January 24, 2016 Gulf News

By Aghaddir Ali, Staff Reporter

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Sharjah: A family living in a villa in Sharjah noticed the box on their doorstep. When they looked inside it, they were shocked to see a newborn girl. They called the police immediately and took the box to Al Saja’a police station from where the baby was taken to Al Qasimi Hospital for a medical check-up.

Last year, Sharjah witnessed six cases of newborns being abandoned. Authorities managed to trace five of the mothers and arrested them. All five babies were born out of wedlock.

Authorities attribute this problem to illicit relationships and, as abortion is illegal in the country, the unwed mothers end up abandoning the baby.

Many of the newborns are left in public places such as parking lots, hospitals, doorsteps of residences and, sometimes, on the roadside.

Babies found under such circumstances are treated as orphans and if the search for the biological parents proves futile, the authorities enable the babies to be embraced by Muslim and Emirati families.

In an exclusive interview to Gulf News, Ahmad Ebrahim Al Tartoor (left), director of Protection of Children’s Rights Administration at Sharjah Social Services Department speaks on the issue of abandonment and adoption and what measures the authorities are taking in this regard.

Women who are traced after having abandoned their babies are handed a jail term followed by deportation for expats and jail term for Emirati women. In the case of the arrest of the mother who has abandoned her baby, both she and the baby are sent to the Central Jail. If the woman’s partner is traced, she and the man face charges of adultery, which carries a sentence of one year in prison followed by deportation.

Al Tartoor explained that in the UAE, as well as in other Muslim countries, giving birth outside marriage is forbidden.

It is important to spread awareness to prevent such cases, said Al Tartoor. Expats including men and women- coming to the UAE in search of work should be made aware of the dangers of live-in relationships, he said. “People from other cultures do not know of Article 356 of the UAE Penal Code, relating to consensual sex among unmarried partners, which says anyone who “engages in such relationships will be given a minimum jail term of one year”. It’s best to stay safe rather than ruin the life of a child,” he said.

Sharjah is doing exemplary work through its Sharjah Social Services Department in the care and rehabilitation of abandoned children. The Department was set up in 1984 and, to date, has taken in 478 abandoned children from Sharjah and the northern emirates.

Of these, 316 children have no parents while 162 children have been abandoned by their biological mothers, including 122 expat women and 40 Emirati women. The fathers of these children could not be traced.

“Sharjah provides abandoned babies with a safe haven,” said Al Tartoor. All cases of abandoned children, he said, are reviewed by a committee which includes representatives from government departments such as the police, Sharjah Court, Sharjah Health Department and Child Protection Department. “This committee holds periodical meetings to discuss the embracing [of the child] application and sets up rules, regulations and conditions in favour of abandoned children.”

In the matter of adoption, Al Taroor explained that the authorities deem that when processing the case, the age of the woman who wishes to adopt, should not be less than 25 and not more than 45. The family wishing to adopt should undertake that they will provide care to the children and the court should issue them a no-objection certificate (NOC).

In some cases, Al Tartoor said, the Child Protection Department has the right to give the child to unmarried, divorced or widowed women whose age is not less than 30, or more than 50.

The family that is willing to embrace the child has the right to give the child its first name, while the judge will give the father’s, family and tribe name. The documents issued to the child should not show that he or she is an illegitimate child.

Once adopted, the child will bear the name of the adopting father in all records.

Al Tartoor explained that after a child is handed over to a family, the social services staff undertake regular child visitations until the child turns six. After that, the visits are restricted to once a year.

Al Tartoor said, “The Child Protection Department, under the Sharjah Social Services Department, is working hard to ensure that the children live in dignity and independence. When the children are embraced by families, we follow up on their welfare through phone calls and home and school visits.” The embracing family is provided with many inputs to address issues regarding the integration of the child with the family, facilitate enrolment at school and the issuance of documents.

During the follow-up, if the authorities notice a problem in the care of the child, the adoption is cancelled.

Are expats allowed to embrace children in UAE?

Al Marzouqi said expatriates may be allowed to embrace orphan children in rare cases, under a policy change being discussed by Sharjah Social Services. Under federal law, orphan, abandoned children of unknown parents can only be cared by Emirati families.

Al Marzouqi said expatriates would only be considered as embrace families in rare cases. For example, a child whose mother does not want the child and a family wants to, in this case, the embassy of the country of the parents who wish to adopt the child should not have reservations. “Then we inform the embassy to follow up the case of the child through its legal channel.

“It is better for children to be with a family than in our Centre,” said Al Marzouqi.

Lieutenant Colonel Rashid Al Mansouri, Head of Police Social Support Department, narrates an incident of adoption whose legal ramifications did not occur to the mother.

An elderly Emirati woman living in a rural area found an abandoned baby boy 20 years ago and decided to raise him. She took the baby home. When he turned 20, the woman approached the authorities to sign him up for a driver’s licence. The traffic department asked her for his ID and other documents to open a file for him. The woman replied that she did not have any official papers in his name.

“This is my son, I brought him up,” she said. After further inquiry, the police found that she had failed to inform the authorities about his case at the time she took the baby home.

“This is a criminal case and we have to take action against anyone who fails to report such incidents to authorities,” said Al Mansouri. “But in this case, we helped the woman by opening a file with the concerned authorities to issue official documents in the name of her son and registered him under the family name.”

The case is still with the authorities for their final decision, he said.

BOX

In numbers

The number of abandoned babies of unknown parents since 1985

316

162

Number of children abandoned by their mothers (including 122 expats mother and 40 Emiratis mothers).

11

Children waiting for adoption embracing family (boys and girls).

Requirements for a family wanting to embrace an abandoned child (unknown parents)

1) Must be Emirati and living in the UAE.

2) Must be Muslim.

3) Husband and wife must be above 25 years of age.

4) Preference given to families who do not have children.

5)Family must have good income.

6) Family must provide a medical certificate for them as well as a certificate of good conduct.

7) Family must undertake that it will treat the child as a member of the family.

8) Commitments must be made by the embrace family as per the draft law.

9) Authorities must be informed about any change of address.

10) The child must not be given to given to any other family, even temporarily.

11) If the family wants to give up the custody of the child, they must clarify reasons with the authorities concerned.

12) Must not inform the child of the truth of his identity unless it is under the supervision and in the presence of representatives from the social care centre.

In case the embraced family fail to adhere to one or all of the above conditions, the embracing request is cancelled and the child taken away from the family.

What role does the law play when parents do not want their children?

Colonel Dr Khalifa Kalendar, Deputy Director of Police Centres in Sharjah, said that when an abandoned child is found, the case is investigated by police and then transferred to the public prosecutor.

Col Kalender outlined how five of the mothers of the babies abandoned in 2015 were traced.

In the first case, a newborn was left behind on a chair in a private hospital and the CCTV captured the image of the person fleeing the scene. The police identified the individual and also his whereabouts. They traced him to his apartment where he was living with a woman and the two confessed that the child, born out of wedlock, was theirs.

In the second incident, a woman was taken to a hospital for treatment because she was suffering from post-surgery complications. The police suspected the woman to be have delivered a baby and a DNA test was done on her which matched that of one of the abandoned babies

The woman was later arrested after she admitted that she had abandoned her newborn in Sharjah.

In the third case, a baby was placed in a box and abandoned near a mosque.

Police investigation revealed that an unmarried Asian woman living in the area had been pregnant and when police located her ,she confessed that the baby belonged to her.

A fourth case was of a baby placed inside a carton and abandoned outside the door of a villa. Police investigations tracked down an Asian woman, also unmarried, who had given birth to the baby.

In the fifth case, a baby was left outside a mosque in Al Hamriyah and the police managed to trace his biological parents, an Arab couple, who had the baby outside wedlock.

Later, the couple decided to amend their status and got married.

They were jailed and deported along with their baby.

Col Kalander pointed out that women and their partners most often abandon their illegitimate babies to escape punishment and imprisonment.

Another common reason for baby dumping is teenage pregnancies. Education, family planning, government support, and post-natal services and support for motherhood are tools he believe that can be used to effectively tackle this problem.

Col Kalander said that UAE has full provisions for the protection, care and nurturing of abandoned children and their rights.

“ PresidentHis Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has issued a federal law protecting the rights of the children of unknown parents.

Law No 1 of 2012 aims at organising the embrace care of abandoned children or those of unknown parents in the country, including the setting up of care homes and laying down the responsibilities of families who embrace the babies like providing health, psychological, social, recreational and educational care.

The UAE authorities protect the rights of such children, including their civil and personal freedom, and protection of their lives, personal security and interests. The statute also aims at protecting those children from abuse, inhuman treatment and negligence,” he said