Children of unknown parentage in dire need of access to services

A member of the Federal National Council told Mariam Mohammad Al Roumi, Minister of Social Affairs, children of unknown parentage were in dire need of access to services.

Marwan Bin Galita, a member from Dubai, put a question to Al Roumi on measures to facilitate registering of abandoned children.

Bin Galita said although a law was issued in 2012, children of unknown parentage were still unable to obtain ID cards and subsequently denied access to any services.

Al Roumi said the law provided for setting up a foster home for children with unknown parentage, which is yet to be handed over to the Ministry of Social Affairs, by the end of this year. “The foster home will be operational next year and will facilitate registration and obtaining of documents for these children.”

The minister promised to try to sort out the problem of these children.

The law protects and takes in all children of unknown parentage. Law No 1 of 2012 states that any child of unknown parentage found in the UAE is eligible to acquire Emirati nationality. However, if any one of the parents is known, the child is given their nationality and temporarily looked after by the community development authority until they are adopted. If any of the parents are in jail, the authority will also temporarily look after the child until the parent is released.

After a case is reported to the police, the child undergoes a process to ensure it is safe and healthy before being transferred to the alternative family home.

Potential parents, who must be Emirati, are placed on the database after going through an extensive evaluation and assessment process. The family’s background and financial status are evaluated, followed by a medical assessment of the parents carried out by a psychologist. “The complete evaluation goes through a committee who then decide if the family is eligible to adopt.”

A family must earn a minimum of Dh10,000 to be eligible. A family is allowed to adopt more than one child but the authority prefers to give more families on the list the chance to adopt since the demand for adoption is much higher than the number of children available.

The law gives biological parents the right to come and take their child back even after several years, confirming that there have been such cases.