FNC tackles new child adoption law
FNC tackles new child adoption law
MEMBERS of the UAE’s Federal National Council, which represents the people, recently debated with a government minister for more than seven hours over a new adoption law, over whether abandoned children should be delivered to police or to healthcare professionals. The discussion, at the third session of the 15th FNC legislative chapter, covered every clause of the law, with members and the Minister of Social Affairs, Mariam Al Roumi, often disagreeing. One key issue, members said, was protecting the person who found an abandoned child, weighed against the need to save the child’s life if it was in danger. Article four of the law originally stated that when children are found, they must be taken immediately to the nearest police station. But after consulting experts, the Health, Labour, and Social Affairs Committee amended the article to state that the child should be taken to either the nearest police station or to a health institute, depending on their health status. It was a change with which the minister disagreed. “To give the child to a health institute – it is a big responsibility,” she said. She said hospitals did not have procedures to accommodate abandoned children and to take down the details of the person who found the child. Police, on the other hand, had been dealing with the issue for decades. She said police were better equipped to document the child and collect details of whoever found him. “The law is to ensure the protection of the person who found the child,” she said, adding that allowing hospitals to handle abandoned children could “open doors” to an increase in cases. The minister said that even if the council united in seeking to have abandoned children taken to hospitals rather than police, the ministry would object at Cabinet level.
Dr Amal Al Qubaisi (Abu Dhabi), said receiving medical services without medical insurance was difficult; even worse for an abandoned child. Therefore, she said, the child should be referred to the hospital by police. The council voted for police to be informed first, before the child is taken to a hospital. According to research conducted by the committee, there are between three to four abandoned children a month, about 48 per year. The committee found that the number was increasing as more nationalities entered the country: more single workers meant more illegitimate children. Members feared that the law, which provides greater rights for orphans, would encourage more families to abandon their children, particularly those who were illegitimate. They suggested that DNA tests should be introduced to find the biological parents of the children
