Change the playbook, repatriate Indian children

Source– The post is based on the article “Change the playbook, repatriate Indian children” published in “The Hindu” on 9th September 2023.

Syllabus: GS2- Vulnerable sections of the population

Relevance- Issues related to children

News– The article explains the issues of children who are taken away from their migrant parents by authorities in advanced countries.

What are issues related to the process of confiscation of children by foreign authorities from migrant parents?

A migrated family in a high-income country finds themselves in a troubling situation where they are accused of mistreating their children.

These allegations surface through the child’s struggles in adapting to a foreign environment at school and when parents seek medical care for an injured or ill child.

The ensuing legal process is heavily biased.  Assessments carried out by social workers who hold cultural biases against the family.

As a result, the parents lose custody of their children. They are subsequently placed in foster care for their entire childhood.

Contact with the parents is severely restricted. It is often limited to just one hour every few weeks in a dismal contact centre. Over time, the child becomes completely estranged from their parents.

What are the issues faced by children who are taken away from their parents?

These children are entrusted to local foster parents who do not share the same ethnic or cultural background as the child’s family of origin.

Consequently, these children lose their sense of identity. They fail to establish meaningful connections with either their host country or their extended family back home.

When they eventually leave foster care, they are left feeling doubly alienated. They are not considered citizens of the country where they reside, and they lack significant ties to their country of origin.

Way forward-

A more compassionate and humane solution for such children would involve their safe return to their home country, rather than leaving them in the custody of a foreign state.

Foreign nations should move beyond self-righteous perspectives. They should conduct genuine investigations into parents’ claims of cultural bias and unfair trials within their child protection systems.

The fate of these children should be considered from a broader perspective, rather than merely focusing on their place of residence.