Parents abandon 12-year-old boy in Sharjah

Picture used for illustrative purposes alone

While most parents fight for the custody of their children after a divorce, in a recent case, the parents of a 12-year-old Arab boy have chosen to abandon him.
The boy, a grade 8 student at a public school in Sharjah, has been left emotionally devastated. He's now under the care of the child care centre affiliated to the Sharjah Social Services Department (SSSD).
Ahmed Al Tartoor, director of child rights protection department, said the father went to the department and left the boy there after he remarried. He claimed his second wife refused to accept the child.
The boy's mother also refused to keep the boy as her new spouse would not agree to keep his stepson in the house. The mother told the department that she handed the boy to his father, who failed to take responsibility for their son as well.
The director added that the as the boy is entering adolescence, a very sensitive stage in life that requires care and attention from both parents, he has been left traumatised. He is said to be ashamed of his situation as his school friends know that he was rejected by his parents and "dumped" at the child care centre.
Al Tartoor pointed out that this case is one of the extremely bizarre ones in SSSD's history, and the staff found it heart-wrenching for the boy's situation.
The boy keeps pointing out how he has been abandoned at a child care centre, considered to be a place for orphaned children, while his parents are still alive and enjoy great health. His mother comes to the centre every weekend to spend time with her son, but that is not the solution for the case. "His mother's abandonment leaves him to deal with significant emotional, mental and psychological after-effects," said Al Tartoor.
Al Tartoor explained that the attachment of the child to his mother is stronger than to his father, and a child who is abandoned by his mother tends to suffer from emotional scars and low self-esteem.
As for what will now happen to the boy, he will be provided with all social and physiological support at the centre, while the Child Rights Protection Department will file a suit against the father who neglected and dumped his child for reasons that are not acceptable. "Our children are our responsibility which we must bear until they grow up and become independent."
He urged parents to solve marital disputes involving the children and fulfill their duties for the sake of their children's future.
afkarali@khaleejtimes.com