SHARJAH // Five children have been abandoned in Sharjah already this year.
The reasons are not known but it could be simply because the Sharjah Children’s Care Centre is the only one outside Abu Dhabi that takes in abandoned children.
The centre, in University City, cares for them until they are adopted by Emirati parents and given citizenship, or reach the age of 18. As well as abandoned children it looks after youngsters caught up in domestic violence or other forms of abuse.
Adoption rules are strict. Only Emirati families are eligible, and only if they can provide a financially stable home environment.
Anyone declared bankrupt, or who has failed tests for diseases such as HIV-Aids, will be rejected. A police good conduct report is required.
A suitable family has to be approved by the emirate’s adoption committee and potential parents must tell the child at an early age that he or she was adopted.
jbell@thenational.ae
