Several retired judges of high courts have written to the heads of delegations of G20 countries visiting Delhi to push for the repatriation of Indian children in protective custody in western Europe, the UK, North America, Australia and New Zealand.
The signatories to the letter include former Supreme Court judges Ruma Pal, Vikramajit Sen, A.K. Sikri and Deepak Gupta; retired Chief Justices of Delhi and Odisha High Courts A.P. Shah and S. Muralidhar, respectively; and former Delhi High Court judges Manju Goel, R.S. Sodhi and R.V. Easwar.
“Every year there are cases of children among these ex-patriate families being removed from parental care by the child protection authorities of the country of residence on grounds of abuse, neglect or risk of harm. Such children are placed in custody of the foreign child protection authority. While all children are entitled to kinship care when removed from parental custody, as these children have no extended family in the country of residence, they do not have that option,” they wrote.
“Typically, these children are placed with foster carers who are native to the country of residence and without any ethnic or cultural links with the child’s country of origin. As a consequence, these children lose their identity and are unable to develop any bonds with their country of origin or their extended families. They age out of foster care in a state of double alienation — they are not citizens of the country of residence, and have no substantial ties with their country of origin.
“It is not for India to question the assessment of parents by the country of residence, although there does appear to be a need for better understanding of cultural differences and provision of good quality translators in child protection proceedings.
“However, Indian children removed from parental care are the responsibility of the Government of India under international law,” they added.
They said there was already an existing international legal framework for the repatriation of such children to a safe placement in the home country, based on their right of return as nationals to the home country and their right to preservation of their culture, language, faith and identity.
“In view of these legal, compassionate and practical considerations, we urge you to take steps for initiating a discussion in the Group of 20 (G20) for the repatriation of Indian children in foreign countries who have been removed from their parents by child protection agencies.
“India has already intervened on an ad hoc basis to obtain such repatriation of Indian children from Norway and the United States of America. There is currently a tragic case ongoing concerning an Indian baby of Gujarati origin in foster care of Germany. The parental rights have been terminated and the Government of India has requested the child’s repatriation in the care and protection of the Indian child welfare authorities. This is a solution that respects the German system’s assessment of the parents, while enabling the child to at least preserve her nationality and heritage. We urge Germany to consider this request compassionately.
“Already there has been a tragic case of an Indian mother committing suicide as Australian child protective services refused to repatriate her children. We must do all we can to avoid such tragedies repeating in the future,” the letter added.
On August 27, Priyadarshini Patil was found dead in Karnataka’s Belagavi with a note that accused Australian authorities of driving her to suicide after they took custody of her children over a disagreement the parents had with a New South Wales hospital over the treatment of a stomach ailment of one of her kids.
Last month, German ambassador Philipp Ackermann was summoned by the external affairs ministry following Germany’s refusal to return custody of a Gujarati child to her parents — despite charges of abuse against them being dropped.