{"id":1794,"date":"2014-05-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-28T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/%20rroma.org\/28-05-2014-adoption-of-rroma-children-in-england-child-removal-justified\/"},"modified":"2022-08-04T11:48:20","modified_gmt":"2022-08-04T10:48:20","slug":"28-05-2014-adoption-of-rroma-children-in-england-child-removal-justified","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/de\/28-05-2014-adoption-of-rroma-children-in-england-child-removal-justified\/","title":{"rendered":"28.05.2014 Adoption of Rroma children in England: child removal justified?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Several British \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnewspapers report on an adoption case, which raised quite a few tensions among \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthose involved. The focus of reporting centres on the adoption of two young \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma boys \u2013 two and four years old \u2013 by a homosexual couple. The media now \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thash over the opposition of the parents against the adoption of their sons by a \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsame-sex couple. However, the resistance of the biological parents seems to \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thave mainly to do with the fact that their children were taken away from them \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tby the children welfare organisation. The child removal was justified by poor \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tparenting: the older siblings of the boys are said to have missed school regularly \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand the children were too often left alone and beaten. This crucial point, the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\treasons for the child removal, is not discussed critically by the newspapers. In \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn, the opposition of the parents towards the adoption of their children by \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ta homosexual couple is debated in detail and the impression is given that Rroma \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tin general have something against homosexuals and their influence on children. However, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthey seem not so much concerned with the homosexuality of the adoptive parents \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tchosen than with the removal of the children removal. The parents criticized in \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe court: \u201cThe Catholic couple, who are \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof Roma origin, argued their two young children would grow up alienated from \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttheir family and community. Taking the case to the High Court, they accused the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tlocal authority of social engineering by attempting to turn the children white \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand middle class. […] \u201cIf as expected our children will try to find us and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttheir siblings and roots, then they will discover huge differences between our \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tculture and the way they’ve been brought up,\u201d they said in statements to the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcourt.\u201d\u201d<\/em> The context of the child removal should be discussed as critically \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tin this adoption case as the homophobia attributed to the parents and their dislike \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof the English middle class. Since the parents are Catholics, the relationship \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof Catholicism and homosexuality must also be critically debated on and not \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tonly be seen in the context of Rroma origin. The statement of the parents that \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma worldwide don\u2019t recognise homosexuality is their specific viewpoint and does \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnot represent the opinion of all Rroma in any way. Many enlightened Rroma have \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tno reservations towards homosexuals. This raises the impression that the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcentral problem \u2013 the child removal and its legitimacy \u2013 is not adequately \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\taddressed in the articles. The natural parents want to take the case to the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEuropean Court of Human Rights (compare BBC 2014, Berg 2014, Doughty 2014, Porter 2014, Simpson \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2014).<\/p>\n