Judge rules child must leave Muslim foster home
Andrew Norfolk, Chief Investigative Reporter
The Times
The girl had been placed with a family who she said often did not speak English at home and encouraged her to learn Arabic
A girl at the centre of a care dispute was removed from her Muslim foster parents yesterday and reunited with her family as a judge urged councils to seek “culturally matched placements” for vulnerable children.
The five-year-old, a native English speaker from a Christian family, was taken to her grandmother’s home after a court ruled that she should not remain in the placement organised by the London borough of Tower Hamlets.
Judge Khatun Sapnara, a practising Muslim, said it was in the girl’s best interests to live with a family member who could keep her safe, promote her welfare and meet her needs “in terms of ethnicity, culture and religion”. The judge ordered the council to conduct an urgent investigation into the issue.
Tower Hamlets - I'm guessing that's Canary Wharf in the background
The girl will be sent to live with her grandmother following the court ruling.
The child, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was allegedly placed into foster care by social workers in the east London borough of Tower Hamlets.
Sent to live with two Muslim families in six months, one family allegedly suggested she should remove her necklace bearing a cross and learn Arabic, The Times reported.
Confidential local authority reports on the case seen by the newspaper alleged the girl was “very distressed” and had begged not to return to the family as “they don’t speak English”.
Local authorities are required to consider a child’s religion, racial origin, and cultural and linguistic background when placing within foster care.
The London borough of Tower Hamlets claimed there were "inaccuracies" in the reporting of the story.
It said the girl had been fostered in a temporary placement with an English speaking family of mixed race.
Tower Hamlets, London
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