Teh One Who Knocks
05-22-2015, 10:47 AM
Harry Readhead for Metro.co.uk
http://i.imgur.com/3tmfPYt.jpg
A six-month-old baby was deported after his Slovakian-born mother decided she wanted to stay in the UK – but no longer wanted to raise him.
The mother of baby Benjamin was born in Slovakia but settled in England. However, babies born to parents from the European Economic Area can only receive British citizenship if at least one parent has lived in the UK continuously for five years prior.
So when Benjamin’s mother decided she no longer wanted to raise her son – who was born in Liverpool – the teething six-month-old was forced to endure a tearful two-and-a-half hour flight back to Bratislava, accompanied by two social workers.
‘I hope that his life in his homeland will be good and he will be happy,’ said the Slovak social worker who greeted Benjamin at the airport.
Benjamin was taken to a children’s home and then given to a surrogate family, who will look after him until he is adopted.
Judges and social workers in the UK have been told they must be more sensitive to the rights of other European countries regarding child welfare and must not take control of the lives of foreign children.
Andrea Cisarova of the Slovak Centre for International Legal Protection of Children and Youth, told MailOnline: ‘The British informed us that the baby is legally our responsibility.
‘The baby is small but they decided to give it back to its homeland.’
http://i.imgur.com/3tmfPYt.jpg
A six-month-old baby was deported after his Slovakian-born mother decided she wanted to stay in the UK – but no longer wanted to raise him.
The mother of baby Benjamin was born in Slovakia but settled in England. However, babies born to parents from the European Economic Area can only receive British citizenship if at least one parent has lived in the UK continuously for five years prior.
So when Benjamin’s mother decided she no longer wanted to raise her son – who was born in Liverpool – the teething six-month-old was forced to endure a tearful two-and-a-half hour flight back to Bratislava, accompanied by two social workers.
‘I hope that his life in his homeland will be good and he will be happy,’ said the Slovak social worker who greeted Benjamin at the airport.
Benjamin was taken to a children’s home and then given to a surrogate family, who will look after him until he is adopted.
Judges and social workers in the UK have been told they must be more sensitive to the rights of other European countries regarding child welfare and must not take control of the lives of foreign children.
Andrea Cisarova of the Slovak Centre for International Legal Protection of Children and Youth, told MailOnline: ‘The British informed us that the baby is legally our responsibility.
‘The baby is small but they decided to give it back to its homeland.’