Christian child removed from Muslim foster care

A five-year-old Christian girl placed in foster care with a British Muslim family in east London will be returned to her own grandmother after a UK judge ruled on the case in a family court.

Judge Khatun Sapnara, a Bangladeshi-origin British Muslim herself, said on Wednesday 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 case was first highlighted through media reports and triggered alarm over reports the English-speaking girl had been forced to live with an Arabic-speaking family and they had forced her to remove a necklace bearing a crucifix.

The UK Children’s Act 1989 requires a local authority to give consideration to “religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural and linguistic background” when making decisions about a child who has been taken into care as a result of a court order.

According to Daily Mail, friends of the child’s family said during an access visit she reportedly told her mother “Christmas and Easter are stupid” and “European women are stupid and alcoholic”, prompting questions over cultural attitudes.

The girl also claimed her foster family had suggested she learn Arabic and had refused to allow her to eat food prepared by her birth mother because it contained bacon. She was with the Muslim family for four months, the Mail said.