Ireland returns blond children to their parents after DNA test
Two blond children who were taken by Irish police from their Romanian Gypsy parents were returned Wednesday to their families after DNA tests determined that the children were rightfully theirs, an episode that raised accusations of racism.
The Irish police were responding to public tip-offs fueled by media coverage of an alleged child-abduction case in Greece involving a blond-haired girl and a family of Gypsies, known as Roma.
Justice Minister Alan Shatter told lawmakers he was "pleased and relieved" that the children had been returned to their homes. He ordered the police commander, Commissioner Martin Callinan, to produce a report explaining why officers felt it necessary to take the children - a 2-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl - from their families.
"We must all be particularly conscious of the regrettable distress that arose for the two families and their children," Shatter said.
He defended the need for police and child welfare officers to remove children from potentially dangerous homes, but cautioned that Irish authorities must ensure "that no group or minority community is singled out for unwarranted suspicion in relation to child protection issues."
In both cases, police suspected that the children might be victims of abductions because they were blond-haired and blue-eyed, unlike the rest of their immediate relatives.
An estimated 5,000 Roma have settled over the past decade in Ireland, where many have been linked to organized street-begging rackets involving children.
Due to strong child protection laws in Ireland, authorities are unable to publicly reveal details on individual cases and neither the child nor her family can be named.
The cases come after Greek authorities sought Interpol's help to identify the young blond girl found in a Roma camp in Greece last week.
The couple she was living with have been placed in pre-trial detention for allegedly abducting her.
Pavee Point, a charity that represents nomadic ethnic groups in Ireland, warned against "witch-hunts" targeting Gypsy communities.
AP - AFP
(China Daily 10/25/2013 page12)
