[KnowItAll]

Strangely coincidental that this report comes at a time when we usually get the "A dog's not just for Christmas..." campaign.

I guess someone needs to send the dutch diplomatic corp a translated version ... "A kid is not just for a few Christmases..."

[sunniefaith]

Originally Posted by KnowItAll

I guess someone needs to send the dutch diplomatic corp a translated version ... "A kid is not just for a few Christmases..."

And a kid is not a toy or a pet that can be returned to the store or pound.

[PDLM]

Originally Posted by sunniefaith

And notice that the kid can't speak Dutch? Did they purposefully speak English to the kid only to exclude her from the family?

The reports I have seen don't actually say anything about the origin of the wife. It's perfectly possible from what I have read that the wife doesn't speak Dutch either and that the language of the home was/is English (which a Dutch diplomat will almost certainly speak at near-native level).

[hullexile]

If its all true then yes it is horrendous. A note of warning though, the story is from the Daily Mail and both the adopting parents and child are foreign so by default they will be stupid or evil or both.

[sunniefaith]

Well, it will be nice if someone knows the 'true story' and share with us. I am very interested in their side of the story and under what circumstances did they give up the child.

[ontheroad]

This story is shocking, and shameful, and as a parent, breaks my heart.

Those people shouldn't be allowed to "return" the child, just because they want to. It's not a shirt from H&M or Giordano. It's a child who's been living with them for years, who for some weird reason doesn't speak their language, isn't on their passport, doesn't eat the same food as them.

That poor child is going to have separation/abandonment anxieties all it's life. And what about the other children. How do they feel about losing their sibling? Will they be living in the fear of being sent away, if they don't finish their green beans? Last week was the dutch christmas, Saint Nicholas, great timing!

People like that make it harder for other foreigners to adopt. As if it's not hard enought!

I hope the Dutch government feels embarassed enough by what this diplomat has done to fire him or send him to some horrible post, on a remote island where cannibalism is still practiced or something like that.

This story is disgusting.

[sunniefaith]

That's my point as well, don't speak their language, don't eat their food and don't have the same passport as them...Did they really intend to keep her?

We're in the process of adopting and one of the first questions we asked the Social and Welfare Department was about the child's nationality and if the child can have a Sporean passport like us.

[PDLM]

I feel people are being rather too quick to judge here...

As far as I can tell, Dutch Nationality Laws ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_nationality_law ) do not allow for Dutch nationality to be taken by someone who is not living (or has not lived) in The Netherlands for at least 3 years.

This would also be true of, for example, UK nationality laws. If I have a child here in Hong Kong the child will take the nationality of his/her mother and doesn't have the option of UK nationality unless and until they have lived in the UK for 3 years (the same applies to my wife). If I adopted a child they would keep their previous nationality unless they meet the same conditions.

And as far as I can tell from a quick look at the Singaporean government web, the same would be true if Mr & Mrs Sunniefaith were to adopt a non-Singaporean child in Hong Kong - no Singaporean passport until they have lived in Singapore for 2 years.

[KnowItAll]

I really don't think the point of the discussion is the passport .. thats all irrelevant when you look at the bigger picture, which is abandoning a child after about 6 or 7 years.

[shilo507]

Originally Posted by PDLM

... this would also be true of, for example, UK nationality laws. If I have a child here in Hong Kong the child will take the nationality of his/her mother and doesn't have the option of UK nationality unless and until they have lived in the UK for 3 years (the same applies to my wife). If I adopted a child they would keep their previous nationality unless they meet the same conditions.

I am not sure that is true. Under UK Immigration Laws since 1983 a child will automatically claim British citizenship provided at least 1 of the parents (does not matter if mother or the father) is a British citizen.

According to HM Immigration and Nationality Department

From 1983
A child born outside the UK on or after 1 January 1983 will automatically acquire British citizenship by descent if either parent is a British citizen otherwise than by descent at the time of the birth.

Only one parent needs to be British otherwise than by descent - either the father or the mother.
An unmarried father cannot pass on British citizenship automatically in the case of children born before 1 July 2006. Although, if the parents marry subsequent to the birth, the child normally will become a British citizen at that point if legitimated by the marriage and the father was eligible to pass on British citizenship.
Failing the above, the child can be registered as British if it would have been British if parents were married and application is made before the child is 18.
Where the parent is a British citizen by descent additional requirements apply. In the most common scenario, the parent is normally expected to have lived in the UK for three years and apply for the child to be registered as a British citizen within 12 months of the birth.
For British nationality purposes, the Isle of Man and Channel Islands are treated as though they were part of the UK.
Before 21 May 2002, British Overseas Territories were treated as 'overseas' for nationality purposes. The exception was the Falkland Islands. For children born on or after 21 May 2002 in a British Overseas Territory (other than the Sovereign Base Areas of Cyprus) there is an entitlement to British citizenship on the same basis as UK-born children.
Children born overseas to parents on Crown Service are normally granted British citizenship otherwise than by descent. In other words, their status is the same as it would have been had they been born in the UK.
In exceptional cases, the Home Secretary may register a child of parents who are British by descent as a British citizen under discretionary provisions, for example if the child is stateless.