Saturday, October 18, 2008

Not Islamic Enough — for the British Authorities

It’s been frequently observed that Muslim immigrants to Europe don’t assimilate to their adopted home; the natives are required to assimilate to them.

Now we learn that the same is true of adoption in the UK: if a family adopts a Muslim child, the State will assess and enforce the purity of the parents’ Muslim practices.

It’s bad enough that this couple had to convert to Islam to adopt a child from Morocco. But then they found out that Her Majesty’s Government would assess their Islamic practices — and insist on evaluating them to confirm the rigor of their faith — before they could adopt a second child.

According to the Times Online:

Muslim converts ‘not Islamic enough’ for their adopted son to have a brother

Moroccan authorities were happy for boy to make a home in Britain but officials in Surrey were not so sure


When Robert and Jo Garofalo decided they wanted to adopt a child in Morocco they knew it would not be easy. Although the law in the Muslim state had been changed to allow foreign adoptions, the couple were required to convert to Islam first.

But in the end it was not the Moroccan authorities that proved the biggest hurdle for the film director and his wife — it was their own local social services. For three months, during which Mrs Garofalo lived with their adopted son in a rented flat in Tangier, the couple were subjected to a series of what they believe were unnecessarily harsh and intrusive interviews in which every aspect of their lives was scrutinised. Finally they were approved and were able to bring young Samuel back to their home, where he has thrived.

So when, earlier this year, they approached Surrey social services for approval to adopt again from the same Moroccan orphanage, they were surprised to discover that they would have to go through the whole process again. The couple were particularly concerned that, in order to assess Samuel’s “attachment” to them, he would have to be monitored and even filmed while playing.

Equally disconcerting was that even though social workers indicated in an initial report that they would be prepared to support the second application, the couple were left with the impression that they were being asked to do more to show they were living a Muslim lifestyle.

“The Moroccan orphanage felt it would be good for Samuel to have a brother and were very positive and encouraging. They were happy with the way we dealt with Samuel’s cultural and religious needs,” Mrs Garofalo, a 40-year-old actress, said. But this was not enough for Surrey, who made clear that an assessment would go ahead only if the couple proved that they were making enough effort to live a Muslim lifestyle.

In their report, social workers noted that although the couple had stated their religion was Islam “there is no outward sign that this is a Muslim family… Joanne and Robert are aware that the socio-religious element is an aspect of Samuel’s identity and heritage which this agency takes very seriously.” It recommended that “particular attention be given to sharing techniques and strategies with Joanne and Robert that will enhance their children’s sense of identity and legacy, particularly in view of their very public statement they made deciding to convert to Islam in order to adopt”.

Would Surrey social services have been as zealous in enforcing the Garofalos’ religious observances if their adopted child were the offspring of Anglicans or Methodists? What do you think?

Mrs Garofalo said: “The social workers made it clear that we should be seen to be ‘keeping Samuel’s culture alive’ by showing signs of it in our house. But what does that mean? He has to know about English life, as well as knowing where he comes from.

“Did they really expect me to be covered up, sitting on a prayer mat? When we’d converted to Islam so that we could adopt Samuel, there’d been no clause in the paperwork saying we had to put the Koran in our entrance.

The article goes on to detail the bureaucratic labyrinths that the couple had to negotiate, both in Morocco and in England, to secure the adoption of their child. The process involved unimaginably intrusive interviews and investigations:
- - - - - - - - -
Mrs Garofalo’s former husband was contacted for a reference, even though their marriage had lasted only months, when she was in her early twenties. On one occasion, Mrs Garofalo was asked: “Would you adopt a child with a terminal illness or a facial disfigurement?” “When I told her I wouldn’t want to adopt a child with a facial disfigurement or one that was going to die, she became very condescending,” said Jo. “She said, ‘So. Jo. You have a problem with facial disfigurement?’

When they found out that they would have to repeat the whole nightmare to adopt a second child, they decided it wasn’t worth it.

So when, in January this year, they decided to adopt another child from the same orphanage, the Garofalos were taken aback to find that they would have to go through the whole assessment process again.

Even so, they went ahead and were visited by two Surrey social workers who prepared an initial report. But after being told that Samuel would have to be monitored and filmed, they decided to abandon their efforts.

“We decided we didn’t want to subject Samuel to that. We didn’t want him to be filmed at a play centre. And if we were being questioned at this stage like this, before we’d even started the procedure, what would it be like farther down the line?”

But here’s the clincher:

Surrey County Council said that children’s services were under a legal duty to conduct an assessment on how the couple’s son was doing, and their efforts to promote his Muslim faith, before exploring a second adoption.

“The couple approached us with a view to adopting the second child and we told them that by law we had to do an assessment to find out how well the adopted Muslim child from Morocco had settled with them in this country, the security of his attachments and the likely impact on him of having a sibling with complex needs in the household. We also told them the assessment would look at their efforts to promote the adopted child’s religion and culture. After finding out these legal requirements, they decided not to continue the process.”

The “adopted child’s religion and culture.”

This child was four months old when he was adopted. He had no religion or culture.

Or are the social workers of Surrey recanting the last sixty years of dogma in the nature-versus-nurture controversy? Is culture built in? Is it indistinguishable from race? Can a child inherit it like skin color or body build?

What could be more racist than that?

The government of the UK has made it plain that it considers itself the enforcer of religion and culture, and that those characteristics are inherited, a part of a child’s genetic code.

It’s a pity they’re willing to do that only for Islam, and not for native English culture.

God help Britain.


Hat tip: Gaia.

9 comments:

dienw said...

This is an indication of how easy it is going to convert millions in the West to Islam. Once enough are converted, the resisters will have considerable peer pressure and social incentive to convert. The true Christians will be subject to harsh repression.

Dymphna said...

I think this story is not about Islam. What it demonstrates is the mindless orthodoxy of multiculturalism.

This is the same kind of obstacle and mind-set that white couples run into everywhere when they want to adopt black or Asian children.

Rather than provide good homes for babies and children who would otherwise rot in the execrable foster care system, white parents are left with empty arms rather than have them contaminate the supposed "culture" of Asian or black babies.

Ironically, these babies are often placed in white foster homes because there aren't enough black or Asian foster homes. So they can be raised by a series of white foster parents but they can't be adopted by a white couple.

As if a baby is born with its culture already hardwired into its little neonate brain. P.C. hogwash.

Many social service workers are simply mindlessly following the orthodoxy. And then sometimes a few of them appear to be downright sadistically punitive. A good chance to stick it to couples who are usually better off than they are...envy is a ruinous character trait.

...I used to work in this field. I'm not being paranoid, unfortunately. I saw this in operation.

pvandeus said...

These people were fools to convert to the Muslim religion to adopt a child. If you really want to adopt, there are children from numerous countries who need good homes. It is an abomination to change your religion to suit the needs of a 4 month old child.

Roscoe said...

This begs the question, now that this couple has adopted this child,are they LOCKED into their NEW religion for life? What if they have an epiphany and want to change their religion again? Is their freedom to choose or change religion forever dictated by the needs of the child? Also would this PC nonsense be enforced if the child was Hindu, Buddhist,Jewish, or Catholic by culture?
And then again,we all know how apostates are treated in Islam.

ɱØяñιηg$ʇðя ©™ said...

I agree that they where fools to convert. There are plenty non-muslim countries to choose from anyway. And if the moroccans can't take care of their own, why should that be our problem? Aside from the multiculturalist pc-crowd will whine the crap out of the rest of us, I mean...

Anonymous said...

Surely the term "British authorities" is now automatically considered a farcical punchline in a third-rate Monty Python sketch? Once their civil service was the envy of the world. . .

Unknown said...

When you consider how often removal of children from a specific group is used as a means of destroying the group in question, it becomes easier to understand the logic of these sorts of restrictions. In addition, there's a lot of bad outcomes, up to and including manslaughter and murder, that make more scrutiny worthwhile. This is one recent case, and the blogger has written about many others.

Dymphna - it's really a false dichotomy, the choice between foster care and adopting a child out to strangers. There are lots of other alternatives, including finding relatives to care for the child, and offering the parent(s) needed services - rehab, day care, vocational training, parenting classes, or whatever the situation calls for while keeping the child at home.

If you really want to adopt, there are children from numerous countries who need good homes.

Including your own country.

watling said...

People like this stupid couple should not be allowed to vote.

Robert G said...

Being the father of the beautiful young boy being discussed in this blog, I can only say converting to Islam was an insignificant price to pay for the greatest gift you could ever receive. Those who know nothing about the process of adoption and what it means, would be advised to take a moment and find out what it actually involves.