SHARJAH // Three babies have been found abandoned in Sharjah in less than a week, bringing the number of children discarded in the emirate to seven already this year.
The latest, a baby boy thought to be just one day old, was discovered wrapped in a blanket early on Tuesday morning next to a Civil Defence station in the Muwaillih area.
“The operations room was notified at around 5am on Tuesday by early morning risers among residents,” said a police spokesman. “A team of paramedics rushed to the scene and the baby was found.”
The first of the three babies found abandoned recently was a baby girl discovered in Al Ghuwair market at about 8pm on Saturday. And at about 7pm on Sunday a one-day-old boy was found at a building in the Yarmouk area.
All three children were taken to Al Qassimi Hospital where they were all found to be in good health and given a health card for their future medical care.
A hospital social worker said on Wednesday that the babies were still in the children’s unit along with a child abandoned earlier this year.
She said after being cared for in hospital they will be taken to the Sharjah Children’s Care Centre (SCCC) in university city. The SCCC looks after abandoned children as well as youngsters caught up in domestic violence or other forms of abuse.
“The centre has a toll free number of 800700 where abused children or people seeing any abused children can call to have the child rescued,” said Fatima Al Marzouqi, SCCC director.
All abandoned children are given Emirati nationality and documents and are cared for at the centre until they are adopted.
“Among the requirements for a family to adopt a child from the centre is to be Emirati, financially stable with a good income and not bankrupt with loans.
“They also have to have medical tests and ensure they have no diseases like HIV/AIDS and provide a police good conduct report,” Ms Al Marzouqi said.
ykakande@thenational.ae
