10-year-old Emirati boy never been to school

Dubai police intervening to resolve persistent rifts between an Emirati man and his European wife discovered that one of his children has never been to school although he is around 10 years old.

“This boy has never been to school...at this age, he should not be at home but with his class mates in the fourth level,” said Colonel Mohammed Al Murr, head of the Dubai Human Rights Department.

“His younger brother, who is four years old, should also be at school…children have the right to get education and in case their father is found to be negligent, he will be punished and fined…we are very much concerned about this issue and are trying to find an urgent solution.”

Quoted by Albayan newspaper, Murr said the Department decided to intervene after receiving a phone call from a woman report the problem between the father and the mother, who are her friends.

Another Department official said the man, who was not identified, is married to a European woman and that he has three children aged 10 and four years while the third is a few months old.

“We are trying to tackle this tragic problem, at least that of the elder son who has been deprived of school….he can not read or write because of this problem,”said Major Ishaq Mohammed, director of the child and woman protection division at the Department.

He said the father told the Department that he could not send his son to school nor could be have their ID papers issued because of persistent problems with his wife, poor financial resources and the fact that his wife has been residing illegally in the UAE.

“The father said he did not mean to deprive his son from school while the mother said she could not inform the police about the family problems because she is staying in the country illegally,” he said.

“We are now in touch with the father to find a solution to this ordeal by having the proper papers issued for his children and sorting the mother’s stay in the country in coordination with the concerned authorities.”

He said the Department has also helped the father financially and provided a private teacher for his son to make up for lost years away from school.

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