NRI children to be back soon as Norway gives custody to uncle

Decision after India rushes top envoy; final hearing in court March 23.

In a breakthrough in the NRI children custody row,the Norwegian Child Welfare Service today decided to award the custody of two children to their uncle enabling him to bring them back to India.

“This week,the Child Welfare Service (CWS) in Stavanger completed its talks with the uncle in the child welfare case concerning the two Indian children. It has been concluded that care of the two children should be awarded to the brother of the children’s father enabling him to take the children back to India,” CWS said in a press statement.

The proposed solution will be presented on March 23,the provisional date for the hearing,to Stavanger District Court which will take the final decision in the case.

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This arrangement means the Child Welfare Service has to ensure that the necessary legal framework and follow-up procedures are in place in order to safeguard the children’s best interests and enable the uncle to deal with the situation in the best possible way,CWS said.

Abhigyan,1,and Aishwarya,3,children of Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya,an NRI couple living in norway,were taken away by the Barnevarne Norwegian CWS last May on the ground of “emotional disconnect” and put in a foster home.

The Ministry of External Affairs made huge efforts to find an amicable and urgent solution to the row with Minister S M Krishna assuring the children would be brought home at “any cost”.

In the statement,the CWS also said,”The Norwegian authorities will ask the Indian authorities to ensure the necessary follow-up for the children in the event of their return to India”.

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In order to process the case concerning the two Indian children who were taken into the care of Stavanger municipality and placed in a Norwegian foster home,the Child Welfare Service has had to apply for an extension to the children’s residence permits,” it said.

“Extending the residence permit for the children in a case such as this is a practical technicality and does not mean that the Child Welfare Service is seeking to keep the children in Norway for longer than is necessary to arrive at a satisfactory solution to the case,” it added.

India had kept up pressure on Norway to find an amicable solution to the matter. It had also rushed yesterday special envoy Madhusudhan Ganapathi to the country to convey India’s concerns.

India had said it would make “all out” efforts to ensure the early return of the two children. Norway put them in foster care last May,accusing the parents of being negligent in giving care. Their visa expires next month.

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“We will make all out efforts to get back the children to India where they belong,” External Affairs Minister S M Krishna had said recently.

The government had slammed attempts by Norwegian authorities to keep the children after their visa expired,saying the kids were neither “orphans nor stateless persons”,and enjoyed “protection” of the Indian state.