Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], January 12 : The family of Ariha Shah, an Indian girl who has been in German foster care for over three years, has renewed its appeal to the Indian and German governments to engage in a "dialogue to preserve the rights of young girl", saying that all allegations against her parents have been cleared by German authorities.
Ariha Shah was put under the custody of German foster care in September 2021, when she was seven months old, after her grandmother accidentally hurt her. Since then, she has remained in foster care in Germany,
Speaking toin Ahmedabad on Sunday, Ariha's aunt Kinjal Shah said the child was taken into foster care in Germany nearly four-and-a-half years ago following a misunderstanding by German child services.
"4.5 years ago, Ariha was taken into foster care in Germany because of a misunderstanding by the German child services, which led them to make certain allegations against her parents. However, their own court has now cleared the parents of all charges. Today, there are no charges against the parents. They can travel to India or any other country. Only our child remains held against her will," Kinjal Shah said.
She further urged the authorities of both countries to engage directly on the matter. "We request that the Indian and German governments engage in a dialogue to preserve the rights of our young girl," she added.
A member of the Save Ariha Team, Henil Visariya, said Ariha has been living with a German foster family despite German authorities having given a clean chit to her parents years ago.
"4 years ago, due to some misunderstandings, German authorities took custody of Ariha Shah and alleged that her mother and father were not capable of taking care of the child. Later on, the German authorities, police, and court gave a clean chit to all the allegations against their parents," Visariya said.
"But for the last four years, her custody has not been given to her parents. She is living in German foster care, where a German family is taking care of her," he further added.
Visariya appealed to the German authorities and the Indian government to bring the baby back to her homeland. "We request that the German authorities and the Indian government bring her back to her homeland," he added.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, the Save Ariha Team has expressed deep concern over the continued separation of Baby Ariha Shah, urging the Government of India to intervene diplomatically for her immediate repatriation ahead of the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's visit to India.
In a press release, the group said Ariha has remained under the custody of German Child Services (Jugendamt) in Berlin despite the closure of all police cases against her parents in February 2022. Ariha was taken into foster care in September 2021 and has since been moved across five different foster homes, the release stated.
On Friday, the Indian government said that there has been progress in the matter concerning Ariha Shah, and it is doing several other things to ensure that her upbringing happens in a cultural environment that is conducive to her.
Answering queries during the weekly briefing, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randeep Jaiswal said that the matter was raised when the German Foreign Minister was in the country.
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