IRELAND • Jane Doe - 7 yo (2013) - Dublin

Girl found with unrelated Irish Roma couple in similar case to Greece's mystery Maria

By Europe correspondent Barbara Miller,
Posted 54 minutes ago

A blonde, blue-eyed girl living with a Roma family in Ireland has been removed from their care after police became concerned she was not related to them.

In the case that echoes that of a young girl found living with a Roma couple in Greece last week, the girl in Dublin was found to bear no physical resemblance to the couple who claimed to be her biological parents.

Irish police found no record of the girl's birth at the hospital where it was claimed she was born.

The Sunday World newspaper said the Dublin child is a seven-year-old girl with blonde hair and blue eyes.

Police took action after receiving a tip-off from a member of the public who noticed she looked nothing like the rest of her family, the tabloid said.

Under Irish law, the girl can be kept in the care of the health service for one month before a final decision must be made to return her or seek a permanent care order.

The Health Service Executive refused to confirm the details, stating it does not comment on individual cases.

Siobhan Curran, from the Pavee Point charity which campaigns for Irish Traveller rights, says the family involved are Roma.

But the charity warned against "witch-hunts" against the community, saying it hopes the authorities are prioritising the best wishes of the child.

"Pavee Point are concerned about witch-hunts against a vulnerable community and old stereotypes of an entire community being propagated in the media coverage of this development," it said in a statement.

"Actions by the state need to be evidence-based and due process needs to be accorded to all communities living in Ireland.

"There is a real danger that precipitative action, undertaken on the basis of appearance, can create the conditions for an increase in racism and discrimination against the Roma community living here."

The case bears striking similarities to that of the young blonde girl, Maria, in Greece, who has been removed from the care of a Roma couple found to be unrelated to her.

The Roma couple used false IDs to register Maria, who they said was four, as their own, saying she was born at home.

Greece's top court has now ordered an urgent investigation into birth certificates issued across the country in the past six years.

"The Maria case may not be an isolated incident and this could have happened in other parts of the country," a Greek Supreme Court prosecutor's order said.

The court order told prosecutors across Greece to investigate birth certificates issued since 2008 on the basis of a signed declaration by parents rather than those issued after births recorded at a hospital.

Any cases of false birth certificates must be investigated further for any evidence tying it illegal abduction or human trafficking, the order said.

The case of Maria has raised questions about child trafficking in Greece and whether the couple with whom she was found living were part of a wider child kidnapping ring.

Maria is being looked after by a charity while the authorities try to track down her real parents.

The 40-year-old woman and 39-year-old man she was found with have been detained pending trial on charges of abducting a minor.

They say Maria was given to them by her mother when she was a baby because she could not look after her.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-23/irish-roma-child-greece-maria-child-abduction/5039254

Source: Tests show girl in Ireland belongs to Roma family

Posted on: 3:22 pm, October 23, 2013, by CNN Wire

DUBLIN, Ireland (CNN) – [Breaking news update, 3:09 p.m. ET]

Tests have shown that a Roma couple are the biological parents of a 7-year-old girl whom Irish police took into protective care in Dublin, a source familiar with the case’s legal proceedings told CNN Wednesday.

The blond, blue-eyed girl had been taken from the family after police received a tip that the girl may not be theirs.

http://wtvr.com/2013/10/23/source-tests-show-girl-in-ireland-belongs-to-roma-family/