Lankan girl to be reunited with father

A Sri Lankan-Filipina girl living in foster care since her father’s arrest in January, will finally reunite with her dad and go home. Elina, who turned five in March, slept rough in parks and staircases with her unemployed dad, helping him at odd jobs after the Lankan lost his job in 2009. 

Her mother, a Filipina apparently facing a ‘life-time entry ban’, left the UAE three months after Elina’s birth.

On January 16, XPRESS reported how the girl’s miseries compounded after she became homeless following her father’s arrest, initially for credit card debts. He was later sentenced to a year as it was established Elina was born out of wedlock. However, that ruling, following an appeal by the father, was overturned on April 17 and his sentence was shortened to three months. He completes the ‘reduced’ term in a matter of days, after which he will be deported. If all goes well, Elina will accompany her dad to Sri Lanka.

Captain Mohammad Nagi Alolaqi, head of Cases Affairs Section at the General Department of Human Rights, Dubai Police, told XPRESS: “With Elina’s father’s sentence reduced, it’s likely he will be released soon. Chances are official paperwork may be ready within days.”

The only impediment to Elina’s travel plans is that she doesn’t have a passport as her birth was not registered. The Sri Lankan Consulate, working on issuing her a passport, had asked Dubai authorities to conduct a paternity test on Elina’s father in February.

“We are yet to receive the DNA report from the authorities, but her birth notification is now ready. We can issue Elina’s passport as soon as we get the report. It’s only a matter of time before Elina is able to travel,” said a Sri Lankan Consulate staff.

Elina has been staying at the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children (DFWAC) since her father’s imprisonment.

The foundation has declined to reveal any details about Elina due to security reasons. However, a family friend who cared for the child soon after Elina’s dad’s arrest, said the girl had finally settled down in her new environment. “She took a while to adjust to her new environment but is now doing well and loving her friends and carers at the centre,” she said.

Elina has never been to school due to her lack of identification papers. As a result, unlike most five year olds, she struggles to write. When XPRESS met her in January, she could barely scribble her name in English, but like most kids of her age, she loved posing and playing pranks.

The most startling bit though is that the girl with distinct Filipina looks speaks only Sinhalese while barely managing to converse in broken Arabic, Bengali, Tamil and Tagalog, Gulf News reports.