Sunday, Apr 26, 2009

Gulf News

Sharjah: A distressed mother of an 18-month-old girl, who could not sponsor her child and feared she would have to live without her, is today on top of the world.

Lieutenant General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Interior, granted baby Nayana a residency visa.

Sheeja Kumar said she had suffered a lot over the past year, worrying she would be forced to give up Nayana. Her worst fear was that the baby would be deported.

Sheeja, a nurse at a hospital run by the Ministry of Health, was considering quitting her job and going back to India with her daughter - a move that would hit the family hard.

However, her nightmare has ended. Shaikh Saif has said Nayana will be granted a one year residency visa on humanitarian grounds.

Shaikh Saif said the UAE had always helped those in need. He stressed that every effort must be made to help those in trouble, no matter who they are, or where they come from.

Sheeja, 25, said she was eternally grateful to Shaikh Saif. "Shaikh Saif has relieved a mother's pain," she said.

"I cannot hold back my tears - my baby will stay with her father and me. When Nayana grows up I will tell her how she was helped by the kindness of Shaikh Saif."

Gulf News last week revealed that Nayana was charged with staying illegally in the country and had been ordered to leave the UAE by the Sharjah Naturalisation and Residency Department (SNRD). The infant faced a one year ban too. Nayana was born in October 2007 at Al Qasimi hospital in Sharjah. Her mother work as a nurse, but her residency visa is for an assistant nurse. Nayana's father works at a private company.

According to the law, expatriate mothers cannot sponsor their families if they are not among 13 specialised professions - which do not include assistant nurses. Her father's salary was not enough to sponsor her.Sheeja and her husband tried to sponsor Nayana but all their attempts went in vain. SNRD officials told the mother, who had tried to apply for her baby's visa several times, that she could not sponsor her.

Sheeja was asked to pay fines in excess of Dh10,000 because her daughter had stayed in the country illegally after her birth.

Nayana was ordered to leave the UAE with the SNRD saying the infant would only be allowed back after a year had expired.

Lieutenant Colonel Dr Abdullah Sahoo, director- general of the SNRD, said Shaikh Saif had ordered that a residency visa be issued on humanitarian grounds.

This is not the first time Shaikh Saif has intervened to help those suffering.

Gulf News had reported the case of a Palestinian doctor Reem, who was paralysed after giving birth to twins following malpractice at Al Qasimi Hospital. Reem's mother did not have money to sponsor a care-giver. Shaikh Saif then ordered a care-giver be issued a visa.

Gulf News 2009. All rights reserved.