Pakistani mum awaits son's return from UAE after dad took him away

Dubai - Her husband took her son to Ras Al Khaimah in February 2018 and claimed she hadn't seen him since.

A heartbroken mother in Pakistan is claiming she hasn't seen her three-year-old son for a year after her husband took him away to the UAE without her consent.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) ordered the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on March 29 to bring the child back to Pakistan and place a travel ban on the father's passport and national ID.
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Haniya Usman, a mother of three children, said her husband took her son to Ras Al Khaimah in February 2018 and claimed she hadn't seen him since.
"This is my son. I was all alone for nine months when I was pregnant with him, I was alone during the delivery, during breast-feeding, I have done everything alone. He's not just my son, he's my life," she told Khaleej Times.
She said her husband had requested that his son come for a 15-day visit to the UAE, however, he never sent him back.
Usman, who also has a daughter living with her, claimed that her parents-in-law had filed for the custody of her daughter.
"No divorce papers has been sent to me yet. I sold my plot, some of my gold, and gave Arabic classes to manage the expenses at home," she said.
Usman's lawyer Pir Abdul Wahid explained the case: "They were having some issues with their marriage. The father is working in the UAE at his parents' company. The wife and children live in Islamabad. When the son arrived in the UAE and 15 days passed, they didn't return him. After a month had passed, she received a notice from the court for the custody of the other child. The IHC has ordered the blockage of that person's ID and passport and directed the FIA and immigration to liaise with (Pakistan's) foreign ministry, the UAE's foreign ministry and other departments concerned to bring the child back to court. "This has happened before, in a case in 2010 in the Supreme Court, where a child was taken to Dubai, then to Muscat and back to Dubai, but he was recovered by the authorities."
The UAE does have an extradition treaty with Pakistan, which includes cases of "child stealing, including abandoning, exposing or unlawfully detaining", a Dubai lawyer has confirmed. The treaty falls under Federal Law No 39 of 2006, Article 3.
Wahid said the next steps now include a collaboration between the UAE and Pakistan authorities.
sarwat@khaleejtimes.com

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