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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Abandoned girl finds new home

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By Fahad Al Ghadani — MUSCAT: April 19 - Three-year-old Dana, who was found abandoned at a public park last year, is starting a new chapter of her life after she was fostered by an Omani family, according to a source at the Ministry of Social Development.

“She is now living with an Omani family,” said the source. Last year, Dana arrived in the Sultanate with her mother, who is a Gulf citizen, and was stuck in the country for an entire year.


Promising to return, her mother left with someone else, but did not show up again. After that, Dana was kept under the custody of an Omani man.


A source at the Royal Oman Police (ROP) said the child was not found at Al Buraimi Public Park. She was handed over to the Al Buraimi Police Station by an Omani woman.


She was kept at ‘Al Wifaq’ Care Centre, a child care centre coming under the Ministry of Social Development, until all legal procedures were completed.


The news about Dana went viral on the social media. Hundreds of calls were received by the ministry from the public seeking permission to foster the little girl.


In 2014, two children were found abandoned in Qurum Park in Muscat. The boys, wearing identical outfits and aged two years and another one year, were found wandering in the park during the Eid holidays.


They lived with a foster mother in a special compound and sent to a kindergarten in February 2015 after a brief stay in the ministry-run childhood care centre.


In order to foster a child, an application signed by an Omani family should be sent to the Ministry of Social Development. The ministry will evaluate their financial status, family and medical history before approving the application.


A total of 130 abandoned children are being housed in child care centres across the country and 192 abandoned children fostered by Omani families.


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