Child Orphans: International Law and Islamic Law

Child Orphans: International Law and Islamic Law
This article aims to provide the various ways in which children displaced and orphaned by the conflicts in the Middle East can be helped.
Islamic Law
Kafalah is a model of the Islamic Law that provides for the caring of orphans through provision of basic human needs such as food and education and views it as charity work. Adoption, on the other hand, refers to the process where the parental responsibility to a child is shifted from the biological parents to new parents. Open adoption is a type of adoption in which the real parents and the new parents know details of each other such as personal information and can contact one another if necessary. Closed adoption does away with any records to the biological parents, and the parents have no contact whatsoever.
In Islamic Law, child adoption is allowed and encouraged as it is considered a blessing. However, the law provides that any child adopted should not be attributed to the adoption family directed but should maintain attributes to his/her biological family. This is done in the interests of ensuring the child’s lineage continues. Additionally, non-related Muslims should not be mixed according to Islam. Kafalah also exists in cases where a mother with a child of less than two years adopts another child of similar age and breastfeeds them together. Such a child is adopted into the family and has the right to receive a third of a share in the family inheritance when possible.
In some of the Gulf States and Arabian countries, foreign adopted children are not accorded their true identity – where they come from. This brings psychological problems later in life as one does not know his/her true origins. This problem should be dealt with through introduction of provisions in the laws of these countries that allow a child to retain attributes of his/her birthplace.
International Law
Due to the conflicts in the Middle East, many children are often left as orphans when their parents are killed in the war. Others are displaced by the fights and often end up in camps where they are separated from their parents. These children become vulnerable and desperate as they have no one to take care of them. Since these children are refugees, most of them do not have access to the basic human right of education and sufficient food. Most of them also lack proper housing as they live in dilapidated settlements made up of tents. Here, they are prone to many diseases such as cholera due to the dirty conditions that prevail in the camps. Examples of these camps are Al Zatari camp and Albaeascapm
The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund is an NGO that works with children experiencing medical problems across the Middle East, the US and other parts of the world. The organization also provides food to the children. Additionally, those that may have been physically disabled by the war are given free wheelchairs. The organization also offers educational sponsorship to these children.
If a foreign national offers to adopt a child from the Middle East, he/she must follow the adoption regulations both from his/her country and the country of the child to be adopted. Children in settlements can also be helped through provision of security by the military. This ensures that they are safe from the war and are not traumatized an more. However, some people meant to provide security to children turn out to be the ones molesting them.
I recommend that an ‘Orphan’s District’ be set up in all areas where children are displaced. The district will offer better quality amenities than the camps such as medical facilities, schools and better housing. Children in these districts will be safe from the war and will have a sense of belonging. Adoption will no longer be the best option.

Works Cited
Children’s Bureau. How do I adopt a child from a foreign country? U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Web. 2014, Nov 6.
Huda. Adopting a Child in Islam. n.d. Web. 2014, Nov 6.
Humanitarian Projects. The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. Web. 2014, Nov 6.
Who says Islam prohibits Adoption? Islam Today. The Fatwa Department Research Committee. n.d. Web. 2014, Nov 6.