Baby dumping in a modern society

A recent spate of dumping children calls into question the mechanisms in

place to assist single mothers and disadvantaged parents. But are calls for
a safe "baby dump" being made at the expense of more longterm,
societal solutions?
There is a new, disturbing trend in Amsterdam: Children are being dumped on the street.
In Iact, Iour children have been abandoned in the Dutch capital since the start oI 2003 and a
IiIth child was dumped at Central Station in the autumn oI 2002. A baby was also Iound
abandoned in a back shed in Leerdam, south oI Utrecht, in June.
The Amsterdam Youth Care Bureau has voiced its concern and chairman Wiel Janssen re-
ignited a debate about whether desperate mothers should be able to anonymously leave their
unwanted child with social workers, rather than abandoning them on the street.
He said the capital should establish a "baby hatch" where a child can be saIely and
anonymously leIt Ior authorities.
The hatch is a heated cubicle and when the mother opens it she has several minutes Ior a Iinal
reconsideration, aIter which the door will close. The baby is kept saIe, examined by a medical
proIessional and later placed Ior adoption.
This suggestion comes particularly in response to the dumping oI two newborn babies within
two weeks oI each other in Amsterdam earlier this month. Youth Care said the baby hatch
would help prevent such incidents and allow Ior a saIe abandonment.
In the latest case, a "shocked and panicked" north Amsterdam woman originally Irom
Poland Iound a baby boy in a plastic bag on the ninth Iloor oI an apartment block and
immediately inIormed her neighbour, Stien Kuijpers, 79.
Kuijpers took the boy into her apartment. She said the boy was bloody and the umbilical cord
was still attached: "You could see that he was just born".
Police and medical staII arrived within 30 minutes and examinations revealed that the baby
who was less than two-hours old when he was Iound was in good health. Hospital staII
nicknamed the boy "Lieve" (Dear) and police are still searching Ior his parents.
Such stories wrench your heart. He needs his parents, deserves a good home and will one-day
want to know who his real mother is. On the other hand, it is diIIicult to Iathom the woman's
(and possibly the Iather's) utter desperation.
But the string oI abandoned children is at odds with a report last week that a homeless mother
carried her stillborn baby around in a bag Ior several days because she could not bear to let
him go. How then can others simply abandon their child?
The Council Ior the Protection oI Children says several children are abandoned every year in
the Netherlands, mostly by single mothers and that dumping a child is a prosecutable oIIence.
It says that a mother or a couple abandons a child in cases oI strict values regarding sexuality
and sex beIore marriage, in the case oI rape or incest, when there is Iear oI threats or concerns
about the partner who is not the biological parent, Iear oI job loss or Iear oI deportation.
The baby hatch oIIers a saIe place to leave a child, but it also gives the impression that
abandoning a child is justiIied, the council says.
More than 60 baby hatches have been established across neighbouring Germany since 2000,
but they have not led to a corresponding Iall in the number oI street-abandoned children. A
baby hatch in Antwerp, Belgium, was created in 2001, but has not yet been used.
Furthermore, the baby hatches are alleged to breach the United Nations child rights
convention which states that every child has the right to know who its parents are.
But Youth Care chairman Janssens says that a simple right to live should be considered
paramount.
Notwithstanding this, what is more important is that society should ensure its mothers Ieel
capable, supported, independent and accepted should they choose to keep their child. Fathers
also need to be taught they are a vital halI oI the abandonment equation.
Organisations such as VBOK oIIer help to women (and their partners) who are going through
the crisis oI an unwanted pregnancy. Its website (www.vbok.nl) says that an increasing
number oI women are utilising its service and it oIIers a guesthouse where a girl or woman
can stay during the term oI her pregnancy.
Ultimately though, the organisation works toward an independent position oI both mother
and child in the community. But in reality, this requires social, moral and economic change.
And such change is diIIicult to achieve, hence the option oI a baby hatch can be compared
with the chronic drugs problem: Should drug addicts be prescribed their drugs because the
problem is so ingrained no solution is Ieasible?
A baby hatch will hopeIully stop a child dying, but the creation oI such Iacilities should not
allow our community to avoid tackling the big issues such as social welIare, parental and
child support, incest, rape and outdated moral values.
We need to protect our mothers and have the courage to identiIy the weaknesses in our
society because quick-Iix solutions only oIIer temporary respite, while Iailing to solve the
underlying inequality, moral discrimination and economic injustice inherent in our modern
"civilisation".
18 July 2003


baby dumping cases since
lebruary 09 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9 From 2005 to January this year, a total oI 517 baby dumping
cases were registered in the country, said Federal CID director Datuk Seri Mohd Bakri Zinin.
He said 203 oI the cases involved boys, 164 girls while the gender oI the other 150 babies
could not be ascertained.
'For cases in which the gender cannot be identiIied, post-mortems could not be carried out
because the bodies were too badly decomposed, he told reporters at the Federal police
headquarters.
OI the total, 230 were Iound alive while 287 were dead.
Mohd Bakri said 37 suspects had been arrested in connection with the cases Irom 2005 until
now, including Iour people in January alone.
Eighteen cases were brought to court resulting in nine convictions so Iar, he said.
According to Mohd Bakri, their studies revealed that the common locations Ior baby dumping
were housing areas, by the road near mosques, rivers, bushes and public toilets.
He also said the police were given the responsibility oI managing the NUR Alert (National
Urgent Response Alert) system which aims to detect and inIorm the public about missing
children aged below 12.
He said they were entrusted by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry
with this issue as the department was investigating such cases, which also included evidence
collection and inIormation dissemination. Bernama








$top blaming only women for baby
dumping

My heart goes out to all those innocent babies abandoned by their young mothers out oI
desperation.
Society is ever so ready to point Iingers at the hapless young mother guilty oI baby dumping.
I do not believe she would have resorted to such a desperate act iI her partner was there Ior
her, iI her parents Iorgave her, and iI her community showed some sympathy Ior her and her
unborn child.
It takes two people to produce a baby. But in almost every news article about teenage
pregnancies and baby dumping, there is hardly any mention oI the baby`s Iather. Why is there
this reluctance to involve the man responsible? And when it comes to oIIering solutions,
again the same reIrain. We talk about setting up a school Ior pregnant teenagers, a shelter Ior
pregnant unmarried mothers, and hotlines Ior pregnant girls to call Ior counselling.
What about counselling Ior teenage Iathers? What about teaching them to be responsible and
accountable?
Now the Cabinet has come up with the decision to classiIy baby dumping as murder. And
who would the 'murderer be? The unwed teen mother, oI course, because she is the one leIt
holding the baby.
The baby`s Iather goes scot-Iree; his girlIriend takes the entire rap Ior him nine months oI
child-bearing plus a jail sentence.
LILY FU,
Ampang.






Baby Dumping in Malaysia : Islam as a $olution
Friday, May 28, 2010 1:25:53 AM


Nowadays, babies dumping happening almost every day. According to Community, Family
and Women Ministry baby dumping cases had already achieved to thousands per a year.
Suddenly this problem has become as a big issue in Malaysia. Why this problem could
happen? What had happened to our youths?

We can point our Iinger to anyone we want but this time we have to examine this social
problem obviously. In my opinion, I think the lives oI teenagers are too Iree without parent`s
control. You can look what among oI student did in campus or college. Some oI them make a
date try to do something as couple. Sometimes they make something Iurther. Perhaps that
'something I shall call it as sumbang mahram. Every boy and girl has to know their
limitation oI relationship. OI course you can be Iriend with anyone but do not go too Iar when
you be Iriend with the diIIerent gender. Islam teaches us about the relationship in Islam.
Now, the girl must not wear the sexy clothes not because oI order oI people but this is order
oI Allah. We must Iollow Allah`s command and what had been written in Koran. Sexy girl
dressing is one oI cause why the banned relation could happen. It cans rise up the boys
desire and passions. That is why social problem could happen.

I think that the parents should take seriously role to prevent their son and daughter Irom
social problem. Baby dumping could avoid iI their children have awareness about the
dangerous oI baby dumping. It could ruin their Iuture and kill in sinned baby.

The government should take role to overcome this problem. The government should
introduce true Islam to the people especially to the Muslim youth about halal haram, paradise
hell and dosa pahala. Islam scholars or known as ulama must take this responsibility to
explain to the community about Islam and its rules.

The parents are also must control and minimize their children`s activities outdoor. They must
know their children go out with who and where they go. The responsibility parent will avoid
their children Irom unhealthy activity.

We could solve this social problem iI we emphasis religious teaching on our children, control
them careIully and always take care oI them. I hope baby dumping in Islamic State like
Malaysia will not happen anymore.



Malaysia mulls hanging for baby dumping
Aoqost 1J 2010
AFP
Malaysian parents who abandon their newborns and leave them to die could Iace the gallows,
as authorities step up their response to a series oI gruesome cases oI abandoned babies.
The government has reportedly agreed that baby dumping will now be probed under the
oIIence oI attempted murder or murder, which is punishable by a mandatory death sentence
on conviction.
Several recent cases are being investigated under more lenient criminal codes, such as
abandonment, that carry up to 10 years imprisonment.
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"The government has no choice because oI the rising number oI cases. Despite the various
initiatives, baby dumping is still happening," Women, Family and Community Development
Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil reportedly said.
"We have taken a welIare approach all this while but the problem continues," she told the
New Straits Times newspaper in comments conIirmed by her aide Friday.
"The government cannot allow this state oI aIIairs to continue and that is why the
classiIication will be changed to attempted murder or murder."
Authorities are alarmed over a jump in baby dumping cases, with 60 recorded so Iar this year,
compared to 79 Ior the whole oI last year. There were 241 babies abandoned since 2008.
Media reports have highlighted cases oI newborns abandoned in the streets or at rubbish
dumps. In March, the body oI a baby boy who was leIt on the roadside was Iound by passers-
by. His leIt hand had been bitten oII by wild dogs.
The minister has previously attributed the rise in abandoned babies to unmarried couples not
knowing where to seek help aIter having a child out oI wedlock.
A Malaysian NGO set up the country's Iirst "baby hatch" centre in May to rescue unwanted
newborns. The centre allows parents anonymously to leave their baby at the Iacility.
The hatch sparked a debate in the Muslim-majority nation oI 28 million, with critics saying it
will encourage premarital sex.
Supporters oI the centre say it gives desperate mothers an alternative to abandoning or killing
their babies.
2011 AFP