Mohammed and Jasmin, who have been accused of 'using their kids' to seek financial support, have not seen their children in four years, despite UK law granting them visitation rights.
Jasmin (aka Saheera Banu Amakeder) and her husband Mohammed Yussuf, originally from Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu, are faced with every parent’s worst nightmare: losing their children forever. The couple was living on expired visas in the western-central city of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, when their two children – a six-year-old son and a four-year-old daughter – were taken away by authorities in August 2015.
The children were taken away by the Birmingham City Council and placed under the foster care. Why? The local authorities allege that the parents 'used the children' to seek financial support after Mohammed lost his job at a pizza chain in April 2013.
After four years of separation and a seemingly endless battle with the local authority, all that the family wants is to return to India with their children. The parents are even willing for the children to be returned in care of a relative in India if the British authorities will not approve them as caregivers for the children. The family has alleged that the children were taken away by the local authorities despite an interim court order that reportedly gave the parents permission to keep the children.
The trouble started for the family in April 2013, when Mohammed lost his job. Though they managed with his small savings and a bank loan they procured for a year, they had to approach a charity in April 2014. The charity in turn referred them to the local authorities.
Meanwhile, the couple’s immigration status was pending with the Home Office as Mohammed and Jasmin’s visa had expired. For all legal purposes, they were overstayed immigrants. Mohammed and Jasmin had been receiving 70 pounds per week as monetary assistance and they had asked for 70 pounds more for the two kids too – an amount less than Rs 7,000 back in 2015. After denying this meagre assistance, in August 2015, the Birmingham City Council took the children away.
