PM and Rosmah rush home to meet children Who Arrived From Sweden

PM and Rosmah rush home to meet children

   

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KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor rushed home from an official function to welcome the four children of a Malaysian couple who were under custody in Sweden.

When the children of Tourism Malaysia official Azizul Raheem Awalludin and teacher Shalwati Norshal stepped out of their car outside Najib’s house in Jalan Duta, the Prime Minister and Rosmah hugged the children and enquired on their health and well-being.

“As a father, I am concerned about the children’s well-being,” said Najib.

“I do not want them to be emotionally and psychologically affected by the situation that they were in after being placed in foster care after their parents were detained,” the Prime Minister said.

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Pic : www.malaysia-chronicle.comKUALA LUMPUR: IT was a surreal and bittersweet homecoming for the four children of a Malaysian couple held in Sweden over allegations of child abuse, when they finally landed at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) yesterday morning.

Aisyah Azizul Raheem, the eldest child of Tourism Malaysia director in Stockholm Azizul Raheem Awalludin and Shalwati Norshal, said it felt like a dream to be home in Malaysia.

“It felt like a dream but it is a reality. We were extremely happy when our flight landed at the airport,” said the 14-year- old, who was visibly tired from the 16-hour flight from Stockholm, when reporters met her and her siblings - Ammar, 14; Adam, 11, and Arif, seven -at Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's residence in Jalan Langgak Duta here not long after their arrival.

Present were Najib, his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin and the children’s aunt Shaleena Norshal.

Aisyah thanked Najib, Hamzah and the government for assisting their return.

“We are really thankful to Datuk Seri (Najib Razak), Datuk (Hamzah Zainuddin) and the government. I can't thank you enough,” the soft-spoken girl said to the prime minister, to which Najib replied: “It was my pleasure.”

Efforts to bring home the siblings bore fruit following a special mission led by Hamzah which was deployed by the prime minister who was concerned over the welfare of the children.

The mission, described by Najib as “low-key” after it was carried out without any publicity, was a success as the Swedish authorities subsequently allowed the children to return to Malaysia.

Hamzah and the four children arrived at KLIA at about 7am yesterday. Present to welcome the children at the airport with gifts of chocolates and toys were their relatives.

Although the children were happy to be home, they looked weary and a little sad at having to be away from their parents who are still being detained in Sweden pending investigations by the Swedish authorities.

Azizul Raheem and Shalwati were detained on Dec 18 for allegedly beating their son for not performing his prayers.
Sweden became the first country to ban physical punishment of children in 1979.

The children were obviously taken aback by presence of a large crowd of media personnel at the airport who were there to record their homecoming.

Clad in an orange hooded jumper, Aisyah, who wept as she walked to the exit, softly uttered that she was “happy to be back home," when questioned by the pressmen.

Ammar added: “It was a long flight but I am okay now."

After briefly posing for the cameras, the children where whisked into three cars before being taken to Najib’s house.
During the meeting at Najib’s house, Hamzah also conveyed the gratitude of the children’s parents to the prime minister and the government for helping their family.

An elated Shaleena, trembled as she tried to control her emotions when thanking Najib and the government for their assistance.

“We are very thankful to you, Datuk Seri (Najib Razak). We also grateful and proud of the spirit of all Malaysians who had endlessly prayed and offered their support to our family,” said Shaleena, 42, who had accompanied the children back from Sweden.

She said the children would be staying with a relative at Melor, Peringat in Kelantan.

Hamzah later told reporters that he met his counterpart in Sweden on Tuesday to discuss Article 20 of the Convention On The Rights of The Child which led to the “release” of the four children.

The article states that a child temporarily or permanently deprived of his or her family environment shall be provided with alternative care such as foster placement, kafalah of Islamic law, adoption or if necessary placement in suitable institutions with due regard to the child's upbringing and to the child's ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic back ground.

“Since the children were initially placed under the care of a non-Muslim family, I requested to bring the children home to Malaysia.

“The Swedish authorities granted my request on condition that I get the consent of the family. After the meeting, I made arrangements to meet the parents of the children in prison to get their approval,” he said.

Hamzah revealed that he had to use special code to convey his intention to the parents of the children.

“We were not allowed to speak in languages other than English nor were we allowed to discuss the court case when I met Shalwati at prison.

“So I had to drop hints many times, telling her that Malaysia was a suitable place for her children. She understood my meaning and agreed to allow us to bring the children home.

“We wanted to bring home the children immediately. Aishah had endured 20 hours of interrogation (by the Swedish authorities) over the case. Enough is enough,” he said.

Asked if the return of the children would affect the proceeding of the case against their parents, Hamzah said it was unlikely.

He added that he would return to Sweden soon to help Azizul Raheem and Salwati in their legal battle.