© Fotoarena / Global Look Press
Details of the alleged "physical and emotional abuse" were heard in the High Court last week, leaving one of the children, a 10-year-old boy who suffers with learning difficulties, so traumatized he can no longer speak.
The children - three boys aged 10, 14 and 16, and the daughter, 18, all of Somali origin - alerted authorities and are now in foster care. Police intervened after the daughter emailed Childline. The 18-year-old told authorities that the children were being "kept at home, did not attend school and were kept socially isolated." Police then subsequently traced the email to the family's home.
According to court documents, the children were only let out of the house once every three weeks. "The children have complained that their parents expressed support for extremist violence and have expressed anti-Semitic, anti-British, homophobic and anti-white views in the home, which the children reject," the High Court judgment says.
Justice Alison Russell ruled last week that the youngest child should move to residential care.
Comment: On the one hand, if true, this case will just confirm what a lot of Brits and Europeans already believe: that Middle Eastern and North African migrants have a problem assimilating into British culture. But note also that the parents still deny the "extent" of the children's allegations. If they have not been verified, what does it say about the British system when a 10-year-old can be taken from his parents and placed in residential care based on claims that have yet to be substantiated? Because of the nature of the claims, probably few will be concerned in this case, but it's still another example in a dangerous trend that is attacking parents' rights and the integrity of the family. All a child has to do if they are mad at their parents is accuse them of any number of thought crimes and guilt will be presumed.