Name of the Reviewer Yuko Doi
Comments by Reviewer to the Report
In the reviewer’s view, this case has two aspects, which are needed to be considered; the first is the release of custody (ROC) from the father, and the second is the life in a resettlement country, i.e. whether the mother is capable to take care of the four children by herself.
For the first issue, the reviewer is very much in line with the assessor, and considers that the need for his singed acknowledgement of resettlement proceedings/ROC be waived based on the abandonment. Despite the several attempts to locate the father, his whereabouts is unknown, and his disappearance from the children’s life since he has left the camp in 2012 as well as the difficulties to locate him, were confirmed by everyone interviewed, including the paternal grandparents.
The second issue (the mother’s capacity to take care of four children in a resettlement county) raises some concerns, since she has four children aged 2 to 10, and will no longer be able to rely on grandparents’ support. Having said that, according to the interviews, the children are already placed under the solo and loving care of the mother in the camp, and it can be expected that the mother will continue to be a caring parent in the new environment. It is usually recommended that this kind of case would be sent to the county where other relatives are already resettled and may support them as necessary, but since the relatives in the US do not sounds really ready to accept them, it would be recommended that this family to be resettled where the support to a single mother/women at risk is well provided. The reviewer requests the RST team to conduct counseling on this aspect as well as on their wish to resettle to Australia.