The girl, not pictured, had her cross necklace taken away from her (Picture: Getty Images)

A Christian child was reportedly forced to live in a foster home where people ‘didn’t speak English’, and she was made to remove her cross necklace.

According to confidential documents seen by The Times, the girl – a native English speaker – has spent the past six months in two very traditional Muslim households where her carers wore niqabs and burqas, and she was encouraged to learn Arabic.

Wearing the niqab or burqa tends to indicate adherence to a very conservative, Salafi-influenced interpretation of Islam.

The foster placements were made against the wishes of the girl’s family, the paper reported, by the borough of Tower Hamlets in London.




In the reports, a social services supervisor describes how the child cried and begged not to be returned to one foster home because ‘they don’t speak English’.

The niqab and burqa tends to indicate adherence to a very conservative interpretation of Islam – file photo (Picture: Getty)

The girl was said to be ‘very distressed’ that the foster carer had allegedly removed her cross necklace, and also suggested she learn Arabic.

It’s also claimed that when the child was given her favourite Italian food to take home – carbonara – her carer wouldn’t let her eat it because it contained bacon.

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More recently, the girl apparently told her mother that ‘Christmas and Easter are stupid’ and that ‘European women are stupid and alcoholic’.

Her first carer, with whom the child lived for four months, is said to have worn a niqab outside of the home. Her current carer wears a burqa when she accompanies the child in public.

The girl’s mother is said to have been horrified by the alien cultural, religious and linguistic environment in which her daughter has spent the last six months.

The girl has spent six months in total in two foster homes (Picture: Getty Images)

‘She’s already suffered the huge trauma of being forcibly separated from her family,’ a friend said. ‘She needs surroundings in which she’ll feel secure and loved.

‘Instead, she’s trapped in a world where everything feels foreign and unfamiliar. That’s really scary for a young child.’

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When considering foster placements, local authorities need to consider the child’s ‘religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural and linguistic background’.

When contacted by The Times, Tower Hamlets refused to explain why it had chosen to place a white English-speaking Christian child with Muslim non-English-speaking foster families.

As there is a longstanding shortage of foster carers from ethnic minority backgrounds, non-white children are frequently placed in the care of white British foster parents. The reverse is less common.