It would not be in the child’s best interest to deport the Thai boy Fimm Na Thiban from Denmark. The case can set precedence for other deportation cases.
Six year old Fimm Na Thiban is not going to be deported to Thailand but can stay in Denmark with his stepfather. That was the ruling of the High Court yesterday.
Even though he has lived his entire life in the country, the Danish authorities seemed determined to send the little boy on a plane to Thailand as the case was appealed by the government’s independent legal adviser on behalf of the Immigration Board, even though it had already been decided by a lower court that Fimm should stay in Denmark.
The trial has raised public protests and outrage. Supporters have created a different Facebook pages to support six-year-old year old Fimm Na Thiban, where people can express their support.
The case of Fimm and his right to stay in Denmark has been widely covered by Danish media because it could set precedence for future rulings. All in all the case is about whether or not it should be allowed for foreign children to stay in Denmark with their non-biological parents in Denmark.
Although not his biological father, Dane Ole Heegaard has since Fimm’s first months been acting as his guardian. Ole Heegaard and his wife from Thailand, Noppore Na Thiban, divorced and she moved back to Thailand. However, she wished her son to stay in Denmark with Ole Heegaard as he has been as a father for the boy from the beginning. She did not feel that she could care for the boy if he was deported to Thailand and that a foster home might have been the only alternative.
“I wish him to stay with Ole. He has a better future in Denmark than with me in Thailand. He is much closer to his dad than he is to me,” said Noppore Na Thiban to TV2-News when the case started.
The court emphasized that Fimm does not speak Thai and that he would have a problem even communicating with his mother if he was deported. The court also said that the mother had basically given him up when she left Denmark and moved back to Thailand. The boy only knows of Denmark and Ole Heegaard is considered his primary caregiver.
Because of this, the High Court decided that it would be in violation of the UN Children’s Convention to deport Fimm Na Thiban.
Fimm also has an older sister, Thipsuda, and the High Court has decided that the Immigration Board is to process her case again.
It is unbelievable that this case should go this far, but unfortunately the Danish immigration authorities are only focusing at paragraphs and not on the human aspects, this is unfortunately not the last case in Denmark, shame on you imm.