Envoy’s Abused Son Sent to Foster Home in Zimbabwe

The abused 9-year-old son of a Zimbabwean diplomat returned to his homeland today, two months after a court fight to keep him in the United States touched off an international diplomatic incident.

Officials said Terence Karamba arrived on an early morning flight from London and was sent to a foster home. A U.S. Embassy spokesman said the boy’s return meant that all U.S. involvement in the issue has ended. However the foster-care agency that cared for the boy in New York said the embassy would monitor his safety.

Terence became the focus of an international conflict after public school authorities in Queens told New York City officials of the suspected severe abuse by his father, Floyd Karamba, an administrative attache to Zimbabwe’s U.N. mission.

The United States expelled the elder Karamba after criminal charges against him were dropped because of his diplomatic immunity.

The school report prompted a court fight to keep Terence in the United States, a move Zimbabwe labeled a breach of diplomatic convention. The Supreme Court eventually cleared the way for the boy’s return to his homeland.

On Sunday night, Terence flew to London accompanied by a Zimbabwean social worker and a U.S. State Department psychiatrist.

Terence was ready to go back, according to Robert McMahon, head of St. Christopher-Ottilie Services for Children and Families, the foster-care agency that cared for the boy since December and gave him a going-away party Saturday.

McMahon said the return was set late last week after Secretary of State George P. Shultz approved the plan. Terence is to live with a foster family, and his safety will be monitored by the U.S. Embassy and the Zimbabwean Ministry of Social Welfare.

“With any of these cases, there’s always a lump at the bottom of your stomach,” McMahon said, “but I think the level of risk is as low as you can possibly get it.”