In the town of Lansing Michigan, USA, six years and six months ago, our innocent daughter Soray (30) was unbeknownst to us, taken from school without warning. A week later we were informed that our daughter was in a foster home and was not going to be coming home. This was the beginning of the most terrible, heartbreaking journey of our lives. 

It was the CMH administration that created this case based on false, baseless accusations, in which they took Soray from us in the first place. CMH, also known as the Community Mental Health Association of Michigan is the organization that has current guardianship of Soray -- which was forcefully acquired in 2019 -- and is holding her in foster care, away from her parents. From the very beginning we started working with our efforts to return our daughter Soray Arib home due to the intervention of CMH. During six years and six months, we went to court more than six times through a lawyer, each time due to the cruel and unemotional intervention of the CMH administration, we were unable to return Soray to her mother's warm embrace. Coincidentally, the new guardian in question was always affiliated with the courthouse and the jury in some way, putting the odds against us. 

Soray's background story:

⁠Soray Arib lost her sight after birth in the first months of her life due to an unfortunate anaesthesia reaction in the hospital. Our efforts in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and India were fruitless as we tried everything we could to treat her. Unsuccessful, we tried to find a way to immigrate to America, and after ten years of trying, we managed to travel to the beloved country of the United States and got a permanent residence permit. ⁠Unfortunately, the efforts of the doctors could not grant Soray her vision back. To this day, Soray remains deprived of sight. In addition, Soray is also deprived of hearing and speech and suffers from epilepsy. Soray lives on special medication and is deprived of all the material and spiritual blessings of life.

In the twenty four years she has spent with her mother, Soray has been hospitalized only twice for nervous attacks. She has been hospitalized more than 12 times in six years and six months under the care of CMH and the foster homes.. In two cases, Soray was close to having fatal accidents. In all cases, her mother and father took care of Soray together in the hospital, while no one from the foster home was willing to stay and look after Soray.

Soray has been injured several times at the foster home due to lack of care and compassion and was thus hospitalized. (Accurate documents and photos available).

At the foster home, a male provider once dragged her naked by the hair from the bathroom to the bedroom. This terrible incident is recorded in the archives of CMH and is completely unacceptable under the laws of the US government.

We as Sorays parents are ready to give our organs and blood to Soray if necessary, yet CMH seems to be the only bunch of people who cannot comprehend the lengths we are willing to go to provide a healthy, stable, comfortable life for our daughter. 

During the period of six years and six months, we have been feeding Soray food consistently. In the first three years, food was cooked and delivered twice a week and in the last three years once a week, consistently. Four types of hot food are cooked by Soray’s mother and get delivered to the foster home by either Aziz or Anisa. This is done because Soray deserves to eat the foods she knowingly likes and has enjoyed for over 20 years with her family. This is because she has a strict diet that pertains to her religion, health and likings, such as not eating pork, disliking heavily watered down foods, and consuming healthy, safe portions. It has come to our attention that Soray gained over 25 pounds within one year of living in foster care. This could be due to changes in her diet, inadequate exercise and activity, and most importantly, neglect. 

In the foster home, Soray is isolated from society and is deprived of all social relationships. During the 24 years that Soray was with us, she attended all the weddings and family gatherings of friends. Her friends and family would attend her birthday parties. On our trips to Canada she would experience the Rocky Mountains, accessibility handled horseback riding, boat rides and dancing at family gatherings. She was always with us and never neglected. At her foster home, she barely interacts with the caregivers, let alone any friends and family! 

Soray’s health has dramatically deteriorated while in foster care. While in foster care, Soray has become extremely weak, and her immune system reflects that. Soray has been admitted to the hospital for acute pneumonia and was treated at Sparrow Hospital for more than a week. Her doctor stressed that Soray needed constant care. This seemed odd and concerning to us as her parents, because his observation meant she was being neglected at her foster home.

After bathing Soray, her entire body and hair should be dried thoroughly and covered with a warm towel. She should be kept away from direct contact with the cold air conditioner, as any normal person would do for themselves. However, the Foster Home staff did not pay attention to this common knowledge, and we saw dozens of times that Soray slept with wet hair in the bedroom under the air conditioner. She was not raised that way and she is not used to being left cold and wet. This is the most common reason she gets colds easily and has unfortunately contracted pneumonia. Because of this neglect, we as her parents are growing tired of repeating the same instructions over and over again to the staff at the foster home. We have sent in at least 3 blowdryers, all of which have suspiciously gone missing. Once Soray was sent to the hospital, suddenly we were of use and were asked to visit her in the hospital as no one else from the foster home would. 

This document is being written with intention. As her parents, we demand that:

1.  Soray is to return home to the warm and irreplaceable embrace of her mother and father.
2. Anisa Arib, Soray’s mother, to be appointed as the first guardian.
3. Aziz Rahman Arib, Soray’s father, to remain appointed as the second Guardian.
4. Silai Azizol, Soray’s sister, to be appointed as the third guardian.

Over the past six years and six months, we have delivered three hot meals prepared by Soray’s  mother during the week to the foster home more than 500 times. We have driven seventy-five thousand miles to do this. This is a reflection of our love for our daughter. We choose to do this out of respect for her inability to make decisions, to speak on matters we know she wants to express. Her mother's tears, which have been shed continuously for six years and six months, make our family more fiery. We would like to add that Soray was born a Muslim girl, from two Muslim parents. And for Muslims, it is extremely forbidden and unacceptable for their daughters to stay away from their families and to have contact with any male who is not considered a relative. There are also some immutable norms that only her mother and her sister can reach, and this is the responsibility of Soray's mother and sister, not anyone else. CMH has only seemed to respect the rule about no pork being consumed by Soray, in regard to her religion, but what about the other factors that impact her just as much? These concerns are not to be taken lightly and are extremely sensitive to Soray’s religous and spiritual beliefs. 

It is unfortunate that what little income we had in reservation was spent on lawyers' fees. We don't have the means to pay for a lawyer anymore.

We ask that you please return our innocent daughter to the warm and loving embrace of her mother and father, and let her be able to sleep in her own bed, in her comfortable, safe home. Thank you. 

With regard,

Aziz & Anisa