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Bericht uit Bogota · We hebben onze “auto”

10 minuten leestijd

Sinds 19 december jl. verblijft ons Kamerlid Van der Staaij met zijn gezin in Colombia om de adoptie van hun dochtertje Camila te 'regelen'. Zij houden ons goed op de hoogte van hun belevenissen en via De Banier geven we dat graag aan u door.

23 januari, terug in Bogota

Vandaag zijn we hier weer teruggevlogen en is het precies vijf weken geleden dat wij zijn aangekomen in Colombia. We zijn nu in ons derde hotel aangeland: Casa Nueva, de dependance van het hotel Paris, waar we eerst gezeten hebben. Anders dan in Paris, zitten in Casa Nueva alleen maar Nederlandse adoptie-echtparen.

in English

Government Approves More Curbs On Foreign Adoptions

The European Union is demanding that candidate country Romania provide urgent information on the adoption of many Romanian children abroad despite a 2001 moratorium. The request follows a call from European Parliament's rapporteur on Romania to suspend membership negotiations with Bucharest unless more reforms are implemented, including measures to protect children's rights. The unprecedented call raises the issue of whether the EU integration process for candidate countries is reversible.

Prague, 5 February 2004 (RFE/RL) -- The European Union says it has requested urgent clarification from the Romanian government regarding the continuation of adoptions abroad despite a 2001 moratorium.

Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen has sent a letter to Prime Minister Adrian Nastase demanding explanations about reports that more than 100 Romanian children have been sent to Italy under unclear circumstances.

The letter follows harsh criticism by the European Parliament's rapporteur for Romania, Emma Nicholson, who accused Romania of violating the moratorium on foreign adoptions. She warned that the European Parliament could recommend admission talks be suspended "unless the country's reform process is put back on track."

European Commission spokesman Diego de Ojeda told RFE/RL that the commission wants the moratorium enforced until the legal framework and administrative apparatus are strong enough to ensure the children's protection. "This is an issue of concern -- the fact that the rights of the children to be adopted should be fully respected," he said. "And, therefore, our position on the matter is that the moratorium that has been in place for some time should remain until satisfactory legislation has been adopted by the Romanian authorities and, as importantly, appropriate administrative capacity is also put in place to ensure the full respect of the rights of these children. In his letter, Mr. Verheugen has been asking for some information and clarification on a number of elements that we expect to receive from the Romanian authorities as a matter of urgency."

"The Daily Telegraph," a British newspaper, reported that Verheugen's letter went as far as to warn about a "recovery of funds" already spent by the EU -- some $75 million -- to help Romania cope with its institutionalized children. Nastase's spokeswoman admitted in a letter to the newspaper today that Verheugen's message does mention "a possible recovery of funds if accusations regarding illegal adoptions prove true."

Romania is expected to join the EU in 2007 at the earliest, and Bucharest expects to wrap up negotiations by the end of this year. But Nicholson said in a statement yesterday that Bucharest has failed to do enough to fight endemic corruption, to reform its judiciary and administration, and to protect the rights of children. Nicholson said that unless Romania does more, there is what she called a "strong likelihood" that the European Parliament will recommend to the commission that membership talks "be put on ice."

Nastase's Social Democrat government, which is up for re-election this year, has admitted that some 857 children have been adopted abroad since the moratorium, including the 105 to Italy. But it argued that all had been "pipeline cases," close to being finalized when the moratorium came into effect. Bucharest also promised to speed up the reform of its corruption-riddled judiciary and reinforce the moratorium on adoptions.

Romania's chief negotiator with the EU, Vasile Puscas, today told RFE/RL: "What we will do now is to implement very strictly the action plan regarding the reform strategy of the judiciary, and, of course, our answer will be the implementation of the acquis [communitaire, the European Union's body of laws], which has already been adopted into our legal system -- the implementation on the ground. Regarding the judiciary, several very important laws are expected. Regarding the situation of abandoned children, we will continue the policy which we began in 2001, to put stress first of all on child care outside the institutionalized system."

The EU itself came under criticism for lacking a common approach regarding the foreign adoptions issue, with countries such as Spain or Italy appearing favorable to a more relaxed policy.

Puscas said the lack of a common policy has posed difficulties for Romania. "There is no acquis in the EU regarding the [adoption] theme," he said. "We base our work mainly on the UN documents and the human rights chart, but there are different opinions among the EU member states. It has been very difficult to reach consensus, not on the Romanian side, but on the EU members' side. Now we have asked that the EU also express a very clear position."

Analysts say it is not uncommon for the EU to send warning letters to candidate countries when they do not fulfill the political criteria for membership. Analyst Heather Grabbe of the London-based Center for European Reform (CER) said such letters have been sent in the past to Slovak Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar. But Grabbe told RFE/RL that it is the first time that a candidate has come so close to having the EU consider the issue of suspending negotiations. "The EU has not got a common position on this [suspension issue] yet, and even the commission itself hasn't taken a clear line of saying that it is going to suspend negotiations [with Romania]," she said. "But it's true this is the first time that a candidate country has been so close to the commission having to look at the question of suspending negotiations. It's primarily because of action by the [European] Parliament."

Grabbe says that by mentioning the possibility -- however remote -- of a suspension of negotiations, the EU has sent a strong signal to all current and future EU hopefuls that they have to strictly observe the political criteria. Turkey, which is a candidate but has yet to be given a clear date to start admission talks, has had a difficult time fulfilling the political criteria.

"The EU has, in fact, shown itself in the past to be willing to enforce its political conditionality, and I think it will do so in future, definitely with Turkey," Grabbe said. "Turkey has to fulfill the political conditions before it can begin negotiations, and the EU is keeping a very close eye on that. So the commission will come up with a report in the autumn in which they will say whether or not they think Turkey has met the political conditions. But even if the country is said to have met the conditions and actually started negotiations, as Romania has done and as Turkey will do at some point, even after that, the conditions are not deemed to have been met forever."

Grabbe concluded that the European Commission does not appear to be trying to present Romania as a negative example to others. But the European Parliament has reiterated that it remains very keen that candidates not only must meet all the technical conditions, but also the political conditions.

Adrian Nastase: under pressure to control child traffiking 

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Brussels 12:01AM GMT 04 Feb 2004

The European Commission has warned Romania to halt the export of children for adoption or face a bar on EU membership and the severance of aid funds.

The commission wrote to Adrian Nastase, the prime minister, warning that his government's conduct failed to meet the "political criteria" on human rights required for EU accession. Romania is hoping to join in 2007.

The unprecedented letter, signed by Gunther Verheugen, the enlargement commissioner, not only threatened to cut off aid but also referred to the need for a "recovery of funds" already spent unless Bucharest can account for its actions.

Officials say £42 million of aid is at risk.

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The dispute comes after Italian reports that Romania had sent 105 children to Italy on dubious pretexts, confirming suspicions in Brussels that the Nastase government is turning a blind eye to racketeering by adoption agencies and corrupt officials.

Romania imposed a moratorium on adoptions in 2001 at the request of Lady Nicholson, a Liberal-Democrat MEP and the European Parliament's "rapporteur" on Romania. She said organised crime was exploiting reports about the country's orphanages as a "cover" for a much wider child-abuse industry.

More than 30,000 children were shipped out for adoption over 10 years, generating hundreds of millions of pounds for agencies and middle men. Each child fetched £20,000 to £35,000.

Few were actually orphans and some were stolen babies. Last month it was disclosed that a maternity hospital at Ploiesti had been tricking mothers by pretending their premature babies died at birth.

The infants were in fact "fattened" in a pre-natal wing for six months before being exported. It is claimed that 23 babies were smuggled out by the hospital last year alone.

In other cases, vulnerable young girls were pressured into giving up their babies for as little as £300 cash.

Lady Nicholson said little had changed since the moratorium was imposed. "It is a well-oiled machine that seems to rest on a partnership between the adoption agencies and corrupt officials, from top to bottom of the administration. There are wonderful people making huge efforts to stop it but they are not winning.

"The courts appear to be corrupt. One judge rubber-stamped 92 cases in a single morning. There are no files. Children are just a number in a computer. The agencies get a court order and grab the child. It's kidnapping.

"Some are girls and boys approaching puberty. They are sent off against their will to an unknown future. I shudder to think of their fate. You see advertisements on the internet for pre-pubescent virgins with a $30,000 price tag."

Outraged Euro-MPs are demanding that Romania's request to join the EU be put on ice. A draft resolution by the European Parliament calls for "root-and-branch reform of the justice system" before renewing accession talks.

According to official figures, 1,000 Romanian children have been adopted abroad over the last two years but the real number could be much higher.

Mr Nastase said they were "pipeline cases" dating from commitments back to 2001, claiming that foreign parents were already living with the children in Romania.

But Mr Verheugen disputed the claim, noting that most were taken from foster homes or "other suitable care situations" in Romania.

An EU official said: "They were happily settled. Romania is a poor country and so these families don't have swimming pools in the yard but foster care is no worse than in any other country."

While most adoptive parents in the EU and America offer loving homes, the Commission said lack of tracking data made it impossible to know where children ended up.

"There is a very big risk that a number fall into the hands of paedophile networks. I didn't believe it for a long time but all the evidence points that way," said an official.

Romanian officials say they are caught in a tug-of-war between two camps. While one part of the EU demands an adoption ban, Italy, Spain, and France want laxer rules to meet their collapsing fertility rates.

Adrian Nastase: under pressure to control child traffiking By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Brussels 12:01AM GMT 04 Feb 2004

The European Commission has warned Romania to halt the export of children for adoption or face a bar on EU membership and the severance of aid funds.

The commission wrote to Adrian Nastase, the prime minister, warning that his government's conduct failed to meet the "political criteria" on human rights required for EU accession. Romania is hoping to join in 2007.

Naar School in Haïti

Februari 2004: De stichting biedt inmiddels aan heel veel kinderen onderwijs. Graag verwijs ik hiervoor naar haar eigen site.

Gert Hardeman

Oorspronkelijke tekst:

Elk kind heeft recht op voeding, kleding, onderdak en onderwijs. Dit recht wordt werkelijkheid voor de kinderen "van" de Stichting Naar School in Haïti. De stichting doet meer dan haar naam aangeeft, maar daarmee begint het wel: het volgen van onderwijs is het begin van het einde van armoede.

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#1

02-19-2004, 11:24 AM

mama4kidz

Junior Member

(February 2004) Information on the use of your contributions and donations: help for abandoned children in Romania

(French only)

Grâce à vos contributions et dons réguliers, l’Association des agents du Conseil de l’Europe "Entraide-Solidarités" participe depuis plusieurs années aux efforts menés en Roumanie pour sortir les enfants abandonnés, parfois handicapés, des institutions inhumaines ou tout le moins pour rénover ou reconstruire ces institutions.

En 2003, l’association a soutenu l’action de SERA et M. François de Combret (SERA) nous écrit :

"... Le petit garçon qui a dessiné ce bonhomme de neige s'appelle Nelu ; il a 9 ans. Abandonné à la naissance, il a vécu ses premières années dans le sinistre "mouroir" de Ungureni (Roumanie). Grâce à votre générosité et à celle d'autres donateurs de SERA, il est sorti de cet enfer et il se trouve maintenant dans un orphelinat spécialement aménagé pour lui et 41 autres petits rescapés de Ungureni. Dans ce nouvel orphelinat, Nelu a accompli de grands progrès, comme le montre le joli dessin ci-joint.

State seizes books of Holt foster-parent organization

State seizes books of Holt foster-parent organization

Monday, January 26, 2004

By The Associated Press

HOLT -- State authorities are investigating the possible embezzlement

UNICEF has released an official position statement on intercountry adoption, which clarifies the often controversial Article 21 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The ambiguity of Article 21 has lead some to interpret the Article as supportive of long term institutionalization over intercountry adoption--a position that at times seemed to be an official stance of UNICEF.

The Statement, released on 01/15/04, acknowledges that institutionalization should be a short term measure, and that intercountry adoption should be an option when a permanent family cannot be found for the child in his or her country of birth.

The statement also acknowledges the problems that often occur in adoption, and encourages the use of the Hague Convention as one solution to these problems.

Ethica strongly believes that reform of the intercountry adoption process is necessary in many countries of origin and in receiving countries. On the other hand, it must be acknowledged that rapid and unplanned changes often result in moratoria and the rapid decline of protective child welfare services in many countries, often making children even more vulnerable to human rights abuses. In light of this, Ethica strongly supports the gradual implementation of changes which address both short and long term goals for establishing appropriate child welfare policies.