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Behind the facade

A recent case in Tamil Nadu shows that the existing system has allowed child trafficking to take place for years under the guise of a perfectly legal adoption process.

ASHA KRISHNAKUMAR

P.V. Ravindranath (extreme right), his son Dinesh Kumar and wife Vatsala Ravindranath, who were running the Malaysian Social Service Society, at the Police Commissionerate in Chennai on May 7. The three were remanded by the Central Crime Branch in connection with the alleged child adoption racket.

ON May 3, 2005, the Central Crime Branch of the Chennai police arrested five people for kidnapping and selling about 350 children to an adoption agency in the city. Several lost children seem to have been given in adoption to families abroad over the last decade. Ironically, the police have found all the paperwork by the adoption agency to be clear. This highlights the need to look into the existing adoption system that allows for child trafficking under the guise of a perfectly legal adoption process.

Frontline investigation and documents available with it reveal that this is not an isolated case. Bending rules, circumventing norms, and following illegal and unethical ways to "source" children and sell them to foreigners under the guise of adoption is not uncommon among some agencies in Tamil Nadu.

Persons: Dinesh Kumar (Ravindranath), Vatsala wife of PV Ravindranath, Epuri Ramana Rao, PV Ravindranath

Organizations: Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), International Families, Inc. (IFI), Peace Society: Poor Economy and Children's Education Society, Malaysian Social Services (MSS)

THE ADOPTION MARKET

ASHA KRISHNAKUMAR

A Frontline investigation lays bare a multi-billion-dollar, countrywide racket in inter-country adoption of children, run by private adoption agencies that exploit the loopholes in the rules.

A new-born female child, which was sold by her mother in Salem, in the arms of her sisters after she was restored to the family by the district administration in 2002.

THE arrest in Chennai on May 3, 2005, of five kidnappers, who have sold over 350 children to an adoption agency in the city over many years; the inquiry ordered by the Delhi government into the process of inter-country adoptions in 10 agencies in the Capital; and the recent moves in Andhra Pradesh to book

Shalini Misra

Organizations: Preet Mandir, Peace Society: Poor Economy and Children's Education Society, Bala Mandir (India), Good Samaritan Evangelical Social Welfare, Evan B Donaldson Adoption Institute, Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), International Families, Inc. (IFI), St. Theresa's Tender Loving Care Home, Indian Council for Social Welfare

Persons: Andal Damodaran, Epuri Ramana Rao, unknown Rao - Treasurer of Peace Society, Gita Ramaswamy, Sankala Peter Subbaiah, Mrudula Rao, Sardar Joginder Singh Bhasin

Subdivisions: Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh

De Ségou à Paris, les jumelles Cissé ont-elles été vendues ?

Un ex-agent de l’Office du Niger Ségou est à la recherche de ses jumelles. Celles-ci ont été adoptées en France depuis 1990. Mais voici 12 ans que Mr Cissé est sans trace de sa progéniture. Récit d’un mélodrame sous le couvert de la solidarité qui a cependant tout l’air d’un trafic d’enfant.

Nous sommes en 1990. Précisément le 17 Mars. Dans la famille Cissé, naît ce jour là, deux jumelles que les parents ont vite fait de baptiser une semaine après Hawa et Adama. Le père, Alassane Cissé est le principal graisseur de la station de pompage de l’Office du Niger. La mère est ménagère. Moins d’un mois après son accouchement, le sort en décidera autrement pour cette dernière. Balkissa Traoré décède le 9 avril 1990.

Déjà, avec 4 autres orphelins dans les bras sans compter les jumelles et se trouvant dans une fonction précaire, Alassane Cissé sera à l’écoute des compassions et des âmes charitables. « Le jour de l’enterrement de ma femme, un militaire en retraite du nom de Alou Traoré m’a proposé de voir le service de l’action sociale afin de prendre les jumelles en charge. Comme je ne savais ni lire, ni écrire j’ai juste informé le lendemain Oumar Tounkara un syndicaliste de l’Office du Niger qui a contacté à son tour le SG Ntji Coulibaly et Oumou Koné du Service Administratif de l’Office du Niger.

Puis on m’a dit que le Directeur Général, à l’époque Moussa Léo Sidibé, a fait un papier dans ce sens pour la Direction Régionale de la Santé. Ce que je sais après tout cela, c’est qu’au deuxième jour, on m’a appelé à travers Haby Doucouré au Centre de Santé Famory Doumbia pour me signifier qu’une toubab va s’occuper désormais des enfants. Moi je ne l’ai jamais vue mais j’ai donné mon accord vu tout l’entourage qui se battait pour moi dans mes difficultés…. », nous raconte Alassane Cissé, un compressé de l’Office du Niger depuis 1994 habitant aujourd’hui le quartier Darsalam. En réalité, cette Toubab dont elle parle se trouve être Danielle Boudault dont le nom nous été donné par une responsable féminine de Bamako versée dans les histoires d’adoption d’enfants mais qui nous a informé également que cette dernière ne vit plus au Mali se trouvant aujourd’hui précisément à Limours en France. C’était une assistante technique au Mali par le biais de la Coopération Internationale et qui donnait des cours à l’ENA de Bamako avant de se trouver peu de temps après, Correspondante d’une ONG française qui s’occupe de l’adoption des enfants.

Cette ONG s’appelle Rayon de Soleil de l’Enfant Etranger. Tout allait bien au départ puisque la famille Cissé recevait des photos des enfants, mais juste des photos des enfants, jusqu’en 1997 où démarra le silence radio. Ni Danielle, ni la responsable du secteur Afrique de cette ONG, en l’occurrence Nael Yelaine dont nous avions trouvé le nom et l’adresse sur un coupon de papier encore moins les services de l’action sociale de Ségou n’étaient en mesure de dire où se trouvaient les jumelles et que sont-elles devenues. Ce que nous, nous savons, grâce aux photos envoyées depuis la France c’est qu’entre 1990 et 1997 les jumelles Hawa et Adama ont connu deux familles d’adoption.

Countries: Mali, France

JCICS did not agree with Poupard/Unicef Romania's letter of 2/4/2004

JCICS was part of a meeting yesterday with three congressional offices, two from Kentucky and one from Illinois. Through a meeting with Chris Smith, they were referred to the Helsinki Commission, one of the largest Human Rights watch groups in the world, and a meeting has been set with them for 3pm today. Also discussed was the February 2004 letter from Pierre Poupard of UNICEF to the Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase as it directly contradicts the UNICEF statement from January 2004 that indicated international adoption is one viable form of child welfare. (See attachment to minutes.)

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Organizations: Joint Council on International Children's Services (JCICS), Lobby to Re-open Romanian Adoptions (2001- ), Unicef New York

Countries: Romania

Persons: Pierre Poupard

De Combret - Barrot: Negative letter Rehn, cannot meet FdC

Organizations: European Commission

Persons: Michel Barnier, Pierre Moscovici, Olli Rehn, Francois de Combret (Francois Polge de Combret), Jacques Barrot

Viewing cable 05BUCHAREST1173, A/S HARTY MEETINGS IN ROMANIA ON ADOPTIONS (Basescu/REhn)

Viewing cable 05BUCHAREST1173, A/S HARTY MEETINGS IN ROMANIA ON ADOPTIONS

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Organizations: Lobby to Re-open Romanian Adoptions (2001- ), Wikileaks

Countries: Romania

Persons: Olli Rehn

Spanish Adoption Rates Hit All-Time High

Wednesday, May 04 2005 @ 11:38 PM Central Daylight Time

Spain has become Europe’s first country and the world’s second after the United States in adopting foreign children as marriage and birth rates in the southern European country are hitting all-time low.

The latest government statistics showed that foreign adoptees in 2004 reached 6,000 with a 40% increase compared to the previous year.

The statistics indicate that adoptive parents go abroad, bringing about 80 percent of the overall number of adopted children and then finalizing legal adoption requirements at home.

Countries: Ethiopia, Spain, Morocco, China

ROMANIA: DEMARCHE CONCERNING PENDING INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION CASES (US)

ROMANIA: DEMARCHE CONCERNING PENDING INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION CASES

Date:2005 April 29, 12:47 (Friday) Canonical ID:05BUCHAREST1062_a

Original Classification:CONFIDENTIAL Current Classification:CONFIDENTIAL

Handling Restrictions:-- Not Assigned -- Character Count:5742

Executive Order:-- Not Assigned -- Locator:TEXT ONLINE

Organizations: European Commission, European Parliament, Wikileaks

Countries: Romania

Wikileaks - Star of Romania, Adoptions, Visas, Restitution, UNHRC - ROmania

Reference ID

Created

Released

Classification

Origin

Organizations: Wikileaks

Countries: Romania

WRITTEN QUESTION by Mairead McGuinness (PPE?DE) to the Commission - Negru Voda

Parliamentary questions

25 April 2005

E-1540/05

WRITTEN QUESTION by Mairead McGuinness (PPE?DE) to the Commission

Subject: The roll-out of national pilot projects for the reform of state institutions in Romania

Persons: Mairead McGuinness

Organizations: European Commission

Countries: Romania