This is Neven Kucelj, a judge from Donja Stubica, a sleepy little town in Zagorje — a rural region of Croatia just a short drive from the capital which feels frozen in time.

I used to bump into Judge Kucelj when I started working in Donja Stubica for an American property investor. My family had bought a flat there, and we used to pass by each other when I was out walking my dog. A dapper, bohemian fellow, often dressed in a corduroy suit, perhaps with a paisley cravat, he would mumble hello into his beard and avoid eye contact. His parents live next door to a good friend of mine.

When I signed the contract for the flat, I never imagined that this risked trapping me in Donja Stubica for the rest of my working life. I never dreamed that one day a Croatian man I was yet to meet yet would try to defraud my family and I of our property and cash, and take away from me the two children I was destined to give life to.

I never dreamed of the role Judge Neven Kucelj would play in this.

In 2007 I entered a courtroom for the first time in my life. A local man brought a vexatious claim against my employer, and I was called as a witness. Judge Kucelj didn’t take long to see through the claimant and throw out the case, telling him that he was wasting everyone’s time.

The historical study on the illicit practices of international adoption in France, made public by two historians from the University of Angers, could well mark a turning point in this policy which is similar to human trafficking. This report, which identifies “systematic illicit practices, source of immense profits” is in every respect frightening. The two researchers Fabio Macedo and Yves Denéchèrewho have gone through some 9,600 pages of archives from the State's diplomatic archives, shed light on a bewildering system of trafficking in bought children, the creation of false orphans, even kidnappings when the biological mothers refuse to abandon their offspring. In the microcosm, this state of affairs is not really a surprise. Already in 2000, the United Nations and UNICEF published a damning report on the subject. There was then the highly publicized scandal of the association l'Arche de Zoéwho had tried to exfiltrate a hundred children from Darfur to France. The novelty that this new study highlights is that these facts have been repeatedly denounced by the French diplomatic corps, without their supervisory administration being concerned about it. In fact, five associations seriously questioned in the report are still approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs! These shortcomings tinged with a culpable laxity demonstrate the gross dysfunctions of the State in terms of control, but also in the feedback of information to the decision-making centres. France would be well advised to distance itself from this policy of scribbling which could end up playing tricks on it. Since last September, the UN has allowed illegal adoptions to be recognized as crimes against humanity. France, the fourth host country in the world, has allowed the arrival on its soil of 120,000 children since 1970. How many are affected by these excesses? The report does not say so. The grenade of illicit adoption is however unpinned. It remains to be seen where and when it will explode.

An apology to the victims of forced adoption in Wales has been welcomed by campaigners as pressure builds on the Scottish Government to do the same.

Julie Morgan, the deputy minister for social services in Wales, apologised to the unmarried mothers forced to give up their babies saying their suffering has been “appalling”.

She said: “I would like to ­convey my deepest sympathy and regret that, due to society failing you, you had to endure such appalling historical practices. For this I am truly sorry.”

The Welsh Assembly member added: “Whilst forced adoption practices predate devolution in Wales, they have a lasting legacy on all those who experienced them – for both the parents and the children. I want to put on record my profound sympathy to all those who have been affected by historic forced adoption.”

Scotland’s leading forced ­adoption campaigner, Marion McMillan, whose evidence was considered as Australia led the world 10 years ago to make the first official apology, said Nicola Sturgeon had had a decade to say “sorry”, but had failed to do so.

In the landscape of initiatives aimed at better understanding the history of international adoption and the many irregularities that have affected it, the " Historical study on illicit practices in international adoption in France was published on February 6, 2023. Carried out by Yves Denéchère, professor at the University of Angers and recognized specialist in the history of international adoption, and Fabio Macedo, doctor of history, the study, rather than analyzing in detail the adoptive practice between such and such countries at such and such a period (as did the Netherlands and Switzerland for example), produces a unique compilation of the available sources. The body of the document thus consists of a review of academic literature including a rich bibliography, and an annotated guide to sources – archives, audiovisual sources, press – likely to document illicit practices. The conclusions offer “ avenues for reflection to launch in-depth research on the subject or more simply to guide the analyzes".

This enormous work of researching sources draws a fascinating history as to the way in which information relating to abuses and bad practices have, since the 1970s, flowed between the countries of origin and France. Communications from diplomatic representations are particularly enlightening in this respect, pointing out precisely and sometimes insistently the problems noted by the diplomats in charge of issuing visas. Explicit press articles concerning trafficking are also listed as early as 1976.

In their analysis, the authors conclude: " Since the 1980s at least, and in particular major court cases and publicized in Peru or Brazil, all the structured actors of international adoption were aware of illicit practices perpetrated in the adoption international. They could not therefore be unaware of the risks of offenses relating to international adoption ” (p.137). And to add:It would have been necessary to be blind and deaf to what was said, shared, written, published. This position is even less defensible coming from people or associations claiming experience and expertise in international adoption, a rigorous choice of their partners and in-depth knowledge of the contexts and procedures of the countries of origin in which they work. . In doing so, they bear an undeniable share of responsibility for certain deviations ” (p.140).

Coincidentally, I have just finished Véronique Piaser-Moyen's testimonial book " My daughter, I didn't know ". The author first recounts the story of the adoption of her daughter in Sri Lanka in 1984, describing in detail those very special moments when candidates for adoption become adoptive parents. The second part of the book is devoted to uncovering the widespread abuses when Sri Lanka practiced large-scale intercountry adoption. This book is of real interest if you want to understand the origins of the difficult questions that cross international adoption today. By following these parents step by step, we realize how difficult, if not impossible, it would have been to question an administrative act or an incongruous request when picking up the child. Language, emotional stress, the staging of local actors and a certain underlying violence make any initiative, any questioning of the system, illusory. This powerlessness becomes devastating upon discovery of the abuse, leading to feelings of betrayal and guilt that are very difficult to overcome. It is repeated when the "fight for the truth" which then begins also becomes a source of stress, threats and disappointment, especially since Mrs. Piaser-Moyen, after her adoption, is involved in helping other French families wishing to adopt in Sri Lanka.

Putting the historical study and intimate testimony into perspective then questions the statement quoted above regarding the blindness of the actors and their respective responsibilities. For the researchers, the information was there, but hardly anyone paid it the necessary attention. For the Piaser-Moyen parents “ They [the French State] knew and they told us nothing ” making them “ accomplices in an irreparable crime ” (p.329).

32-year-old Iresha was born in India and adopted as a baby by Dutch adoptive parents. Iresha is 12 years old when she dares to confide in someone and tells them about what is really going on at her home. At the age of 15 she was removed from her home. She spends her teenage years in various youth care institutions.

Years later, she has gotten her life on track independently. She lives in Antwerp where she attends the art academy and works on her works of art with great passion. This is her story.

Where I come from

I grew up in a family with Dutch parents. After I arrived in the Netherlands, my parents adopted my sister from Colombia. My mother became pregnant twice more. She interrupted one pregnancy and when I was 7 years old they had another son. I've always felt different. I looked different from the people around me.

When I was 5 years old, I traveled to India with my adoptive parents to meet my biological mother. This was a traumatic experience. I was too young to be confronted with my background; the different culture in India and the poverty I saw. When I got off the plane and was confronted with the people living on the streets, I had to throw up.

A shocking report compiled by two historians questions the 'systemic' nature of the irregularities that have persisted in some 20 countries for over 30 years.

Pandora's box has been opened. These last few years, the growing number of testimonies of French people claiming to have been illegally adopted abroad already suggested that such abuses were numerous in France. But the "Historical Study on the Illicit Practices of International Adoption in France" published on Monday, February 6, by historians Fabio Macedo and Yves Denéchère presents an even more shocking picture of the scale of the issue.

"This raises questions regarding the commonality of these illicit practices and their systemic nature," said the two researchers attached to the University of Angers. In December 2021, the French Foreign Affairs Ministry signed an agreement to allow them to compile this independent research report.

Their study, based on 9,600 pages of archives from the government's diplomatic collections, most of them classified, demonstrates that numerous illicit adoptions have been carried out in over 20 countries since 1979, despite the incessant warnings sent by the consular services to the Foreign Affairs Ministry. These include: "Child trafficking" and "irregular adoptions" in Chile, Paraguay and Peru. "Monthly income" offered to biological parents in exchange for their child in India. "Corruption and document fraud" in Cambodia. "Abductions," "fabrication of false orphans" and the forced abandonment "of newborns by very young mothers" to meet "the demand of French adoptive parents" in Madagascar.

Facts The association "Le Rayon de Soleil de l'enfant etranger", accused of "serious" abuses, had its authorization withdrawn by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday 10 February.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Friday February 10 that it had withdrawn its accreditation from the association "Le Rayon de Soleil de l'enfant etranger" (RDSEE), implicated for irregularities in procedures for adopted children. This clearance was withdrawn "due to his past activities" , said a diplomatic source.

On its website, RDSEE confirms that it “will cease its International Adoption activities on December 27, 2023” , as already specified in a decree published in the Official Journal on December 28, 2022.

“The ministry, in taking this decision, considered that the repeated attacks against the RDSEE in certain media did not allow (it) to fully carry out its mission. We contest this decision, a first complaint having been filed in July 2020 and no other complaint being known to date , ”says RDSEE on its site.

An association accused of "drift"

A little girl named Aya, whose mother did not survive, was rescued in Jenderis, Syria, more than 10 hours after the 7.8 magnitude quake rocked the region

A child born in the aftermath of the earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria, killing more than 20,000 people, will soon have a new home.

The baby, who's been given the name Aya, was rescued in Jenderis, Syria, more than 10 hours after the 7.8 magnitude quake rocked the region, the Associated Press reported.

The child was orphaned by the quake, which killed her mother Afraa Abu Hadiya, her father and her four siblings, according to the BBC.

Aya was likely born shortly after Monday's earthquake, and was still attached by umbilical cord to her mother when she was rescued, per the reports.

JOHANNESBURG - An adoption nightmare, or human trafficking? In Zambia in Southern Africa, eight Croatians have been arrested twice on the same human trafficking charge. The eight are accused of child trafficking in general, and in particular of having forged adoption papers for four children from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who they wanted to take to Croatia.

Charges against the Croatians were dropped earlier this month, but they were re-arrested on the same charge at the airport as they tried to leave the country 48 hours later.

Croatia’s Justice Minister Ivan Malenica has condemned the re-arrest as "strange", saying at a press conference reported by Croatian news site N1 that he is concerned about this "very serious situation," as he claims adoption papers for the children are not forged.

"Those documents were issued in Croatia according to a valid procedure," he told reporters in Zagreb, Croatia. "In addition to the adult Croatian citizens, naturally, we are continuing to care for the children as well."

The eight Croatians – four couples – have all pleaded not guilty. The seemingly regular couples are also professionals with jobs including an administrator, an electrical technician, a medical doctor, a program director and a professional musician who is a guitarist in a popular music band.

The Bombay High Court Thursday came down heavily on the Maharashtra government for its stand that benefits like reservation extneded to orphaned children cannot be given to abandoned children [NEST India Foundation v. State of Maharashtra & Ors]

A division bench of Justices GS Patel and Neela Gokhale noted that the Juvenile Justice Act does not distinguish between a child who is abandoned and a child who is an orphan.

“We note the definition of orphans, interestingly, also includes children whose legal guardian is incapable of caring for the child. Point to be noted is that act itself does not distinguish between child who is adopted and child who is orphan” the order states.

The Court was hearing a petition filed by NEST India Foundation, a charitable trust, which sought issuance of certificate from the authorities to the girls declaring them as abandoned children.

Government pleader Purnima Kantharia informed the Court about a government resolution which does not permit certificate to be given to an abandoned child.