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Julienne Mpemba from Namur, prosecuted for trafficking children from Congo to Belgium, risks 12 years in prison: "The authorities of the two countries did not do their job properly in order to verify the identity of these children", argues the defense

The last day of the trial of Julienne Mpemba from Namur, prosecuted for adoption fraud, human trafficking, kidnapping of minors, hostage-taking, fraud, corruption as well as forgery and use of forged documents, took place this Wednesday before the criminal court of Namur.

 

Mumbai Court Grants Bail To Doctor And 9 Others In Child Trafficking Case For Fake Adoption Saying 'It Doesn't Fall Under Trafficking Laws'

Mumbai Court Grants Bail To Doctor And 9 Others In Child Trafficking Case For Fake Adoption Saying 'It Doesn't Fall Under Trafficking Laws'

Granting bail to Dr. Khandare, sessions judge VM Pathade said the offence prima facie does not fall under the definition of human trafficking as section 370 includes “exploitation”

Charul Shah Joshi | Aishwarya Iyer Updated: Wednesday, July 03, 2024, 11:27 AM IST

 

 

Inquiries from biological relatives abroad - Henvendelser fra biologisk slægt i udlandet

Inquiries from biological relatives abroad - Henvendelser fra biologisk slægt i udlandet 

120,000 'stolen' babies: Georgia's trafficking scandal

Georgian student Elene Deisadze was browsing TikTok in 2022 when she stumbled across the profile of a girl, Anna Panchulidze, who looked exactly like her.  

Months later, after chatting and becoming friends, they both separately learnt they were adopted, and last year decided to take a DNA test. 

It revealed they were not only related, but identical twins. 

"I had a happy childhood, but now my entire past felt like a deception," Anna, an English student at university, told AFP. 

Far from an innocent case of separation at birth, the sisters are among tens of thousands of Georgian children who were illegally sold in a decades-long baby trafficking scandal. 

Trafficking of Congolese children: the woman from Namur denies the facts but risks up to 12 years in prison

Julienne Mpemba's trial, which began on June 24, is coming to an end. The Namur native of Congolese origin risks up to 12 years in prison for child trafficking. The children had been taken from their families in Congo to be adopted in Belgium.


It took seven years for the case to finally come to a conclusion . In a few days, Julienne Mpemba will know whether she has been found guilty or not. The 47-year-old woman from Namur of Congolese origin is suspected of human trafficking, adoption fraud, kidnapping of minors, hostage-taking, fraud, corruption and forgery . In 2016, the federal prosecutor's office revealed that at least three of the 11 children who arrived in Belgium in 2015 had been kidnapped. They had been given other identities and dates of birth even though they were not intended to be adopted . These illegal procedures had nevertheless gone under the radar of the Authorized Adoption Organizations (OAA), the French Community and the Belgian and Congolese authorities (several people and organizations were prosecuted but all the cases ended in dismissal).

The trial began on June 24 and, on Wednesday July 3, the pleadings and replies were on the menu for this third day of hearing. Who is Julienne Mpemba? Arriving alone in Belgium, during her youth, she studied law at UCL. With her degree in hand, she then found a job as a lawyer in the Walloon Region. She also ran on the socialist lists during the 2014 European elections. " Because she was sensitive to the poverty in Congo, she decided to create a non-profit organization in 2008 with the aim of sponsoring abandoned children. She herself adopted a little Congolese boy, notes her counsel. She knows the reality of adoption. From 2011, the project will change and become more ambitious. During 2012, several idealists launched the adoption component and created the Tumaini orphanage, which means "hope", in collaboration with the French Community (FWB). Mrs. Mpemba found premises in Congo, nannies and an administrative team to supervise all the young children who were often in poor health. The aim is to offer them a chance."

"She got into debt for these children"

Two waves of adoptions took place in 2012 and 2013. But on September 25, 2013, a moratorium was issued by Joseph Kabila, the former president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, saying that children could no longer leave the country for adoptions. " Everyone is in a terrible situation at that time," continues the defense counsel. "We had to feed these children, provide them with medical care, pay the rent for the orphanage, the salaries of the nannies, ... But there is no support, no social security, no subsidy, no help to run this orphanage. So it is Mrs. Mpemba who is struggling on her own funds. She has gone into debt everywhere to run the structure and accommodate these children."

Adoptee stolen at birth sues Chile over thousands of dictatorship-era thefts

Adoptee stolen at birth sues Chile over thousands of dictatorship-era thefts

Jimmy Lippert Thyden González alleges country engaged in plan to steal babies from perceived enemies in 70s and 80s

 

Associated Press in Santiago

Mon 1 Jul 2024 20.07 BST

Born and sold: The dark truth behind Nepal’s child adoption

Born and sold: The dark truth behind Nepal’s child adoption

child adoption 

Raised in the Netherlands, Shanti Chalise was always curious about her skin colour, which differed from her family. Her parents and brother had white skin, but she had brown. Sometimes, she felt bad about it.

But after some years, another child with a similar skin colour as Chalise joined the family. Only then did she learn about Nepal.

“He was two years older than me. He used to tell me repeatedly – Shanti, we came from Nepal,” Chalise recalls. “He frequently wished to see his photos taken in Nepal.”

Chinese boy adopted by Dutch couple finds biological parents after 12-year-long search Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/world/chinese-boy-adopted-by-dutch-couple-finds-biological-parents-after-12-year-long-search

Chinese boy adopted by Dutch couple finds biological parents after 12-year-long search In 1994, Gouming got lost when his parents were travelling from their home in China's Jiangsu province to his mother's hometown in Sichuan province. DH Web Desk La...

A PhD graduate in linguistics, Gouming Martens of the Chinese descent has found his birth parents after a 12-year-long quest. ADVERTISEMENT According to a report by South China Morning Post, Gouming was adopted by a couple from Netherlands when he was four-years-old after he got lost while travelling with this biological parents. In 1994, Gouming got lost when his parents were travelling from their home in China's Jiangsu province to his mother's hometown in Sichuan province. He was sent to to an orphanage and was adopted in 1996 by a Dutch couple - Jozef and Maria Martens. According to SCMP, the orphanage had named him Gou Yongming and after adoption, the Martens called him Gouming so that he could remember where he came from as they ...

Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/world/chinese-boy-adopted-by-dutch-couple-finds-biological-parents-after-12-year-long-search-3087620


 

Encourage only legal adoptions, Andhra Pradesh State Child Rights Protection Commission urges all stakeholders

There is a misconception among people that children will be given for adoption through various hospitals in the State, say the Commission representatives


Andhra Pradesh State Child Rights Protection Commission (APSCRPC) has called upon all stakeholders to encourage only legal adoptions.

An awareness programme for gynaecologists, paediatricians, nursing, paramedical and other staff of King George Hospital (KGH) was organised jointly by APSCRPC and the KGH at the Ethics Gallery of the hospital on Tuesday.

Chairperson Kesali Appa Rao and Member Gondu Sitaram, CWC Chairperson MLR Radha, KGH Superintendent P. Sivananda, District ICDS Project Officer Jayadevi, Hospital Assistant Director Ch. Srinivas Kumar and CSRMO Dhavala Bhaskara Rao participated in the programme.

The ICDS PO gave a PowerPoint presentation on ‘official adoptions’.

'I never thought I'd have a baby' Mum shares emotional adoption journey - that took her to Nepal

Louise and Paul's daughter was left at a hospital when she was just one day old

Louise Timmins, 49, adopted daughter Marika in Nepal in 2011 - almost six years after starting the process. She tells us about the long journey, and how life has changed since her daughter's arrival.

Drinking my coffee, I listened to my colleague Rachel describing children’s homes filled with orphaned babies in Nepal. It upset me to think of children in need of love, particularly as I wanted nothing more than to hold a baby in my arms.

It was early 2005 and I’d met Rachel through my role as Fundraising Manager for The Leprosy Mission in Peterborough, as she and her husband ran the charity’s specialist hospital in Anandaban, Nepal.

Now they were visiting the UK as part of their work, and I’d confided in Rachel about how my husband Paul and I had endured six heartbreaking years of fertility issues and devastating early miscarriages due to me having polycystic ovary syndrome.