APA – Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) – Relations between Ouagadougou and Paris have been deteriorating steadily since Capt. Ibrahim Traoré came to power in September 2022.

“All intercountry adoption procedures concerning children habitually resident in Burkina Faso by a person habitually resident in France have been suspended,” the French Adoption Agency (AFA) reported Monday.

The AFA cites a decree by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs published in the Journal Officiel on Saturday.

The organization Rayon de Soleil de l'Enfant Etranger, which is still accredited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in five countries, is being investigated by the French courts for its illegal adoption activities in Mali in the 1990s. Similar cases have been documented in Romania and the Central African Republic.

After years of struggle – finally, a sense of relief. On September 6, the Judicial Court of Paris requested the opening of an investigation for fraud following a complaint filed in June 2020 by nine French adoptees from Mali against their adoption agency and their former correspondent in Bamako: Rayon de Soleil de l'Enfant Etranger (Ray of Sunshine of the Foreign Child, RDSEE) and Danielle Boudault.

They all accuse the French organization, still accredited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in five countries (Bulgaria, Chile, China, South Korea and India), of using "schemes" to "bypass the law" in order to have them adopted in France between 1989 and 1996, and deceiving their parents – biological as well as adoptive – in the process. The organization allegedly promised their biological parents that the children would only stay in France temporarily. As for the adoptive families, RDSEE reportedly assured them that the little Malian children had been abandoned by their families of origin.

For five years, Le Monde has conducted an investigation on this organization, one of the most important French non-profits responsible for the adoption of more than 7,000 children around the world. RDSEE is suspected of having adopted children who shouldn't have been taken from their families – in Mali, but also in the Central African Republic, Madagascar, Haiti, Peru and Romania – in order to cater to French couples' international adoption requests.

Voor wie de brief wil lezen, deze staat hier

Mandates of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences and the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence

Par Mathieu DESLANDES

Pour leJDD.fr

>>Des organismes inefficaces, des tarifs opaques, des transferts de fonds suspects... Mercredi prochain, lors de la présentation du rapport annuel de la Cour des comptes, les critiques vont s'abattre sur le système d'adoption internationale, jugé "défaillant" par le président de la Cour, Philippe Séguin. Une quarantaine d'associations françaises sont concernées.

Philippe Seguin fait un sort au système d'adoption. (Maxppp)

Philippe Seguin fait un sort au système d'adoption. (Maxppp)

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ECPAT INTERNATIONAL CHAIR OF BOARD RECRUITMENT PACK MAY 2024

After years of struggle, there seems to be a definitive end to the adoption of foreign children by Dutch prospective parents. Saskia de Groot of SAP Personal Injury Lawyers represents adopted children who have fallen victim to abuses in the adoption sector. They are cautiously optimistic.

First, the background: why are international adoptions under fire? Since the 1970s, Dutch prospective parents have adopted more than forty thousand children from abroad. In doing so, rules were regularly violated. Children were not always given up voluntarily, birth certificates were forged. In many cases, Dutch officials knew about the fraud, but turned a blind eye or actively cooperated. The result is that children were torn away from their family and country of origin under false pretenses. Because of the forged papers, they have little or no opportunity to search for their biological family. Where they do succeed, it often costs a great deal of time and money.

State held liable

In 2018, SAP held the Dutch state liable on behalf of a group of adoptees. Other offices also initiated proceedings. The state has always denied responsibility for the abuses. Although there is occasional success in court, judges often rule that it is not right to look at procedures from the 1970s and 1980s with today's eyes.

In 2021, the Joustra Commission published a damning report on the widespread abuses in adoption procedures. The Dutch government had been aware of adoption abuses since the late 1960s. In doing so, the government failed to meet its responsibilities and obligations and failed to intervene when there was reason to do so. The harsh conclusions led to a temporary freeze on adoptions.

Funding ‘Stan Meuwese took over the chairmanship of the DCI-Netherlands board in 1988. He was working for the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports at the time and had experience in youth policy and juvenile justice. In 1991 the ministry was reorganising and gave him the opportunity to work full time for DCI-Netherlands. As of January 1992, he became the Executive Director of DCI-Netherlands. He stayed on until 2007. He was the first paid employee. In that way, the Dutch government, through the Ministry of Health, greatly contributed to the development of DCI-Netherlands. The subsidy of the Dutch ministry stopped in 1995 and the organisation had to look for other funds. It has been quite successful at that. DCI-Netherlands has grown slowly but steadily, with approximately one new paid employee per year over the last fifteen years.’
 

https://www.defenceforchildren.nl/images/20/1024.pdf

We are super proud to have had our CEO, Katinka, as a hosted guest speaker at the #euradopt2022 conference in #Denmark last week. The theme of the conference was the Sustainability of Intercountry adoptions from an ethical and practice perspective as well as the importance of post-adoption support.

There were also opportunities for meetings and re-connections with our other partners in the region.

Our CEO was joined by our COO Rene.

Crystal Theron

Voice 007- elvira 12-2-2020.m4a