By Jim Slotek

Rosedale restaurateur Sash Simpson got a flood of memories on a visit to the Indian city of Chennai, where he’d been rescued from the streets as a barely school-age child and sent to Canada.

Only one thing was missing: his first language.

“The smells, the colour, the complete chaos, it gave me a flashback. It’s almost like a movie in my head,” says Simpson. He is in fact, the central figure of a movie, the Hot Docs feature Born Hungry, which debuts at the festival today (April 26).

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

10 Years Later, Still Fake?… Ministry of Welfare Begins Audit of Adoption Record Computerization Project

The Child Rights Protection Agency (formerly the Central Adoption Agency) under the Ministry of Health and Welfare has been carrying out the ‘Adoption Records Computerization Project’ since 2013 to collect and computerize adoption records scattered across private organizations. The purpose is to permanently preserve adoption records in the private sector by integrating them into a public institution and to increase adoptees’ access to information.

However, suspicions have been raised that this project, which has been in progress for about 10 years, has been managed poorly. It is said that everything from basic record scanning to the process of uploading data to the online system has been handled poorly. It has been confirmed that the Ministry of Health and Welfare has also identified the related issues and has begun an audit of the Child Rights Protection Agency regarding the ‘Adoption Records Computerization Project’. Previously, Newstapa conducted the <Overseas Adoption and Money> project to identify the structural problems of overseas adoption in the 1970s and 1980s. Through this, we have reported in depth on cases of overseas adoptees who were unable to find their information due to the barriers of adoption agencies. The adoption records computerization project of the National Institute of Child Rights, a public institution, was started to help adoptees find their roots, but it is being revealed that it has been carried out haphazardly. Newstapa plans to track and report on the reality of the adoption records computerization project that has been carried out for the past 10 years. Adoption records computerization project 10 years… Suspicions finally surface Adoptees usually do not stay in one institution after being separated from their original families and adopted into another family. In the case of overseas adoptees in the 1970s and 1980s, they were admitted to child welfare facilities that were formerly called orphanages, and then sent to institutions that arranged overseas adoptions such as Holt Children’s Welfare Association, where they were finally adopted. This means that there can be records from multiple institutions for one child. Welfare facilities and adoption agencies each create records in different forms. This is one of the reasons why adoptees have difficulty finding their records. The adoption records computerization project was implemented for the purpose of integrating and managing records scattered across individual facilities. This project was first started at the Central Adoption Center in 2013. After the Central Adoption Center was integrated into the Child Rights Protection Center in 2019, it was run by the Child Rights Protection Center for a total of 10 years until 2022.

Adoption records containing personal information about children, circumstances of admission to facilities, and information about biological parents are more than just records to overseas adoptees. Adoptees said, “If there was a problem, the Child Rights Protection Agency should take responsibility,” and “(the agency) should quickly step forward and explain (what happened).” <Overseas Adoption and Money> Project Collection.

From 2013 to 2022, the Child Rights Protection Center computerized the records of 86 closed child welfare facilities for 10 years. The project was not implemented in 2023 and 2024. Starting next year, records from adoption agencies such as Holt Children’s Welfare Association and the Korea Social Service Association will be mandatorily transferred to the center.

However, ahead of the mandatory transfer of records from adoption agencies such as Holt Children’s Welfare Association next year, suspicions have been raised that there were overall deficiencies in the adoption record computerization project that the Child Rights Protection Center had been conducting for 10 years. It is pointed out that there were overall problems with the project, such as scanning errors, non-compliance with guidelines, and insufficient system uploads. Newstapa confirmed the details through the testimonies of multiple relevant parties. This is the first time that the problems with the adoption record computerization project that was conducted for 10 years have been reported by the media.

The project aims at giving underprivileged children separated from their parents the experience of being part of a family. Children aged between six and 18 years are considered for the programme

M.P. Praveen

The District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) has initiated steps for sending selected children from childcare institutes on two month-long vacation foster care (VFC) this summer.

The programme aims at giving underprivileged children separated from their parents the experience of being part of a family even if only for two months. The DCPU has invited applications from interested families, including single parents.

Last year, out of the 15 applications received for VFC, 12 children were assigned to families. While one child was sent back by a family owing to adjustment problems on part of the child, the other two families were not able to find children in their preferred age group. Children aged between six and 18 years are considered for VFC with families often preferring younger children.

In the search for biological family, the field workers play a very important role. Due to the geographical distance, the different language/culture and the number of cases we work on, it is practically impossible to follow all leads without help.

That is why we use local people for this. They come from the region, speak the language/dialect and can therefore more easily generate the much-needed trust.

Shapla has partnered with Lef4Life in Bangladesh, and their students will follow leads, conduct interviews and hopefully solve many cases successfully, under our coordination.

On November 21st, the time had come. The first part of the training. It was a very interesting day with a lively discussion about adoption and its history in Bangladesh.
Part two was about Shapla. Who are we, what do we do, what services do we offer. What was important here was what processes do we have; accuracy and reliability are very important in searches (we want to prevent things like a well-known TV program).

After the theoretical part was completed, it was time for practical exercises.

A woman adopted from Bangladesh in the 1970s filed a lawsuit in 2019 against Wereldkinderen, Terre des Hommes Netherlands and the Dutch State. The woman accuses these parties of having acted unlawfully in her adoption. Like the court ruling in 2021, the court of appeal today concluded that the case has expired.

The court of appeal upholds the court's ruling

After the court ruling in 2021, the woman lodged an appeal. The court of appeal today confirmed the ruling of the court that the case has expired.

The court took into account, among other things, that Terre des Hommes was not an adoption organisation, that it has not been established that employees of Terre des Hommes would have induced the woman's biological mother to give her up under false pretences, and that the woman waited too long to hold Terre des Hommes liable.

Like the court, the court of appeal was therefore unable to establish that Terre des Hommes was involved in or responsible for the course of events surrounding the adoptions from Bangladesh.

PANAJI

A joint team of the North Goa Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and the District Child Protection Unit inspected a Child Care Institution (CCI) in Assagao, operated by El-Shaddai, following directions of the Bombay High Court at Goa.

During a hearing of a suo motu Public Interest Litigation (SMPIL) on Wednesday, the Bench ordered an immediate inspection of the institution at 3:30 pm and a report to be submitted by Friday. Following this directive, a team was formed to hold the inspection.

Advocate General Devidas Pangam informed that the CCI is not registered and is allegedly housing children without orders from the CWC.

“We proposed to the High Court to conduct an inspection of the CCI, which was accepted. The team visited the premises to assess the situation, including the conditions in which the children are kept. An inspection report will be submitted on Friday,” Pangam told the media, after the hearing.

The future of the sponsorship program is thus secured in light of the DIA's board's decision on a controlled winding down of its activities.

After thorough discussions, it has been decided to transfer the sponsorship activities to Terre des Hommes .  The transfer is expected to be completed during July 2024.

Terre des Hommes, a voluntary humanitarian association approved by the Collection Board under the Ministry of Justice, will continue the activities for the benefit of vulnerable children and families.

All sponsors will be contacted directly by Terre des Hommes, who will inform about the practical conditions and the future communication between sponsor, projects and sponsors. Terre des Hommes welcomes all sponsors and looks forward to presenting their activities and membership offers. Additional information will be shared in early July.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us or Terre des Hommes.

Age can prevent adoption in Poland 0 that's the conclusion drawn from the story described by Karolina Kijek of "Gazeta Wyborcza." Today, 50-year-old Edyta is trying to adopt 2-year-old Malwina, whom she has been raising as a foster family since the girl was one month old. So far, without success.

Edyta met Malwina* when the girl was a month old. The child was in an incubator. Edyta had gone through three unsuccessful attempts to become a foster parent, as reported in Karolina Kijek's article in "Gazeta Wyborcza" titled "Edyta Has Been Malwina's Mom for Two Years. Officials Want to Take Her Child Away Because She Is Too Old". The woman had completed foster parent training at the Municipal Social Welfare Center. "I openly said I was 48 years old and wanted to pursue adoption. No one objected" - she said in an interview with the journalist.

Attempts to Adopt in Poland: "Noticeable Bond" Loses to Age Difference

The one-month-old girl came to Edyta two years ago. The court terminated the biological parents' rights at the end of 2022. That's when Edyta could begin the adoption process. She filed her applications with the family court and the Wrocław adoption center DOPS. This office must issue an evaluation and opinion, as emphasized by "Gazeta Wyborcza".

Officials at the center questioned Edyta during a meeting about why she was seeking adoption and observed how the child behaved around her. In the documents, they wrote:

The gang targeted women through closed groups on social media, exploiting those who were struggling to provide and care for their children.

Hanoi:

Police in Vietnam have arrested more than a dozen people in connection with a baby smuggling ring that trafficked 16 newborns across several cities and provinces in the country, state media said Wednesday.

Sixteen men and women have been taken into custody for trading the babies aged between three days and three months old, according to the official newspaper of Ho Chi Minh City Police.

The gang targeted women through closed groups on social media, exploiting those who were struggling to provide and care for their children.