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Defence for Children International (DCI)

Defence for Children International (DCI) is a leading international, non-government organisation, focussing on child rights.

Founded in 1979, DCI has been promoting and protecting children’s rights at the global, national and regional level for over 40 years.

DCI’s mandate is to ensure the effective implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child everywhere.

DCI’s vision is that children, as human beings, are able to pursue a life in which they can enjoy their human rights with dignity, in a just and responsible society.

Between 1912 and 1968, thousands of children were sent to Australia from the United Kingdom and Malta under a child migration scheme. These children were usually placed in institutions and many of the children were falsely told they were orphans.

In recent years, growing recognition of the plight of former child migrants led to the establishment of travel funds to facilitate travel to their country of birth and reunions with family.

Between 2000-2006, ISS Australia administered the UK Government’s Child Migrant Support Fund and the Australian Government’s Australian Travel Fund.

As a result of this work, over 1000 former child migrants were assisted with financial, practical and emotional support to reunite with surviving family members or visit family gravesites.

Most of the former child migrants reported the reunions were life changing, giving them a sense of belonging and of closure with the past.

Our International Post Adoption Tracing Service (IPATS) provides tracing and reunion support to NSW residents who have been affected by adoption, where one party is now overseas.

This can concern an adoption that took place within NSW, within Australia, or in an overseas country, in which the adopted person or biological family member resides in NSW and is searching for an adopted person or biological family member overseas.

Our goal is to locate and reunite family members and facilitate contact (when appropriate) in a supportive, respectful and empathetic manner.

Our service is free as we are funded by the NSW Government’s Department of Communities and Justice.

Please note ISS Australia has limited search services available in some of the countries in which Australia has facilitated intercountry adoptions. Therefore, additional search related costs may also apply.

Hong Kong (AP) - Fort-eight Chinese orphans left Hong Kong by jet airliner today for adoption by American families.

Most were between 8 and 14 years of age, and they were evenly divided between boys and girl.

It was the biggest group of orphans sent to the United States since the program wa inaugurated here in 1958. All came to Hong Kong prior to the mass refugee exodus from Red China last month.

The program is sponsored by the International Social Services which has moved 650 orphans from Hong Kong to the United States in the last four years.

Member of the Council of International Social Service, Geneva (1986-2003).Member of the Board of the Dutch branch of International Social Service (1985-1994).C U R R I C U L U M V I T A E

Hans van Loon

Johannes Hendrik Albert (Hans) van Loon, born at Utrecht, the Netherlands, 15 April 1948. Married to Ir Caroline H. Engels; two daughters and one son.

Education and employment:

Studied law at the University of Utrecht (1966-1971), and international law and international relations at the University of Leyden (1971-1972) and at the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva (1972-1973, scholarship of the Swiss Government).

Documents received under IFG