NGOs are 'deeply alarmed' by applications pending from the US and Italy without adequate child protection measures in place

Cambodia will shortly resume child adoptions after a decade-long hiatus imposed amid controversy over allegations that not all infants were orphans and some were stolen.

The Social Affairs Ministry has confirmed adoptions are pending to the United States and Italy, raising the alarm among non-governmental organizations (NGOs) seeking child protection norms of international standards.

“We fear these decisions will lead to more families being irreparably torn apart by a poorly regulated system that has failed to protect children’s best interests in the past,” said rights group Licadho in a statement, adding it was “deeply alarmed.”

It said Cambodia sent 3,696 children abroad for adoption between 1998 and 2011 before suspending foreign adoptions following evidence of fraud and corruption.

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Chermaine Leysner’s life changed in 2012, when she received a letter from the Dutch tax authority demanding she pay back her child care allowance going back to 2008. Leysner, then a student studying social work, had three children under the age of 6. The tax bill was over €100,000.

“I thought, ‘Don’t worry, this is a big mistake.’ But it wasn’t a mistake. It was the start of something big,” she said.

The ordeal took nine years of Leysner’s life. The stress caused by the tax bill and her mother’s cancer diagnosis drove Leysner into depression and burnout. She ended up separating from her children’s father. “I was working like crazy so I could still do something for my children like give them some nice things to eat or buy candy. But I had times that my little boy had to go to school with a hole in his shoe,” Leysner said.

Leysner is one of the tens of thousands of victims of what the Dutch have dubbed the “toeslagenaffaire,” or the child care benefits scandal.

In 2019 it was revealed that the Dutch tax authorities had used a self-learning algorithm to create risk profiles in an effort to spot child care benefits fraud.

March 29, 2022 - We are deeply alarmed by Cambodia reopening intercountry adoptions and the Italian government’s apparent disclosure that at least nine potential adoptions from Cambodia are being processed by Italian adoption agencies. We fear these decisions will lead to more families being irreparably torn apart by a poorly regulated system that has failed to protect children’s best interests in the past.

Cambodia reports having sent 3,696 children abroad for adoption between 1998 and 2011. The country suspended intercountry adoptions following evidence of fraud and corruption. Cambodian officials forged documents to falsely change some children’s names or ages or claim they were orphaned or abandoned, before children were adopted abroad without their parents’ knowledge or consent.

Cambodia today still lacks a sufficient child protection system, judicial system and anti-corruption measures to guarantee that adoptions will proceed legally and ethically. Despite Cambodia acceding to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption in 2007 and enacting numerous laws and policies, there is no guarantee that intercountry adoptions would occur in children’s best interests.

Cambodian and Italian government agencies have ignored requests for information from LICADHO in recent months about the reopening of intercountry adoptions, including requests for information about the bilateral agreement, related procedures, and when children are expected to leave Cambodia.

Since 2017, six families have approached LICADHO to seek information about 15 children who were fraudulently adopted from Cambodia in the 2000s. Each family had temporarily placed their children in shelters or orphanages after being told their children would receive care and an education before returning home. Parents often only learned their children had left the country when they returned to visit them and found them missing. Each family has spent years seeking information about their children. While some children have been located abroad following extensive investigations, for others there has been no confirmation of where they are, who is caring for them, or if they are even alive, leaving families in a state of limbo and continued suffering.

Adoption & Society criticizes the National Board of Appeal's investigation of Colombia, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

Once again, the National Board of Appeal is delivering a piece of work that leaves adoptees in a gray zone with more unanswered questions than answers.

On 14 March 2022, the National Board of Appeal's conclusions were published on a study of 4 former partner countries: Bangladesh, Colombia, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

For 3 of the countries, the investigation has now been completed, while the National Board of Appeal continues its investigation of Colombia.

The National Board of Appeal writes in its introduction: “The investigation has not led to specific information that the adoptions to Denmark from the 4 countries in the years in question took place on an illegal basis. However, the National Board of Appeal cannot deny that the adoption agency may have been associated with illegal behavior. ”

The war in Ukraine is a disaster, especially for children who are already vulnerable because of a disability or because they live in an institution.

The war in Ukraine is a disaster, especially for children who are already vulnerable because of a disability or because they live in an institution. But children are also vulnerable on the run, because they sometimes lose their parent or caregiver in the chaos.

Pim Kraan, director of Save the Children: “In the centers for the first reception of refugees at the border with Romania, our staff has already seen several children who traveled alone. It is important that they are reunited with family as soon as possible. Sometimes children temporarily lose their family for a while.”

Save the Children is committed to reuniting children with their families. The organization does this both in Ukraine and in the border countries. There are an estimated 100,000 children in Ukraine, which is 1.3 percent of all children who live in institutions without parents. This makes Ukraine one of the highest percentages of children in institutional care in Europe. Since the start of the war, 1.8 million children have fled and 2.5 million are internally displaced.

Most vulnerable

BUCHAREST, ROMANIA – A former Derby Line resident, now living in Keeseville, New York, returned to the United States over the weekend after spending two weeks in Romania. Maria D. Holderman traveled there to work in a refugee center to assist Ukraine immigrants who fled from their country as Russian forces continue to attack their homeland.

Holderman is no stranger to that part of the world. She was born in Dragasani, Romania, in December 1967. A week after the war with Ukraine started, Holderman decided to return to Romania. She traveled at her own expense, spending $1,300 because she couldn’t just do nothing after seeing the news. Through the Facebook page, “Romanians for Progressive Values," she connected with other volunteers, most of them Romanians living worldwide.

MADURAI: After it was informed that the child welfare committee (CWC) in Virudhunagar hand handed over the custody of the child which was given for adoption illegally to its mother, Madras high court had recently disposed of a petition pertaining to the custody of the child.

The court was hearing a plea moved by A Ambika, a resident of K Puliankadai village in Salem district, seeking custody of her male child as she had given the child for adoption without following procedures as per law, in 2019.

When the couple from Virudhunagar district who had adopted the child attempted to get a birth certificate, they were asked to hand over the child to the CWC members as they had not followed the procedures of adoption as per law.

When the petitioner sought to hand over the custody of the child to her since she was willing to take care of the child, the same was denied by the CWC members. Hence, the petitioner moved HC seeking custody of her child. During the pendency of the petition, a DNA test was performed and it was confirmed that the petitioner was the mother of the child.

Justice Abdul Quddhose observed that it was brought to the notice of this court that the child was handed over to the petitioner in February. Since the prayer sought for in this petition has been achieved, nothing survives for further adjudication, said the judge, while disposing of the petition.

Woman sues IVF clinic for wrongly implanting male - not female - embryo from her wife during IVF: Gave birth to son and likened having male fetus inside her to rape

Heather Wilhelhm-Routenberg and wife Robbie are suing CNY Fertility in Latham, New York

Robbie was originally meant to carry Heather's embryo, but miscarried

Heather then offered to carry Robbie's embryo, with the couple discovering they were expecting a boy at 15 weeks

Heather struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts during the pregnancy, and after giving birth

Our organization is recognized by the Romanian authorities to supervise the adoption of children from this country.

It is important to know that only people of Romanian origin are allowed to apply for this country.

Please contact us to receive more in-depth information on the procedure.

- No cohabitants (legal or not)

- Compulsory marriage but no specified duration of marriage