The Flemish government is to tighten its rules on adoptions from other countries, Wouter Beke (CD&V), minister for the family announced.

The decision comes following a devastating report issued in September alleging widespread human trafficking being carried out under the cover of intercountry adoption. The report was written by a panel of independent experts who had been working on the question since 2019.

“This is something that all parties involved have been saying for many years we have to tackle,” Beke said at the time. And he sketched out the basic principles of the “ambitious reform” needed to intercountry adoption, including multi-parenthood, strengthening partnerships with countries of origin, building bridges between foster care and adoption, and focusing on aftercare and counselling.

Beke also suggested a two-year hiatus for all international adoptions to allow the necessary reforms to be passed. However that proposal was shot down by N-VA, arguing that while reform was needed, a revolution was going too far.

Today, Beke presented his new proposal to parliament: a set of six strict selection criteria designed to weed out bad adoption prospects. Countries that do not apply the criteria will simply be scrapped from the list of acceptable candidates.

It seemed like a fairy tale ending: a poor Chinese couple who spent 14 years searching for their lost son are finally reunited with the boy as his kidnappers face justice. But it’s not that simple. As Sun Zhuo is reunited with his birth family in Shenzhen, he’s faced with the prospect of the family he knew as his own being sent to prison.

In 2007, then 4-year-old Sun Zhuo was abducted from the southern city of Shenzhen, setting his biological parents on a desperate search that would last 14 years. Sun Haiyang, his father, offered a 200,000 yuan reward for clues and changed the name of his steamed bun shop to advertise it. His story won national attention, and was adapted into a 2014 movie called “Dearest.” He has become an iconic figure in the field of anti-trafficking, and his account on microblogging service Weibo, named “Sun Haiyang Looking for Son,” has over 116,000 followers.

Meanwhile, Sun Zhuo was growing up with two older sisters in Shandong province, about 1,800 kilometers from Shenzhen, unaware that the couple raising him were not his birth parents.

Chinese police identified Sun, now 18, during a crackdown on child trafficking. The police arrested a total of nine suspects involved in abducting three children, including Sun Zhuo. His identity was later confirmed by DNA testing.

On Monday, Sun Haiyang finally met his son after 14 years, while the second family is facing potential criminal charges.

After a damning report about fraud in intercountry adoption, Flanders wants to check more closely with which countries it still cooperates. A risk analysis will be carried out for each country based on six criteria. Countries that do not meet this requirement will be removed from the list. Especially African countries with corrupt governments are targeted. "It is our absolute priority to exclude child trafficking and trauma."

At the beginning of September, the bomb exploded in adoption country. After a voluminous and damning report on human trafficking and fraud in intercountry adoption, Flemish Minister of Family Wouter Beke (CD&V) wanted to go through with it. Following the example of the Netherlands, he himself proposed an adoption break of two years. Ultimately, Beke was called back by coalition partner N-VA. A reform was allowed, a revolution was not.

Today, Beke put a new plan on the table: six strict selection criteria, so that the bad apples are thrown out of the basket. Countries that do not meet these criteria will be removed from the list. It is expected that a large number, read: especially African countries, will no longer qualify.

Traceability

The main requirement is traceability. Flanders must be able to trace through which steps it has been decided in the country of origin to proceed with intercountry adoption. “What we do not want is a process in which a home can decide for itself to take in a certain child and then indicate after a while that the child is eligible for adoption, without having followed a process within youth care”, says Beke. “Traceability is also important for adoptees looking for the story behind their adoption, and for prospective parents who want to make sure that the best interests of the child have been carefully considered.”

With which countries will Flanders still cooperate for adoption? The government decided this morning that potential partner countries will be subject to a risk analysis. Countries that fail will be deleted.

In 2019, stories about abuses with adoptions from Ethiopia woke up Flanders: some adopted 'orphans' later turned out not to be orphans at all.

As a result, an expert panel looked into the adoption process. They presented their report in early September. On their advice, Flemish Minister of Welfare Wouter Beke (CD&V) proposed a two-year adoption break to review the system. Minister Beke had to withdraw that proposal after criticism from coalition partners N-VA and Open Vld. But a system was devised to prevent fraud in the future.

In concrete terms, it will no longer be the adoption services but the Flemish Adoption Center (VCA) that will screen all partner countries. Six criteria have now been drawn up for this. Countries must first and foremost have signed and ratified the Hague Adoption Convention. That 2005 treaty makes adoption a right to protection for children, not a right to children for parents.

RECEPTION FIRST IN YOUR OWN COUNTRY

Joohee Bourgain, anti-racist and feminist activist, is the author of a book that deconstructs the myths and the colonial imagination on which the international adoption system is based.

A secondary school teacher, Joohee Bourgain is also an anti-racist and feminist activist. Author of International Adoption: Myths and Realities (Anacaona, 17 p., € 15), herself adopted from South Korea, she deconstructs the myths surrounding international adoption. In particular that of the orphan who must be saved from a life of misery, by linking this phenomenon to an asymmetrical power relationship between North and South. For her, abuses are intrinsic to the international adoption system, based on financial transactions around children and women's bodies.

What are the main myths surrounding international adoption?

The myth of abandonment, first of all: we will consider that abandonment is the sole cause of adoption. This myth must be deconstructed, because it tends to throw the responsibility only on the birth parents, and, suddenly, we do not see the whole system that results in a final separation from the birth family. This is why I prefer the term “separation” to “abandon”. There is a whole set of intermediary actors, in particular authorized bodies for adoption (OAA), economic, social, cultural factors ... In South Korea, for example, the "local patriarchy" discriminates against single women, who will be pressured to give up their child for adoption because they are considered incapable of raising him.

The idea is to equate adopted children with biological children

Mariya Abdi Ibrahim won another case at Europe’s human rights court in 2019 over the forced adoption of her son, which resulted in Norway changing some of its regulations around adoption.

STRASBOURG, France (CN) — Norway violated the human rights of a Muslim refugee from Somalia when authorities removed her child from her care and placed him with a Christian family, Europe’s top rights court held Friday.

The European Court of Human Rights found that placing Mariya Abdi Ibrahim's son with an evangelical Christian couple against her wishes violated her right to family life.

Ibrahim arrived in Norway at the age of 16, with her then 3-month-old son in tow. Originally from Somalia, she fled after the terrorist group al-Shabaab targeted her for being unmarried and pregnant. When her son was 10 months old, the Norwegian Child Welfare Services removed him from Ibrahim’s care, citing neglect and abuse. He was ultimately adopted by a Norwegian couple who are members of the Evangelical Mission Covenant Church and cut all ties with his biological mother.

In 2019, the Strasbourg-based rights court found that Norway hadn’t done enough to keep mother and son together. It found the country's actions violated the 1953 European Convention of Human Rights, which created the court and protects the civil and political rights of Europeans. That decision led to some changes in Norway's adoption regulations.

Srinagar, Dec 10: Jammu and Kashmir on Friday constituted Jammu and Kashmir Adoption Resource Agency to deal with adoption and related matters.

“Sanction in terms of Section 67 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 read with Rule 33(1) of the Adoption Regulations, 2017, is hereby accorded to constitution of the Jammu and Kashmir Adoption Resource Agency,” reads a government order.

Headed by Secretary Social Welfare Department, the seven-member committee comprises Mission Director, ICPS, J&K; one member of the State Legal services Authority (to be nominated by the Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs); Chairperson of a Child Welfare (to be nominated by the Social Welfare Department on| the recommendation of Mission Director, ICPS); Representative of Specialized Adoption nominated by the Social Welfare Department recommendation of Director, ICPS) and Member for Civil Society involved in Child Welfare and Protection for at least 10 years (to be nominated by the Social Welfare Department).

The terms of reference of the Jammu and Kashmir Adoption Resource Agency is to deal with adoption and related matters in the Jammu & Kashmir under the guidance of the Central Adoption Resource Agency constituted in terms of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.

It has been also tasked to function as the executive arm of the Jammu and Kashmir Government for promotion, facilitation, monitoring and regulation of the adoption programme in the Jammu and Kashmir.

Srinagar, Dec 10: The J&K government on Friday set up an adoption resource agency to deal with adoption and related matters in the union territory.

As per an order issued to this effect by the General Administration Department, the J&K Adoption Resource Agency (JKARA) constituted under section 67 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 will be chaired by Secretary Social Welfare Department while Mission Director, Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS), Director, Health Services Jammu/ Kashmir, one member of the State Legal Services Authority, Chairperson of a Child Welfare Committee (CWC), representative of specialized adoption agency and a member from civil society involved in child welfare and protection for at least 10 years would be its members.

The agency would deal with adoption and related matters in the UT under the guidance of the Central Adoption Resource Agency constituted in terms of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.

It would also function as the executive arm of the Jammu and Kashmir government for promotion, facilitation, monitoring and regulation of the adoption programme in the UT and perform such functions as are prescribed under adoption regulations, 2017 issued by the Ministry of Child Development.

It will also carry out such other functions as may be assigned by the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) from time to time.

Kim carried a surrogate baby - so she could travel the world on maternity leave. Shocked? In this defiant interview she insists she's just helping women - and plans to do it three more times

Kim Eldridge was 21 when she decided she wanted to see the world. Like many young people, the desire to wander before adulthood and responsibilities set in became a dream, then a fierce ambition.

Yet how to fund such an adventure? With no trust fund or wealthy parents to indulge her, it was down to Kim, from East London, to raise the money.

So she came up with a unique, highly controversial — and, some might argue, morally questionable — plan to raise the cash. She'd become a surrogate for an infertile couple and spend the year-long maternity leave, which she'd be legally entitled to just like any other parent in paid employment, travelling.

While it may sound like a fanciful idea, it is precisely what Kim, now 26, has done.

Tribune. Picking up or bringing a child from the other side of the world to make him your own has often been considered an act of unconditional love. Long idealized, international adoption has grown steadily since the middle of the 20th century without any real consideration of the best interests of the child. Thousands of children adopted internationally have thus been abusively and permanently separated from their families and the culture of their birth.

Today, if some adoption stakeholders minimize the importance of fraudulent practices, arguing that they took place a long time ago, the fact remains that proven abuses have been tainting international adoption for decades. in many countries: Chad, Haiti, Chile, Sri Lanka, Mali, Ethiopia, Guatemala…

Read also Article reserved for our subscribers “We want to find our families while there is still time”: everywhere in the world, illegally adopted children are demanding justice

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The International Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) enshrined, in 1989, the principle of the best interests of the child which presupposes "taking into account their fundamental, physical, intellectual, social and emotional needs, as well as the respect for his rights which must guide all decisions concerning him” (article 3). The CRC also specifies the right of the child “to know and grow up in their family of origin and the obligation of States to support the latter so that it can raise its child with dignity” (article 7). “It defends the child's right to preserve his or her identity and family relationships” (article 8) and stipulates “that no child may be separated from his or her parents against their will” (article 9).