Research to scope the support needs of people affected by historic forced adoption in Scotland.

Acknowledgements

The research team would like to acknowledge and thank the people affected by historic forced adoption who shared their experiences with us. Without your involvement, this research would not have been possible. Thanks also to the campaigners, support organisations, local authority representatives, and academics who took part in interviews, completed and publicised our online survey, and supported the recruitment of interviewees.

Research to scope the support needs of people affected by historic forced adoption in Scotland.

Acknowledgements

The research team would like to acknowledge and thank the people affected by historic forced adoption who shared their experiences with us. Without your involvement, this research would not have been possible. Thanks also to the campaigners, support organisations, local authority representatives, and academics who took part in interviews, completed and publicised our online survey, and supported the recruitment of interviewees.

CHENNAI: Social worker Shaila Samuel said, in a recent statement to TNIE, that baseless and vexatious allegations by the then Chennai Child Welfare Committee chairperson have completely undone her good work over past three decades.

She referred to a series of articles published in TNIE on June 23, 26, and 30, of 2010 in which the then CWC, Chennai chairperson was quoted as referring to Shaila as the “queen-pin of adoption ring” and an alleged “child trafficker” and “she used Guild of Service (GoS) name, stamp and other related documents to carry out the unlawful adoption when she was working with GoS.”

Rebutting the articles, Shaila said the allegations were made by a statutory authority without any inquiry or an explanation being sought from her. “Everything I toiled to build over 30 years of unwavering effort, unconditional social service and unyielding sacrifice, all came crumbling down solely due to such allegations,” she said. She said she was scorned by her peers and despised by members of her community. 

“All my good work was completely undone without any recourse to defend myself,” she said. According to Shaila, on October 7, 2009, the Commissioner of Social Welfare issued a letter to Cheshire Homes, India to grant permission to transfer five medically challenged children to rehabilitate them. On December 4, 2009, the then CWC, Chennai chairperson certified her to be the fittest person to take temporary custody of the children, she said. On April 7, 2010, the Probation Officer of Coimbatore declared the child legally free for adoption.

“Yet, out of the blue, the then chairperson of the CWC directed the Probation Officer, Erode to conduct further inquiries. The officer submitted a report dated June 16, 2010, stating he had traced the child’s parents and they had abandoned the child in the hospital as chances of the child surviving were very bleak. After five years, on learning that the child was still alive, the biological parents wanted the child back,” she said.

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: AsktheEU Team <team@asktheeu.org>
Date: Tue 6. Feb 2024 at 18:58
Subject: New response to your FOI request - Complaint related to Romanian Children File - 2002-2006
To: Arun Dohle <arundohle@gmail.com>
 

You have a new response to the access to documents request 'Complaint related to Romanian Children File - 2002-2006' that you made to European Ombudsman.

To view the response, click on the link below.

https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/complaint_related_to_romanian_ch?nocache=incoming-51953#incoming-51953

When you get there, please update the status to say if the response contains any useful information.

Although all responses are automatically published, we depend on you, the original requester, to evaluate them.

-- the AsktheEU.org team

Received after RP wrote to the Supervising Committee

The chairman of the Danish Parliament's Legal Committee, Lissa Mathiassen (S), wants to tighten up the rules for the adoption of foreign children.

The chairman of the Danish Parliament's legal committee, Lissa Mathiassen (S), now instructs the counties to review adoption declarations for foreign children, so that there is certainty that they are not falsified. The reaction comes after the TV program "Önskebarnet" on DR1 last night revealed that a private adoption organization had not translated medical statements correctly. A Danish couple who had adopted a Romanian child came forward in the broadcast and told how -contrary to the health declaration- it turned out that their adopted child was understimulated, malnourished and retarded. The Civil Rights Directorate pointed out that the mediator of the child, the organization "Terres des Hommes", which had the adoption was not allowed to use the consultant who had signed the erroneous declaration - but several cases appeared. A situation that is clearly unsustainable, believes the chairman of the Danish Parliament's legal committee, Lissa Mathiassen. The Christian People's Party also wants to have the conditions surrounding adoption investigated more closely. At the same time, the organization "Terre des Hommes" has asked for a meeting with the Ministry of Justice. According to the head of the organization "Terre des Hommes", Jessie Rosenmeier, there are a number of misunderstandings that the organization would very much like to correct. "Terre des Hommes" maintains, however, that the consultant in question has not falsified medical reports, as appeared on the TV broadcast. Jessie Rosenmeier also states that since the case came to light in 1995, the organization has tightened up the case processing to avoid similar situations, and all Romanian medical reports are now sent to the counties for approval.

A Delhi court upholds inheritance rights of an adopted son under Muslim Personal Law. The court rules that a Muslim individual who doesn't file a declaration under Section 3 of the Shariat Act has opted out of Muslim Personal Law.

NEW DELHI: In a verdict that may have legal and social ramifications, a Delhi court has upheld the inheritance rights of an adopted son of a deceased man.
Additional district judge Praveen Singh held that a Muslim individual who doesn’t file a declaration under Section 3 of the Shariat Act has in effect opted to stay out of the purview of Muslim Personal Law as far as adoption, wills and legacies are concerned.'

The judge said such a person could adopt a child, who would be a legitimate child of his adoptive parents with all rights, privileges and responsibilities attached to such a relationship.
In the process, the court rejected the dead man’s brothers to a “natural” claim on three-quarters of deceased’s self-acquired property under Muslim law. Instead, the court gave the share to his wife and adopted son in a first-of-its-kind ruling on adoption-related inheritance rights of a Muslim individual since adoption in Islam is not legally recognised.
“It is not that in all cases a Muslim by religion has to be bound by Muslim Personal Law and has no choice to move out of the purview of Muslim Personal Law,” the court ruled on a partition suit filed by Iqbal Ahmed, the brother of the dead man, Zamir Ahmed, seeking a share in his property.

Iqbal argued that in accordance with the Muslim Personal Law, only one-fourth of Zamir’s properties should go to his widow with the rest being distributed among his siblings. Zamir’s three sisters were entitled to 15% share and the remaining 60% to the plaintiff and five brothers of the deceased.
The suit claimed that Zamir died childless on July 3, 2008, and inheritance was governed by Muslim Personal Law. In reality, Zamir and his wife, Gulzaro Begum, had adopted a son, Abdul Samad aka Sameer, without making any declaration of this under the Shariat Act.

Under Muslim law of Inheritance, there are three classes of legal heirs: sharers, residuary and distant kindred. The court noted that of the 12 Quranic sharers, only the widow of the deceased survived and said that since the deceased was survived by his widow and a son, the inheritance had to be decided accordingly. It also observed that under the Shariat Act, a Muslim retained the right to stay out of the purview of Muslim Personal Law on certain aspects.
“Deceased Zamir Ahmed had elected not to be governed by Muslim Personal Law on the subject of adoption and thus, if he had adopted a child as claimed by defendant no. 1 (Gulzaro Begum), the said adoption shall be governed by general law of the land,” the court declared.
The court said it couldn’t bring Zamir within the fold of Muslim Law by an indirect route and doing so would be in violation of the choice given to the deceased by law. ADJ Singh said, “The son being a residuary excludes the brothers and sisters of deceased Zamir Ahmed. This being the case, I am of the considered opinion that the plaintiff and the defendant brothers and sisters are not entitled to the partition as prayed for.”

by Espen Slavensky

The children's room is clear, and she has looked at pictures and videos of the adopted child she was matched with again and again.

Louise Stenstrup shows a picture on the chest of drawers in the decorated but empty children's room

- This is my son, who is waiting in South Africa, she says.

She was happy when she was told in August that there was finally a match. She was to be the adoptive mother of a boy from an orphanage in South Africa.

The Council of Europe called on Friday for the establishment of official reparation measures for the millions of children in care who are victims of violence in Europe

“I survived but many children died”: whether they attended Romanian orphanages or Portuguese Catholic schools, mistreated children in Europe must benefit from official reparation measures, the Council of Europe argued on Friday.

In a resolution, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) considers that the 46 member states of the institution - whose main mission is the defense of human rights - must shed light on the acts of child abuse, whether physical, psychological or sexual violence.

It recommends that each country take stock of this violence, recognize the suffering suffered, present an official apology and compensate the victims.

NEW DELHI: Clearing the air on whether the health status of the biological parent of a child placed in the adoption pool should be disclosed to prospective adoptive parents, the government has said that such information may only be shared if it “does not violate the privacy of the biological parents”.

The steering committee of the Central Adoption Resource Authority under the ministry of women and child development at its meeting last month took into consideration two conflicting opinions received from AIIMS and NIMHANS on the matter by CARA and finally after a “detailed discussion” decided to go with the the opinion offered by the latter.

The matter was placed on the agenda for opinion, as CARA has been receiving requests from stakeholders for providing guidance over disclosing health status of biological parents to PAPs, be it HIV positive or mental instability/illness. “Moreover, it has also been observed that in the case of a surrendered child, where the health status of biological parents is disclosed in the child study report (CSR), PAPs are not accepting the child,” it is cited in the minutes of the meeting available in the public domain on the CARA website.

CARA received two conflicting views on the matter. “The expert from AIIMS is of the opinion that complete information about the mother's status should be furnished as it is legally required to do so.On the other hand, NIMHANS representative has stated that such information may only be shared if it does not violate the privacy of the biological parents,” said the minutes of the meeting. The steering committee in its decision concluded that following discussions in detail, the opinion of NIMHANS has been approved..

The adoption regulations deal with the issue of ‘background information of the biological parent’. The 2022 regulations address the issue in the section on information regarding the social background of a child. It states that "do not give identifying information about the natural parent". Social background should include a child's social history which can be a brief background about the birth parents and circumstances necessitating the child's surrender or abandonment. However, “identifying information such as the name and address of birth parents or relatives is prohibited”.