Suspicions of irregular adoptions in Mali: Rayon de soleil already involved in another case

by Hélène Chevallier

June 10, 2020

The adoption agency against which 9 people adopted in Mali in the 1990s complained had already been involved in an illegal adoption case this time in Peru in the early 1980s.

Rayon de Soleil had already been involved in an illegal adoption case © AFP / Patricia de Melo Moreira

Pathways to adoption SURVEY (2/2). From 1989 to 2001, more than 300 children were adopted in Mali via a French association. Many wonder about the conditions of these adoptions.

Time has stood still in Saint-Thégonnec Loc-Eguiner, in the north of Finistère. Sitting in front of two photo albums, Françoise Raoult and her son Jean-Noël, 35, relive each image one by one, with a smile on her lips and tender eyes. This October 17, 2019, nothing else exists except these pictures, vestiges of the childhood of Jean-Noël and that of his little brother Pierre-Yves. “A real bath. With water coming out of the shower head! » , Marvels Jean-Noël again, pointing to the photo where they both laugh out loud in a bathtub.

It was in December 1990. Françoise and Bernard Raoult, a Breton couple, had just adopted Jean-Noël and Pierre-Yves, who arrived from Mali at the age of 6 and 4. Thanks to the French association Rayon de soleil defant stranger (RDSEE), parents and their new children then realize their dream: Françoise becomes a mother and the two brothers discover France within a loving family, after having been "Abandoned" by their biological family. "Abandoned" , that's in any case what RDSEE has always told them ...

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Nine French people of Malian origin file a complaint against an adoption agency

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PARIS-BAMAKO SURVEY , paths to adoption (1/2). Between 1989 and 2001, more than 300 Malian children were adopted through a French association. Nine of them are now taking the case to court.

A red dress with flowers among the boubous. This September 21, 2019, Marie M. stands out with her look. By his attitude too. On this day of celebration, this Frenchwoman of Malian origin, expatriated in Luxembourg, seems embarrassed. At his side, about forty members of the Malian diaspora are celebrating the 59th anniversary of independence, at the cultural center of Ellange, a small town in the Grand Duchy. But the young doctor knows nothing of this distant country where she was born thirty-two years ago, not even its anthem. To reassure herself and be able to sing a few verses with her lips, she stares at the screen where the lyrics scroll, like at karaoke. Marie M. seems disturbed to be suddenly immersed in this culture. These people, this hymn, these colors, it's a little, a lot, his story.

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Nine French people of Malian origin file a complaint against an adoption organization

His Malian life was brief, eighteen months. When she was one and a half years old, Marie M. was adopted in 1989 by a French couple. For years, growing up in this loving family, she didn't really ask questions about her African past. Until the day she herself became a mother, in 2017. So, to offer a complete family history to her daughter, she opened the blue binder, that of her adoption file, so long set aside. Inconsistencies, things left unsaid, lies: the examination of the various documents plunged her into doubt, to the point of encouraging her to go in search of her roots. With a central question: under what conditions had she left Mali in 1989?

Nine French nationals of Mali origin file a complaint against an adoption agency

House likely to have sheltered children adopted through the Rayon de Soleil association. Hippodrome district, Bamako, Mali, January 3. Matthieu Rosier for “Le Monde”

They are called Marie M., Jean-Noël R., Lise F. or Florent T. *. They were born in Mali about thirty years ago. All of them then became French, adopted through the Paris-based association Le Rayon de soleil de l’Enfant Alien. But under what conditions ? Thirty years after their adoption, this Monday, June 8, they are nine to file a complaint at the tribunal de grande instance of Paris against the French organization and their former correspondent in Mali, Danielle Boudault, for “Scam, concealment of fraud and breach of trust”.

“This case is dramatic. There are still people who have had their identities stolen, children who have been lied to all their lives, and people who are quiet today. The purpose of this complaint is to hold everyone accountable for their responsibilities. The state too, because there has been action at all levels “, said Noémie Saidi-Cottier, one of the complainants’ two lawyers. ” This is not an isolated case, adds Joseph Breham, the second lawyer. Here it is Mali, but other countries are probably affected. This is this association, but there are probably others. We are not on an epiphenomenon, but on something that affects a certain number of French women. “

In this 38-page complaint, containing more than 100 documents, the two French lawyers, members of the Alliance of Lawyers for Human Rights (AADH), detail the main operating mode of the Rayon de soleil and the “Stratagems” implemented to allow “Circumvention of the law” in order to have Malian children adopted in France who, under local law, should not have been.

AFRIQUE

DIASPORA

Neuf Français d’origine malienne portent plainte contre un organisme d’adoption

Selon les plaignants, l’association Le Rayon de soleil aurait eu recours à des « stratagèmes » pour faire adopter des enfants qui, au regard de la loi, n’auraient pas dû l’être.

Par Morgane Le Cam et Kaourou Magassa Publié hier à 14h06, mis à jour hier à 19h20

Le Mali en proie à ses divisionsLes reportages de TV5MONDE[Collection Reportages]

Adoptions au Mali : en quête de vérité [Collection reportages]

Neuf Français d’origine malienne ont déposé plainte ce 8 juin 2020 contre l’organisme d’adoption Le Rayon de Soleil de l’enfant étranger et son ancienne correspondante au Mali, Danielle Boudault. La plainte a été déposée auprès du tribunal de grande instance de Paris pour "escroquerie, recel d’escroquerie et abus de confiance". Entre 1989 et 2001, 324 enfants maliens ont été envoyés à l'adoption en France par l’association basée à Paris. Parmi eux : Marie, âgée de 32 ans, et Jean-Noël, 35 ans. Sur les traces de leur passé, ils découvrent de faux actes de naissance, des documents falsifiés. De Paris à Bamako en passant par le Luxembourg et la Bretagne, les équipes de TV5MONDE et du journal Le Monde ont enquêté durant près d’un an. Pratiques d’adoptions abusives ou illégales, absences de contrôle, manquements de la justice française, carences de l'administration malienne : reportage et témoignages exclusifs dans ce nouveau numéro de [Collection Reportages] sur ce qui ressemble fort à un scandale à l'adoption.

L'enquête sera publiée dans les colonnes du journal Le Monde des mardi 9 et mercredi 10 juin (datés 10 et 11 juin).

Durée :

Sellur police rescued a 10-month-old baby boy on Saturday after a complaint of illegal adoption between two families.

Police said the baby, born in last August, was handed over by the parents to a childless couple. Both parties had not followed the established procedures for adoption of children.

They just entered into a written agreement certified by a notary public.

After the issue came to light, Child Welfare Committee member B. Pandiarajan, lodged a complaint.

“The baby has been taken to a government home. Further enquiry is under way,” a police officer said.

We interviewed adoptive parents about the adoption of their child. They wanted to participate anonymously. This interview is not specifically aimed at illegal adoption, but it does show how an adoption works.

The adoptive parents have adopted a girl from Hungary. At first she was told that she only had a developmental delay, but once she was in the Netherlands, she was found to have FAS (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome). This can occur if the mother consumes alcohol during pregnancy. FAS is brain damage and/or damage to the central nervous system, which causes physical and psychological impairments. ( Htt p: //www.fasstichting.nl/)

How do you look back on your child's adoption process?

The process of adopting a child is a long one. If they indicate that they want to adopt a child, you must first follow a course. At the time, this was a six-day course in which all aspects surrounding the adoption of a child were discussed. This course is followed by discussions with the Child Protection Board. After these conversations you will (if all is well) get permission to adopt a child. Once you have permission, you find a brokerage organization and the long wait begins. This is because these organizations are looking for parents for a child that is put up for adoption and not the other way around. In practice, this means that you can, for example, be at the top of the waiting list for four years, but if there is no match with the children that are offered, you will not be assigned that child. With us it was the case that we were still orientating ourselves about the countries for which our mediation organization mediated. When we called with the question whether and for how long the waiting list for Hungary was still open, we were told that this waiting list would remain open for a while, but that if we wanted they already had a child available for us. So that was the world upside down, so to speak. The whole process took about two years, which is very short. We look back on the process with a good feeling, partly because it included a very extensive course. When we called with the question whether and for how long the waiting list for Hungary was still open, we were told that this waiting list would remain open for a while, but that if we wanted they already had a child available for us. So that was the world upside down, so to speak. The whole process took about two years, which is very short. We look back on the process with a good feeling, partly because it included a very extensive course. When we called with the question whether and for how long the waiting list for Hungary was still open, we were told that this waiting list would remain open for a while, but that if we wanted they already had a child available for us. So that was the world upside down, so to speak. The whole process took about two years, which is very short. We look back on the process with a good feeling, partly because it included a very extensive course.

After investigations it appears that your child has FAS, this was not revealed during the adoption procedure. Had this been known, would it have influenced your decision to adopt?

Ludhiana: A biological mother of a baby boy has filed a complaint against the family who “adopted” her child by “paying”

money, asking them to return it, district child welfare officer of Nawanshahar has maintained that it will be the court which will

take decision on the legality of adoption process.

Meanwhile, the baby remains with the adopted parents as the child welfare committee (CWC) has declared them fit to keep the

baby till the matter is decided.