The verdict is unanimous. The woman who called Celine Song Mee Nilsen (28) "damn Chinese" on Barcode has again been convicted of racism.

Last year, the accused woman was sentenced to 21 days in unconditional prison for hate speech, reckless behavior and violence against Nilsen.

The woman appealed the case , and now she has also been sentenced in the Court of Appeal.

- I am so grateful to be believed, both in the district court and the court of appeal. This shows that racism is unacceptable and that the legal system cracks down on it. Justice has prevailed, says Celine Nilsen to VG.

The woman's lawyer Kim Ellertsen tells VG that he has not had time to familiarize himself with the new sentence, and does not want to comment immediately.

Northern European countries are scaling back their long-standing overseas adoption programs following reports of illegal practices, a move that will likely impact South Korea, one of the leading countries in sending babies abroad for adoption.

Norway is contemplating a temporary suspension of all international adoptions after local news outlet Verdens Gang exposed illegalities and corruption in the process of bringing in foreign-born babies to be adopted by Norwegian families. The primary countries sending babies to Norway include South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan and Colombia.

The news report claimed that an adoptee from Korea discovered, from a hidden letter, that she was taken away from her Korean biological parents 50 years ago and was sent away for adoption. In a similar case, another adoptee found out that she was secretly sent to Norway by her grandmother without the consent of a biological father.

On Tuesday, one of Norway's top policy bodies recommended a suspension in intercountry adoptions while authorities investigate the alleged document fabrication, legal violations, profiteering, and abduction involved in the process.

“Adoptions must be safe, sound and in the best interest of the child,” said Hege Nilssen, head of the Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs. “Our assessment is that the risk of illegalities is real.”

Shimla, Jan 18 (PTI) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Thursday appealed the wealthier section of the society to adopt children residing in the childcare centres and provide them a safe and bright future. He visited a childcare home at Tutikandi here where Jyoti (original name withheld), residing at the centre, was adopted […]

Shimla, Jan 18 (PTI) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Thursday appealed the wealthier section of the society to adopt children residing in the childcare centres and provide them a safe and bright future.

He visited a childcare home at Tutikandi here where Jyoti (original name withheld), residing at the centre, was adopted by her new parents in the chief minister’s presence under the ‘Mukhya Mantri Sukh Ashray Yojana’.

Sukhu lauded the couple for their noble gesture and encouraging wealthier section of the society to opt for adoption.

“The government understands the problems faced by the orphans and other weaker sections of the society, therefore the Mukhya Mantri Sukh Ashray Yojana has been started in the state,” an official statement quoted him as saying. Sukhu said the state government was arduously working for the welfare of the weaker sections of the society.

Taiwan affected by international adoptions decision

Staff writer, with CNA

International adoptions from Taiwan are conducted according to the Hague Adoption Convention and no reports of illegal cases have been received, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday after Norway and Denmark on Tuesday suspended international adoption from several countries, including Taiwan, pending an investigation into alleged illegal operations.

Social and Family Affairs Administration Director Chien Hui-chuan (簡慧娟) said that 215 children were adopted in Taiwan in 2022, with 110 of them international adoptions, including 62 to the US, 15 to Sweden, 10 to the Netherlands, and one each to Norway and Denmark.

'Long road ahead before ending Europe and Central Asia’s long, painful legacy’ of institutionalisation of children, as new UNICEF report highlights rate of children living in residential care across region is double the global average

GENEVA, 18 January 2024 – Nearly half a million children – or 456,000 – across Europe and Central Asia live in residential care facilities, including large-scale institutions, according to a new report published today by UNICEF.

Pathways to Better Protection: taking stock of the situation of children in alternative care in Europe and Central Asia notes that the rate of children living in residential care facilities across Europe and Central Asia is double the global average, with 232 per 100,000 children living in residential care facilities compared to 105 per 100,000 globally.

“We have a long way to go before ending Europe and Central Asia’s long and painful legacy of institutionalising children. While there have been some improvements, progress has been far from equal. Children with disabilities have largely been left behind,” said Regina De Dominicis, UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia.

Western Europe has the highest rate of children in residential care facilities at 294 per 100,000 children – nearly triple the global average. While facilities in Western Europe tend to be small and integrated into communities, there remains an overreliance on residential care instead of family-based care. The higher rate is partly due to an increase in unaccompanied and separated children and young people seeking asylum in Europe in recent years.

As an adoptee, I live with holes in my heart that can never be healed. The risk that I have been trafficked is horrific. I am happy that Denmark is closing international adoption.

On Facebook I read the following message:

"Today may be my birthday. This day brings me sadness and reminds me of my lack of foundation, but today I want to celebrate myself despite my sadness, because this year I fill up'.

A horrific post on a dating site has triggered a number of replies that suggest giving up children just to be with a lover is a lot more common than most people would imagine

A man's stark request to his match on a dating site has shocked singletons - but it turns out he isn't the only person to have made such a request. Posting on a dating site, a guy called Arron told his match Lauren that she was "looking good in her pics" before asking a quite shocking question.

He said: "Would you be willing to put your children up for adoption? I want to date someone without kids, so looking for someone who is willing to free themselves of their current kids xx." While it is unclear whether he was joking or not, it seems a number of people have actually done this, according to the comments below the post on Reddit. One poster said they knew of someone who had given up her own child to ensure there was peace in the home she was now sharing with her new partner.

A user of the site said: "‌My mother-in-law was friends with a lady who actually did this back in the 90s. Her son and his son would fight (they were little kids.) so she gave him up. My mother-in-law stopped being her friend when she did that. He is not OK. My husband said he was put into our local kids home/orphanage then died of a drug overdose while in high school. People who give up their kids for partners are f*****."

Non-profit Both Ends Believing uses low code technology to develop digital records and methods to help vulnerable children and families connect.

Each new iteration of technology development creates renewed hope to be a vehicle for good and empower those in need. But it’s not the technology type that enables such work but its application. Dallas-based charity Both Ends Believing (BEB) is just such an example. Through the right intentions and business technology leadership, BEB has placed 7,565 orphans with families since it began in 2010.

BEB’s aim is to transform care for vulnerable children in regions with high orphan populations such as Africa and Latin America. The charity was founded by Craig Juntunen, a former quarterback in the Canadian Football League who turned tech entrepreneur after personally experiencing the challenges of adoption. BEB isn’t a traditional charity; it’s also a digital organization using technology to deal with the complexities and inefficiencies of adoption.

Today, the charity works in nations such as Congo-Brazzaville, Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia, as well as the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Paraguay. “We’re in 13 countries with 13 production environments,” says president Mark Schwartz. “Part of the problem is children in institutional care around the world have no records, or, if they do, they’re paper-based and located where the child is.” Research for a book and movie by Juntunen found that the average adoption time for children in these regions is 33 months, leading to costs of around $28,000. “We learned we had to digitize the records,” he adds. “Our partners in federal governments need to understand the educational and medical history before they can begin trying to get them to a family.”

A policy body recommended this week that the country halt all foreign adoptions amid allegations of stolen children, falsified paperwork and for-profit adoption schemes.

One Norwegian woman only discovered via an old letter, hidden for 50 years, that she had been taken from her Korean parents. Another was taken from her home while she was stricken with polio; a woman had arrived and said she was taking the girl to medical care but instead took her to an orphanage. Yet another woman was given up to an orphanage by a vindictive grandmother, trying to break up her son’s marriage.

In each case, the women believed for their entire lives that they had been unwanted, given up or orphaned by their biological parents. The truth, though, could not have been more different.

Theirs are but a sliver of stories that have rattled Norway’s — and, potentially, greater Europe’s — robust foreign adoptions industry. On Tuesday, one of Norway’s top policy bodies recommended a halt to all foreign adoptions amid a probe into allegations of stolen children, forged paperwork and illegal, adoption-for-profit schemes. On the same day, Denmark’s sole foreign adoption agency announced it would be winding down its own operations following similar concerns.

The recommendation in Norway, sweeping in its scope, took all sides of the adoption debate by surprise.

Many Nigerian couples desiring to adopt babies, whether out of social responsibility or childlessness are finding it increasingly difficult to realize their objective as a result of the obstacles they are facing. Before now, it required just a formal documentation and payment of a moderate administrative fee to the caregivers, whether orphanage or social welfare of government to get a baby.

However, given the rising awareness of Nigerians about adoption and the nefarious activities of child traffickers and ritualists, demand has skyrocketed, and both the price of babies and the process have become frustrating, which is driving the business underground. Recently, there were reports of many northern children being sold to couples in the south for adoption illegally.

Child adoption is said to take lengthy of time for it to be fully completed, most experts put it at between 2 to 5 years processing period. In Lagos, to commence adoption process, the couple concerned will have to go to the Ministry of Youth and Social Welfare to collect adoption form, thereafter, there’s a slew of bureaucracy that discourages intending couple and this tends to slow the desire for formal adoption, even after paying a reasonable fees charged by the ministry.

On account of this, many couples, according to findings, tend to patronize many orphanage homes, especially the unregistered ones where the process is faster.

The registered homes often follow the Ministry’s guidelines.