Social Committee 2023-24
SOU Alm. part Annex 290
Public
 

Police in Guatemala raided five regional offices of British aid agency Save the Children on Monday as part of an investigation into alleged child abuse.

Prosecutors requested information from US authorities in April about the alleged involvement of the organisation in smuggling children across the border, according to local media.

Save the Children said it was "aware of the activity" at their offices, and denied the prosecutors' allegations.

The prosecutor in charge of the case, Rafael Curruchiche, and the country's attorney general, Consuelo Porras, have previously been sanctioned by the United States and the European Union for attacks on democracy.

Curruchiche said the searches were being carried out in different regions of the country as part of a "transnational investigation of great importance", in a video statement on X.

The GLP Thurgau has submitted a simple request to the government council to shed light on the illegal adoptions of Indian children between 1973 and 2002. Several cases are said to concern the canton of Thurgau.

The report "Mother Unknown", which was commissioned by the cantons of Zurich and Thurgau, "reveals serious misconduct", according to a statement from the Thurgau Green Liberals. Many adoptions were carried out without the consent of the biological mothers and on the basis of forged documents.

"The adoptions were not just acts of charity, but also a business model," the GLP states. Homes in India released children for adoption and received money from Switzerland. "Despite missing or incomplete documents, the relevant authorities in Thurgau approved the adoptions. This means that the canton shares responsibility."

Families who spent years in limbo have had their hopes dashed, and some analysts fear disabled children may never get to enjoy family life

China’s abrupt decision to ban international adoptions last month appears to have crushed the dreams of hundreds of foreign families and possibly ended the last chance many Chinese children would have had of a family life.

“You’re losing a kid even though you didn’t give birth to them and you haven’t even met them,” said Kathy Rice, one of the affected would-be parents. “But they’ve been part of our family all this time and all of a sudden we’re losing them.”

Rice had been waiting for five years to adopt Ruby, a teenager with Down’s syndrome, and bring her home to Michigan.

Updated 07 Oct. 2024 AT 1:26 PM

The black car slows down and stops in front of a low brick house.

The house's brown front doors are open, but Natalie Montaño (35) stays inside the car.

Right now, she is regretting the Facebook post she made three years ago. The post that has led her from Oslo to this house in Colombia.

The body feels numb. Disconnected, like a shell.

The Jabalpur bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court last week quashed an FIR against christian missionary Dr. Ajai Lall accused of trafficking two children, who were earlier living in an orphanage run by a society of which he was the office bearer, and who were subsequently adopted following a family court order in 2017. In doing so the High Court noted that the adoption of the children was...

South Korea adoptees endure emotional, sometimes devastating searches for their birth families

SEOUL — They began a pilgrimage that thousands before them have done. They boarded long flights to their motherland, South Korea, to undertake an emotional, often frustrating, sometimes devastating search for their birth families.

South Korea adoptees endure emotional, sometimes devastating searches for their birth families

These adoptees are among the 200,000 sent away from Korea to Western nations as children. Many have grown up, searched for their origin story and discovered that their adoption paperwork was inaccurate or fabricated. They have only breadcrumbs to go on: grainy baby photos, names of orphanages and adoption agencies, the towns where they were said to have been abandoned. They don’t speak the language. They’re unfamiliar with the culture. Some never learn their truth.

The Thurgau GLP has asked the government council for more information on adoptions of Indian children between 1973 and 2002. In a motion, the party is asking, among other things, what support the canton offers those affected.

The background to the GLP's request is a recently presented study on illegal adoptions in the cantons of Thurgau and Zurich. The study on the practice of adoptions from India revealed serious misconduct, as the GLP Thurgau wrote in a statement on the submitted request. Adoptions have also become a business model.

Adoptions approved despite missing documents

A story of being chosen: an adoptees journey to empowerment and her parents dual adoption - join us for a special conversation with Rati Dhoundiyal Ahuja, a remarkable woman who was adopted as a baby in the 1970s and grew up in a loving family in South Mumbai. She’ll be sharing her unique adoption journey, how her parents helped other couples adopt, and how she proudly embraced her story despite societal questions. In this live session, we’ll discuss her experiences of: - Growing up with an adopted sibling who faced emotional challenges. - How she openly shared her adoption story with her son at 16. - Why she believes normalizing adoption is essential and how we can encourage others to embrace it, just like "paw parents" do with adopted pets. Her story is an inspiring testament to the power of love, family, and the importance of open conversations around adoption. Don’t miss this insightful and heartfelt discussion! Tune in live on 28th September 2024 at 5 pm IST Let’s continue the conversation on normalizing adoption and embracing these beautiful journeys with pride!

Legal requirements were systematically ignored in adoptions from India, and to this day it is not clear who the mothers were. A new study shows that the authorities knew about it and did nothing.

For decades, the overwhelming desire of Swiss couples to have children meant that babies were separated from their mothers in other parts of the world.

Now, a new research study commissioned by the cantons of Zurich and Thurgau shows that in the 1980s and 1990s, India was the most important country of origin for babies who came from abroad to married couples in Switzerland. 

Between 1979 and 2002, a total of 2,278 babies were brought from India to Switzerland.

Until now, adoptions from Sri Lanka have been the main topic of discussion, with several scientific studies revealing actual child trafficking and proving major legal irregularities.