Jerusalem, Feb 22 (AP) The Israeli government on Monday approved a plan to offer USD 50 million in compensation to the families of hundreds of Yemenite children who disappeared in the early years of the country''s establishment.

But the announcement received a cool reception from advocacy groups that said the government had failed to apologize or accept responsibility for the affair.

Stories about the missing children have circulated in Israel for years. Hundreds of newborn babies and young children of Jewish immigrants from Arab and Balkan countries, most of them from Yemen, mysteriously disappeared shortly after arriving in the country.

Many families believe their children were taken away and given to childless couples of European backgrounds, both in Israel and abroad. Although previous inquiries have dismissed claims of mass abductions, the suspicions have lingered and contributed to a long-simmering fault line between Jews of European origin and those of Middle Eastern backgrounds.

“This is among the most painful affairs in the history of the state of Israel,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “The time has come for the families whose infants were taken from them to receive recognition by the state and government of Israel, and financial compensation as well.”

The Supreme Court on Monday passed a landmark judgement, permitting unwed mothers to have the guardianship of their child without the consent of the biological father.

According to reports, a bench, led by Justice Vikramjit Sen was adjudicating a plea by a woman challenging the necessity of involving the father in a guardianship petition.

According to the petition, the father of the child does not even know about his existence.

As per the guidelines stated under Guardians and Wards Act and the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, a notice has to be sent to the child's father to obtain his consent when a plea for guardianship is moved.

In this case, the woman has said that she does not want to disclose the parentage as the father has nothing to do with the upbringing of the child.

Sander Huisman, eligible for election for the ChristenUnie and known to some as the face of the AFCA Supportersclub, does not think the adoption stop is justified. He was himself adopted from Indonesia in 1979.

The reason for the adoption stop, which was instituted last week by Minister Dekker, is an investigation by

the Joustra Committee. He concluded that a lot had gone wrong with adoptions abroad between 1967 and

1997. For example, it concerned child theft and forgery of documents.

'It is of course very sad and regrettable if abuses arise around adoption or if adoption cases simply did not

The outbreak of the pandemic in March had brought the adoption process to a standstill for several reasons – lack of information, closure of courts and fear of contracting the infection

The ongoing pandemic has left prospective parents (PPs), hoping to adopt a child, in uncertainty.

The outbreak of the pandemic in March had brought the adoption process to a standstill for several reasons – lack of information, closure of courts and fear of contracting the infection. These reasons refrained PPs from approaching adoption centres.

After being halted for April and May 2020 owing to the Covid-19 outbreak, the process of adoptions – considered lengthy and tedious – restarted in June. Since then, 437 children have been adopted domestically and internationally in the state.

Of these 378 were adopted by domestic applicants, while 59 children were adopted by international applicants between June and December last year, data provided by the State Adoption Resource Agency (SARA) stated. During the financial year 2019-20, 539 children were adopted domestically, while 69 were adopted internationally in Maharashtra.

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ARNHEM - A pregnancy of 10 and a half months, a groom who cannot remember his wedding party and an adoptive mother who does not remember when and where she first saw her children. The adoption of 'twins' Naila and Bryan from Tiel is rattling.

Naila and Bryan are doing fine. The twins are in group 8, like to exercise and their friends are walking down the door. Naila and Bryan's parents are not their biological parents. The children have known this since 2016. Then their parents Jakob and Ika had to confess this fact under heavy pressure from a radical and international police investigation: We are not your real mom and dad.

Adoption is barred, human trafficking is not

Jakob and his wife Ika from Tiel stood before the court in Arnhem yesterday. They heard the Public Prosecution Service (OM) demand a four-year prison sentence for the illegal adoption of their two children from Indonesia. The illegal adoption, which took place in 2010, has now expired, but this does not apply to the other criminal offenses: forgery of documents, human trafficking and 'embezzlement of state'. The latter means: leaving children insecure about their parentage and origin.

Jakob insists that in 2010 he knew no better than: these are my biological children. They were born in Indonesia in October 2009. Their biological mother, Novia, is said to have died ten days after the twins were born. The fact that a DNA test in the Netherlands shows that they are not Jacob's children and that they are not brother and sister of each other, has 'just as surprised' him.

VIDEOBREDA - She has been adopted, Rupika Kop from Breda. Thirty years ago she came to our country from Sri Lanka as a baby. She is incredibly happy with that, she says. Because her parents here saved her life.

Adopting children from abroad? That is no longer allowed. The cabinet's ban comes after a damning report by the Joustra Committee that investigated abuses surrounding foreign adoptions (see box).

And yes, they are terrible, those adoption excesses , Rupika Kop does not deny that. “But by now suspending those adoptions, the cabinet is affecting precisely the children who need help. This measure is far too drastic. For some of those children it is a matter of life or death. I don't hear anyone about that. ''

The Breda resident should know. If she hadn't been adopted thirty years ago, she wouldn't have lived now. Because, she says, her Dutch parents - whom she sees as her only real parents - saved her life. “My neck was completely crooked as a result of a bad pregnancy. After my adoption, I received physiotherapy at home for two years. If that hadn't happened, I wouldn't have survived. Healthcare in Sri Lanka is not as good as that in the Netherlands. The doctor involved in my adoption sent another letter to my parents a few years later. He wrote that they saved my life. ”

Adoption papers

New corporate due diligence law could put an end to profit from forced labour and child labour

Brussels, 8 February 2021

We are on the brink of a major opportunity to advance and protect human rights for people all over the world. In the next few months, the European Union will further debate a proposed business and human rights law that would require companies operating in the EU to prevent and address human rights abuses and environmental damage in their global supply chains. This commitment to responsible business could help tackle forced labour and child labour in supply chains around the world.

On Monday 8 February, the European Commission closed a public consultation on the proposed law. We took part in this consultation, together with partner organisations in more than 20 countries, including Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Nepal, South Africa and Turkmenistan. We also actively encouraged our supporters and allies to do the same, and we want to thank everyone who took part: this consultation proved to the European Commission that people all over the world look to the EU to show leadership, courage and compassion for oppressed people everywhere.

Real action needed to combine business and human rights

Ireland's mother and baby homes inquiry has "become aware of backup tapes" after it was criticised for deleting audio recordings of witness evidence.

It is not yet known if the backup tapes contain the deleted personal accounts given by former residents of the homes, but their content is to be examined.

Children's Minister Roderic O'Gorman revealed the discovery on Friday.

He stressed he did not want to raise expectations unduly but very much hoped they contain the deleted testimonies.

The recordings were made when 549 people who had "lived experience" of mother and baby homes agreed to give evidence to an independent inquiry into the institutions.

PHOENIX -- A former Arizona politician who acknowledged running an illegal adoption scheme in three states, including Arkansas, that involved birth mothers from the Marshall Islands has asked an appeals court to throw out his six-year prison sentence.

Attorneys for Paul Petersen argue that a judge double-counted factors in the case that increased the severity of Petersen's punishment, such as concluding that he abused his position as an adoption attorney.

Petersen, a Republican who served as Maricopa County's assessor for six years and operated an adoption practice on the side, is contesting the first of three sentences he'll receive for arranging adoptions that are prohibited by an international compact.

A month ago, he started serving the sentence for a federal conviction in Arkansas for conspiring to smuggle humans. He is to be sentenced next month on convictions for fraud in Arizona and for human smuggling in Utah.

Investigators estimated that Petersen handled a minimum of 30 Marshallese adoptions a year in Northwest Arkansas. His October 2019 indictment left 19 birth mothers and the prospective adoptive parents in legal limbo in Washington County Circuit Court. Those cases were dealt with under sealed records.