Adoption Fraud: Congo abducted children end up as "ophans" in Belgium

At least three Congolese 'orphans' who were adopted in our country, have biological parents in their home country. They were kidnapped and placed in an orphanage where they were given false names. The Belgian adoptive parents are oblivious and never knew that their children - Samira, Zakiatu and Jaelle - were stolen from their families. Our reporters searched and found the biological parents in the Congolese bush. The first episode today reads exceptionally free, the rest of the series on Saturday in Het Laatste Nieuws and HLN +.

KURT WERTELAERS BENOIT AND THE FREINE IN CONGO May 5, 2017

When the DRC halted foreign adoptions in 2013 - after far too many stories of abuse - if no child have left the country. At that time, however, there were dozens of adoptions pending. Also in our country. They then tried to filter out fraudulent records - at least that was the intention - and after a long, grueling process, and more than two years of waiting in November 2015 came a dozen Congolese orphans still in our country.

Those children were all from Tumaini orphanage in Kinshasa, an institution run by the Belgian-Congolese Julienne Mpemba (40) from Namur. Since 2012 she had been thirty Congolese orphans linked to adoptive parents in our country. "Never had any problems," she would explain about it. Mpemba incidentally earned thousands of euros to the temporary stop of adoption. "If you want them to be taken care of, you have to pay for it," she told the adoptive parents. "They are your children."

By: editors

5/05/17 - 13u48 Source: Belga© Belga.

ADOPTION FRAUD

Why still working with the Congolese Tumaini orphanage and the Belgian-Congolese Julienne Mpemba while Congolese human rights organizations and Interpol already in 2013 possessed information that brought both in connection with the abduction of young children in 2015? That Flemish parliament Lorin Parys (N-VA) wants to know from Minister for Family Jo Vandeurzen (CD & V).

Parys filed Friday in parliament a request for explanation after the news had become known that at least three Congolese "orphans" that were adopted in our country have biological parents in their home country. Those kids came in 2015 in our country through the Tumaini orphanage was run by Julienne Mpemba. They became associated in 2013 with the disappearance and abduction of small children, last year she was arrested in our country but released pending trial.

"No indication of irregularities in adoptions in Flanders"

SAVE ARTICLE

COMMENTS

1

RVL

Adoption Notice: Adoption Service Provider Accreditation/Approval Expiration or Relinquishment

May 5, 2017

The Council on Accreditation (COA) reports that the following agencies did not seek renewal of accreditation or approval, did not achieve renewal before their accreditation/approval expired and have a pending application, or voluntarily relinquished their accreditation or approval between January 1, 2016 and March 31, 2017.

A Helping Hand Adoption Agency

About a Child

At least three Congolese children, declared as orphans and adopted in Belgium, still have biological parents in their country of origin. After being kidnapped, they were taken to an orphanage in Kinshasa where they were given false names, Het Laatste Nieuws reported on Friday. The adoptive parents knew nothing.
 

The federal prosecutor's office discovered that the children, who arrived in Belgium in 2015, had been kidnapped. They were given other identities and dates of birth, even though they were not intended for adoption at all.

Reporters from the newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws went looking for the biological parents and found them. They explained that they had the opportunity to send their offspring to a camp, through a youth organization, from which they never returned. Defrauded, the parents had no money to pay a lawyer and were also unable to count on help from the local authorities. According to journalists, it appears that some high-ranking local officials are involved in the trafficking or have at least decided to turn a blind eye.

When the authorities learned that reporters were looking into the case, they were questioned for three days, before being released after the intervention of the Belgian embassy.

The kidnapped children came from the orphanage of Julienne Mpemba, a Belgian-Congolese lawyer from Namur who previously appeared on a PS list during the elections. The person concerned was arrested last year in Belgium, but was released by the indictment chamber after a month and a half awaiting trial.

Adoption Notice: Update on Communication with European Adoption Consultants, Inc.

May 3, 2017

The Office of Children’s Issues is aware that some former EAC clients who followed the instructions in the April 6 Notice have had their correspondence to EAC returned with no forwarding address identified. The Ohio Attorney General’s Office confirmed to the Office of Children’s Issues on May 1, 2017, that individuals whose letters to EAC are returned may wish to submit the correspondence to the agency’s registered agent: John A. Carbone Co. LPA, 614 West Superior Avenue, Suite 800, Cleveland OH 44113. This information is publicly available on the Ohio Secretary of State’s website.

.

Adoption Alert—Suspension of Adoptions from Ethiopia

This updates our April 21, 2017 Adoption Alert to provide additional information on the Government of Ethiopia’s recent suspension of adoptions.

On April 21, the Ethiopian Prime Minister’s Office declared an immediate suspension of intercountry adoptions. The U.S. Department of State does not yet know how long this suspension will last. The Office of Children’s Issues and the Embassy are working with the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs (MOWA) and the Prime Minister’s Office to seek more information on the terms of the suspension. We are urging the Ethiopian government to allow continued processing of cases that were in progress prior to this suspension.

If you have questions about your pending case, please contact your Adoption Service Provider. You may also write to ConsAdoptionAddis@state.gov if you have questions about an adoption-related visa application or immigrant petition. You may copy the Office of Children’s Issues at Adoption@state.gov on your email to the Embassy if you wish.

Please continue to monitor travel.state.gov for updated information on intercountry adoption in Ethiopia.

May 2, 2017. Petition to Aid U.S. Citizen Guatemala Adoption Advocate. Nancy Bailey, an American who has lived in Guatemala, was arrested in 2014 and charged with child-trafficking. Bailey had run a foster home called Semillas de Amor (Seeds of Love) which had cared for many children who were adopted by U.S. families. International adoption from Guatemala was suspended at the beginning of 2009 but Bailey continued to run her children's home. When Bailey was first arrested, she was kept in house arrest but has been imprisoned for the last year. Now her trial will begin soon. This petition, filed by her U.S. supporters requests that Senator Dianne Feinstein and Congressman Jared Huffman intervene to:

Immediately contact the U.S. Ambassador in Guatemala to request a U.S. Embassy Official observe her trial to ensure its fairness and legality,

Personally explore the circumstances of Nancy's situation further as it concerns the global criminalization of the noble act of adoption and the unjust judicial treatment of Americans abroad. Given the politicization of international adoption in Guatemala, having a U.S. Embassy observer at any proceedings seems a necessary protection.

To read the petition, please click here.

https://www.gopetition.com/petitions/justice-for-nancy-bailey.html?sh=Sq%2FoX3JsH4hEfhIC8Xz43eFKgbfl9JSMCCL1hJjgtDw%3D

EU Affairs Minister Birchall: Romania - child protection best practice model to UNICEF

2 Mai 2017, 18:35 • ENGLISH

510 views

Romania is one of the Central and Eastern European countries UNICEF relies on, and in this respect the United Nations Children's Fund has invited Romania to increase its involvement in efforts to improve the situation of children in various states in this region.

According to a Foreign Ministry release, the subject was discussed Tuesday during the meeting of Minister Delegate for European Affairs Ana Birchall with UNICEF Regional Director for Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States Afshan Khan. UNICEF representative in Romania Sandie Blanchet and UNICEF Romania Communication and Fund Raising Manager Despina Andrei also attended the meeting.

(Representative Image)

(Representative Image)

MUMBAI: The metropolis recorded as many as 1,940 cases of kidnapping of minors last year—a little over 5 cases every day— next only to Delhi, which reported 5,769 such cases. Mumbai accounted for nearly one-fourth of the child kidnapping cases in Maharashtra (8260), which is ranked second among states after Uttar Pradesh.

According to the NCRB report, a majoirty of the victims in Mumbai were between the ages of 12-15 years (894). Police officers attributed the high numbers to minors running away from home, eloping with lovers, followed by kidnapping for rape, adoption, revenge, murder and ransom. A police officer said most cases of missing children are recorded as kidnapping—especially when girls elope with young men.

The NCRB report shows the number of kidnapping for ransom is low. Besides, 20 children in Mumbai were kidnapped for forcing them into slavery, begging or trafficking in 2016.