HYDERABAD: A tedious procedure and lengthy wait for adoption were blamed for the child trafficking racket that came to light recently. Many childless couples found themselves drawn into the racket operated by three women who targeted fertility centres and Child Welfare Committee (CWC) offices.

The accused women frequented the CWC office and fertility centres to lure the couples who were frustrated by the wait associated with legal adoption through the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA). The adoption process can take anywhere from two to eight years, driving some couples to seek faster alternatives, said a CWC member. Exploiting this frustration, the trio trapped and sold children to childless couples.

Legal adoption, while often lengthy and complex, is designed to ensure the safety and best interests of the children, said a police officer. Authorities urged couples to adhere to legal adoption methods despite the challenges.

The modus operandi of the three accused was to identify prospective parents at fertility centres and CWC offices and promise a quicker process in exchange for a ‘fee’. This illegal route not only bypassed legal safeguards but also posed risks to the children involved. Though the accused followed a foolproof method, the phone of one of the women, Shoba Rani, gave most of the details, said a police officer. She saved the parents’ phone numbers including the price they paid: ‘Rathnam@3L’.

According to the CWC, while many children are abandoned for various reasons, only 20% are registered with the CWC for adoption. The remaining 80% often endure abuse and trauma at home, exacerbated by factors such as low income and alcohol addiction. Raja Reddy, Medchal CWC chairperson, said that delays and complex procedures are inevitable as a thorough checking goes into the credentials of the adoptive couple to ensure a stable environment for the children.

Vijayawada: The AP child rights commission has ordered immediate steps against illegal sale and adoption of children in the state.

Its chairperson Kesali Appa Rao issued the guidelines to the director of women development and child welfare department, Guntur, and also sought an inquiry in the matter.

Action has been initiated by the police and 16 children have been identified out of 60 children rescued from illegal adoption and selling, and they have been sent to Shishuvihar, Hyderabad.

Appa Rao said it was important to ensure the safety of the children through strict vigilance against their possible sale and purchase transactions across the state.

The election campaigns are in full swing again. Posters, flyers, advertisements – we are inundated with them. But one topic is often missing: children's rights. Unbelievable, right? Political decisions in Brussels affect children directly. Climate policy determines their future. Migration affects children fleeing war. And security of existence? Children in poverty start their lives at a disadvantage.

The biggest social problems also affect children. Why then are their rights ignored in debates? European policy has a major influence on our youngest inhabitants. That is why we must protect their rights and well-being. And politicians must pay attention to this. That is missing. The Children's Rights Collective therefore took matters into its own hands and organized the only debate on children's rights in the European election campaign in De Balie in Amsterdam.

Marc Dullaert, chairman of the Children's Rights Collective, opened the evening with a plea to put the interests of the child first. This does not happen enough and it has major consequences: despite prosperity, millions of children in Europe grow up in poverty, two images of child abuse are posted online every second, and the EU Migration Pact allows children to be locked up. “Unacceptable,” said Marc Dullaert.

Six candidate European Parliamentarians debated poverty, online security and migration: Gerrie Elfrink (SP), Ufuk Kâhya (GL-PvdA), Judith Koop (CU), Laura de Vries (D66), Sacha Muller (Volt) and Gerben Horst (CDA). ). The Children's Rights Collective would not be the Children's Rights Collective if the voice of the child itself was not central to the debate. That is why each theme was introduced by an expert who immediately asked the candidate parliamentarians a question.

Poverty

The Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022, which establishes a regulatory framework for the establishment of a regulatory agency to oversee AHR in the state was passed without a vote in the Dáil yesterday. 

It includes measures which limits surrogacy within the state to couples in which the child will have a “genetic link to at least one intending parent,” and that there is no commercial transaction involved.  

However, the Bill also gives legal recognition to children who were born to surrogate mothers outside of the state and provides a framework for the licensing of commercial agencies engaged in international surrogacy. That recognition and the facilitating of such arrangements, all of which are commercial, in the future is in fact the main burden of the legislation.  The proportion of non-commercial arrangements within Ireland is likely to be a much smaller proportion.

It is notable that very few of the media reports on the passing of the legislation referred to the commercial aspects of international surrogacy, nor to any of the considerable criticisms of the practise. 

That avoidance of the monetary aspects is made easier by the fact that the only reference to the commercial nexus is covered by “reasonable expenses.”

Let me introduce myself!

This week, to everyone's great surprise, Dick Schoof was suddenly presented as intended prime minister, which means that Mark Rutte's  successor  seems to be known in one fell swoop. But while the VVD veteran kept his private life strictly  under wraps , a little more is known about Dick Schoof. Let me introduce myself!

Dick Schoof

Would the premiership rest on the shoulders of Geert Wilders ? Or would the role go to Ronald Plasterk ? Suddenly there was a name (unknown to many): Dick Schoof was put forward by the parties involved as intended prime minister.

Let me introduce myself!

This week, to everyone's great surprise, Dick Schoof was suddenly presented as intended prime minister, which means that Mark Rutte's  successor  seems to be known in one fell swoop. But while the VVD veteran kept his private life strictly  under wraps , a little more is known about Dick Schoof. Let me introduce myself!

Dick Schoof

Would the premiership rest on the shoulders of Geert Wilders ? Or would the role go to Ronald Plasterk ? Suddenly there was a name (unknown to many): Dick Schoof was put forward by the parties involved as intended prime minister.

CWC To Decide If Unwed Mom Can Reclaim Baby: HC

CITY

|Rosy Sequeira | May 29, 2024, 04:04 IST

Newgein/Weert -

Amanda Janssen, adopted as a baby from Sri Lanka, had a carefree childhood in a family in Weert. The shock was great when she discovered that her birth certificate was false and that her sister who came along was not a family member. She now heads a foundation that uses DNA kits to help other adopted children find their biological family. She herself is still searching in vain.

Today at 18:45 Roel Wiche

How old are you actually? When Amanda Janssen is asked that question, it is always an awkward moment. The only thing she knows for sure is that she was adopted from Sri Lanka to a family in Weert in February 1985. But every other trail to her origins has so far been a dead end: her identity papers turned out to be false, just like those of thousands of other children who were adopted at the time. "I don't know my roots, but I do exist. That makes it very complicated. As if the ground is disappearing beneath your feet. Who am I?"

Let's keep her age at 39, says Amanda, as she extinguishes the oriental incense sticks in her apartment in Nieuwegein and serves coffee on the balcony. Her ruby-red, authentic Sri Lankan dress sparkles in the sunlight. She tells her story at a time when adoption is all over the news: the Netherlands has immediately imposed a stop because the Lower House fears a repeat of past abuses. In Sri Lanka in particular, there was large-scale adoption fraud. The documents of no fewer than 2,300 of the 3,500 adopted children who came to our country were allegedly forged, revealed the TV programme Zembla a few years ago.

Jason and Lacy Carney

2nd Milk, a Christian charity claiming to feed underprivileged children in Malawi has been exposed as a fraudulent operation designed to give the owners access to significant donor funding that they use to fund a luxury lifestyle. Financial statements track how the charity founders pocketed most of the money donated to the charity, ramping payments to themselves up as authorities started looking at their charitable businesses more closely.

GOLDEN MATONGA & GODFREY MAOCHA 

Jason and Lacy Carney

2nd Milk, a Christian charity claiming to feed underprivileged children in Malawi has been exposed as a fraudulent operation designed to give the owners access to significant donor funding that they use to fund a luxury lifestyle. Financial statements track how the charity founders pocketed most of the money donated to the charity, ramping payments to themselves up as authorities started looking at their charitable businesses more closely.

GOLDEN MATONGA & GODFREY MAOCHA