Around 2.2% of the population of England and Wales is now mixed race and 3.3% are from black ethnic groups. During World War II, over 70 years ago, these figures were far lower. And so, unsurprisingly, life was difficult for the 2,000 or so mixed race babies who were born in World War II to black American GIs and white British women.

They grew up in predominately white localities and experienced significant racism. I have interviewed 45 of these children (now in their seventies), hailing from all over England. Their story of institutional racism rivals the horrors of the appalling story of the Windrush generation.

Of the 3 million US servicemen that passed through Britain in the period 1942-45, approximately 8% were African American. The GIs were part of a segregated army and they bought their segregation policies with them, designating towns near to American bases “black” or “white” and segregating pubs and dances along color lines, with dances held for black GIs one evening and whites the next.

Related: US adoption system discriminates against darker-skinned children

Inevitably, relationships formed between the black GIs and local women and some resulted in what the African American press referred to as “brown babies.” All these children were born illegitimate because the American white commanding officers refused black GIs permission to marry, the rationale being that back in the US, 30 of the then 48 states had anti-miscegenation laws.

Number of international adoptions historically low in Flanders

Last year, barely 32 foreign children found a new home with a Flemish family through adoption. In 2017 there were 59 and in 2012 even 122. This is according to figures that Flemish MP Katrien Schryvers (CD&V) requested from the Minister of Welfare Vandeurzen (CD&V).

The number of intercountry adoptions has been declining for years. In 2012, another 122 children from abroad were adopted in Flanders. Even then, there was a downward trend. After 2012 - the year in which the parliament approved a new decree on intercountry adoption - the number of intercountry adoptions fell even further. From 2013 there were never more than seventy and in 2018 there are barely 32 intercountry adoptions, a historically low figure.

The 32 children adopted internationally in 2018 come from twelve different countries (Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, China, Philippines, Haiti, India, Kazakhstan, Portugal, Thailand, United States, Vietnam, South Africa). Not only did far fewer adoptions occur in 2018, a number of channels also remained inactive or were stopped completely. Children were still adopted from Chile, Ethiopia, Guinea and Poland in 2017, but not in 2018 anymore.

"The number of intercountry adoptions has fallen sharply worldwide in recent years, and that may not increase spectacularly again in the coming years," says CD&V MP Katrien Schryvers. According to her, there are various causes for the relapse. For example, there is more focus on reception in the countries of origin. "The number of children adopted from the same channel is also very limited. New channels are being investigated, but that requires a lot of expertise and time. It is therefore appropriate that the three adoption services that are active in Flanders coordinate their operations better and investigate how close cooperation can be achieved. Only in this way can the necessary expertise be retained. "

Decreasing number of adoptions of foreign children

In 2014, the Federal Central Authority for the adoption of the FPS Justice recognized and / or registered 199 foreign decisions about an adoption in Belgium. There are noticeably fewer than in previous years. In 2010 there were 446 children, in 2011 388, in 2012 289 and in 2013 239. This is apparent from the answer from Minister of Justice Koen Geens to a written question from Philippe Goffin (MR).

Before an adopted child is transferred to Belgium, the Central Authority must recognize and record all foreign decisions regarding adoption. As soon as proof of registration has been issued, the child can be registered in the population register of the municipality of his place of residence or in the aliens register.

From 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2014, 1,843 applications for recognition and / or registration of a foreign decision on an adoption were received. 1,163 of those applications were made in the context of files handled by an approved adoption service or by the competent Community. 624 applications were not supported by an adoption service or a Community, in 56 cases it was for registration applications.

”The fall in the number of intercountry adoptions since 2010 is mainly due to the international context. Because the countries of origin are developing economically, fewer children need adoptions and the chance of a domestic adoption increases, "says Koen Geens. "The downward trend can also be observed in our neighboring countries and not only in Belgium."

A case has been registered under relevant sections of child trafficking under the Juvenile Justice Act against the four accused at Panchgani police station

A couple from the city are among the four arrested by the Panchgani police for child trafficking. The couple was attempting to buy a newborn baby.

According to the police, Rajesh Chaurasia (40), the father of the child, had developed an illicit relationship with a 23-year-old woman, the mother of the child. He tried to pressurise her into abandoning the baby on delivery, but when she refused, he decided to sell the child. He was introduced to the couple by a woman, who runs a school in Panchgani. The couple was scheduled to leave for Muscat after buying the child.

A case has been registered under relevant sections of child trafficking under the Juvenile Justice Act against the four accused at Panchgani police station. The four accused, including Chaurasia, the woman who runs a school, and the couple who was to buy the child, are currently in police custody.

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It was in the end July that a girl child’s scream and a concerned neighbour’s call to the child helpline lifted the lid on the gory saga of a child sex racket in the temple town of Yadadri. The eight-year old girl Manjula (name changed) who was coerced to witness sexual acts of adults during night time was forced to complete household chores during day. The tired girl was punished with a hot spatula for not obeying the commands of her pseudo mother Kamsani Kalyani.

Upon questioning by the police, Kalyani spilled beans that the girl was not her child but was procured from a pimp Kamsani Shankar and was groomed into the flesh trade. The lady further revealed that young girls are generally taught tricks of the trade at an early stage of their lives. After investigation, the police have sealed 22 houses and arrested 30 people, including several women, on August 2, 2018. The police slapped cases under IPC sections 370A, 371 and 366, relevant sections of POCSO Act and the PD Act. Police hope conviction of at least 10 accused under the PD Act (Preventive Detention Act).

A registered medical practitioner (RMP) Venkat Reddy in the vicinity helped the mothers to transform the girls into women by pumping hormones. The doctor also helped the trade by illegally terminating pregnancies. The Anuradha Maternity Clinic in Ganesh Nagar of Yadadri is now being sealed and the doctor has been arrested under sections 420, 419 of IPC, Section 26 of Drugs and Cosmetics Act and Section 15 of the Indian Medical Council Act 1956.

Many ampoules of Oxytocin, referred as love hormone, were found in the clinic located close to the Yadadri Hill. Oxytocin is a hormone and a neurotransmitter that is involved in childbirth and breast-feeding. It is also associated with empathy, trust, sexual activity, and relationship-building. It is said that the love hormone shoots in blood during hugging and orgasm.

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Police arrested Rajesh Chaurasia for selling his new born baby from an illicit relationship. He sold the infant to a Pune family. The accused has also been booked under sections 376 and 370 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

A 40-year-old man has been arrested in Panchgani on charges of child trafficking -- under sections 80 and 81 of the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act, 2000.

Police arrested Rajesh Chaurasia for selling his new born baby from an illicit relationship. He sold the infant to a Pune family.

The accused has also been booked under sections 376 and 370 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Chaurasia had an illicit relationship with a 23-year-old divorcee.

A court in Berlin has sentenced two people, living in Greece and accused of trafficking minors, to almost two years on probation. The Asian couple, however, only played a small role in a major trafficking ring, the court found.

The couple reportedly started to illegally bring children into Germany in November 2018, using their eight-year-old son's identity documents to pass the trafficked children off as their own at passport control at Berlin's Tegel airport.

After four successful instances, Bangladeshi-born Kader A. and his Indonesian wife Helena S. failed and were arrested at Tegel Airport during their last attempt in January 2019.

They told the court on Wednesday that they had reportedly been recruited by a major human trafficking ring based in Athens after their tailoring business in Athens had tanked, leaving them in severe debt. They also revealed that they were offered €1,500 each time they trafficked a minor.

Small cogs in big wheel

SALEM/NAMAKKAL: The CB-CID police arrested one more nursing assistant from a primary health centre at Sarkar Kollapatty in the city on Friday in connection with the child trafficking case.

K Shanthi, 35, of Sarkar Kollapatty, was arrested based on the information given by the main accused, R Amuthavalli, in the case. Shanthi is working at the primary health centre at Kannankurichi under deputation.

Shanthi was brought to CB-CID office at Nedunchalai Nagar near Suramangalam in the city on Friday evening. With the arrest of Shanthi, the number of accused arrested in the case rose to nine.

Meanwhile, four other accused in the case – Parvin, Hasina, Arulsamy and Murugesan- were produced before the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) of Namakkal district court K Karunanithi on Friday evening. “The CJM ordered to lodge all the four accused under judicial custody until further orders,” said an official of the Namakkal ) district court. Shanthi was also produced before the CJM who remanded her in judicial custody for 15 days.

All the accused were lodged at the central prison in Salem.

14 newborns sold to couples across the State; 8 persons held

Director General of Police T.K. Rajendran on Monday issued orders to the Crime Branch Central Investigation Department (CB CID) to probe child trafficking cases in Government Hospital, Rasipuram and Kolli hills hamlets in Namakkal district.

A recorded conversation between a retired nursing assistant, R. Amuthavalli, 50, of Valliyammal Nagar in Rasipuram with an unidentified man posing as a buyer went viral on social media.

Subsequently, Deputy Director of Health Services K. Ramesh Kumar lodged a complaint with the All Women Police Station at Rasipuram to probe the child trafficking racket.

The police picked up Amuthavalli, who had served in hospitals at Salem, Pallipalayam, Tiruchengodu and Velur, before joining the Government Hospital at Rasipuram.