A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THIS MEMORANDUM

  The European Children's Trust (formerly The Romanian Orphanage Trust) is an international non-governmental organisation based in London. It was formed in 1990—in the post Ceausescu era with the aim of alleviating the plight of children in Romania. Ceausescu's regime had left a legacy of many children abandoned by their parents to inadequate orphanages often referred to as "dying rooms".
 

  Since 1990 The Romanian Orphanage Trust has evolved into The European Children's Trust working in countries of eastern Europe and Central Asia to help build child welfare systems to supersede the former institutionalised systems of childcare. The aim is for the new services to be adopted by the local authorities in order to become truly local services. The Trust has experienced at first hand the circumstances of children with HIV/AIDS with inadequate care systems and how the onset of HIV/AIDS impacts on the economic viability of families and consequently the economic viability of a country.
 

  The Trust's core competence is in preventing the break-up of vulnerable families in situations of dire poverty and extreme social hardship. Its experience is that state orphanages, which are home for children affected by HIV/AIDS are:
 

Switzerland is considering banning international adoptions following the exposure of questionable past practices. Other countries have halted international adoptions in the name of child welfare.

No more foreign children should be adopted in Switzerland: this is the plan presented by the Federal Council last January. The Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP) has been tasked with preparing a bill by the end of 2026. This radical decision was taken after the publication of a damning report in 2023. 

Berne then acknowledged significant irregularities in international adoptions that took place between 1970 and 1999. The findings of the Zurich University of Applied Sciences highlighted systemic failures and negligence on the part of federal and cantonal authorities. Also read:End of international adoptions in Switzerland

Several thousand children from Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, India, Colombia, South Korea, Lebanon and Romania were brought to Switzerland through illegal practices, including child trafficking, falsified documents and the lack of information about their origins.

Written consent from biological parents was often lacking.  

The Karnataka High Court recently comprising of a bench of Justice Hemant Chandangoudar while allowing the petition filed by the two couples and quashing the proceedings initiated against them under the JJ Act held that in absence of a declaration that a child is deserted by his biological or adoptive parents or guardians, filing of charge sheet under Section 80 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015, is without any substance. (Banu Begum and Ors. v. the State of Karnataka)

Facts of the case

A charge sheet was filed alleging that accused No.1 gave birth to twin babies on 14.9.2018. Accused No.3, who was married and issue less through accused No.4, intended to take the daughter of accused No.1 on adoption. Accused Nos.1 and 2 agreed for giving adoption to accused No.3 on 14.9.2018 when accused No.1 came to the hospital for delivery, the accused No.1 had asked accused No.3 to come to the hospital. Accused No.1 delivered twin babies and one of the daughters had breathing problem and the said daughter was taken by accused No.3 by registering the name of the mother as Jareena Begum and thereafter took the daughter of accused Nos.1 and 2 on adoption by executing a deed on Rs.20/- stamp paper.

The learned Magistrate took cognizance of the offence punishable under Section 80 of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (for short `Act’) and issued summons to the petitioners. Taking exception to the same, this petition is filed.

Issue before the Court

Kendrapada: A court in Jagatsinghpur district sentenced a woman and her adopted brother to life imprisonment on Saturday for murdering their mother in 2021, who had opposed their illicit relationship.

Mani Kandi (33) and Rajesh Kandi (29) were found guilty of strangling their mother, Urmila Kandi, to death in Bandar village. District and sessions judge Srinibash Pratihari also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 each on the convicts, with an additional three-month sentence if they fail to pay.

According to the prosecution, Urmila had adopted Rajesh, her sister's son, following her husband's death. Mani, who was deserted by her husband, had returned to live with her mother. The duo developed a relationship, which Urmila strongly opposed, leading to frequent arguments.

On the night of June 22, 2021, during a heated argument, the convicts strangled Urmila and attempted to bury her body near their house. Villagers caught them in the act and informed police.

Public prosecutor Bhajahari Kar said the conviction was based on testimonies from 23 witnesses, postmortem reports, and other evidence. The court found both accused guilty under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention).

Entrepreneur and media personality Anitha Clemence has spent most of her adult life wondering about her adoption.
When she was 26, she went to India with her then-boyfriend.
There, she began to unravel her past, even though it was difficult.

Anitha Clemence was actually worried about what she would find out about her biological family.

– I was really scared. I had a boyfriend in high school who was adopted from Chile. When he went back, he found out that his mother had been a prostitute and drug addict, so I was scared of what I might encounter, says Anitha when we meet at the Soho House members' club in Stockholm.

Anitha knew that she had been found on the street outside a hospital in the city of Kottayam, just a few days old. It was the summer of 1978 and nuns had cared for her inside the hospital.

In this strictly Catholic region of India, it is very common for children born out of wedlock to be left outside the hospital, as the mother otherwise risks social death and exclusion.

South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission(TRC) has confirmed some of the overseas adoption cases from the 1970s and 1980s as human rights violations and recommended the Korean government to officially apologize to its victims. It is the first time for a government agency to recognize human rights violations in past overseas adoptions and acknowledge the state’s responsibility. 

The commission’s decision includes illegal donation practices exposed earlier by the Korea Center for Investigative Journalism(KCIJ)-Newstapa. Newstapa’s investigation shed light on how certain adoption agencies had increased the business profitability of overseas adoption by forcing donations from adoptive parents and had them as unofficial income sources. By forcing donations, Korean adoption agencies were able to take an amount of money that exceeded the standard adoption fee set per child.

The commission’s decision is significant as it officially acknowledges the human rights violations experienced by Korean-born overseas adoptees. However, the announcement immediately faced criticisms due to its limitations.

TRC’s findings of 2.5-year-investigation

— AFAA, Cradle of Hope Permanently from Conducting Adoptions in Liberia

The government, through the Ministry of Gender and Social Protection, has acted decisively against an American adoption agency for what it termed as serious criminal activities and mismanagement.

The Americans for African Adoptions (AFAA) and its affiliate, Cradle of Hope, an orphanage, are involved in serious child abuse and welfare violations as uncovered in a sweeping police investigation. The government has revoked the operation licenses of the orphanage and the adoption agency permanently. 

In a letter dated February 19, 2024, which contents are still concealed from the public, the Ministry of Gender, informed AFAA’s Country Director, Ms. Oretha James, that the adoption agency’s accreditation and sector clearance were being revoked for “widespread abuse and neglect” based on the report by the Liberia National Police.

“After a careful review of the investigative report from the Liberia National Police and legal opinions from within the Ministry’s legal arm, regarding the allegations of ‘Rape/Endangering the Welfare of Children involving Thirty (30) Children at Americans for African Adoption Orphanage,’ your accreditation and sector clearance are hereby revoked permanently in accordance with Article X, Subsection 15 of the Children Law of 2011,” Minister Gbeme Horace-Kollie wrote in her February 19, letter.

BY GOLDEN MATONGA & MERCY CHAGUNDA

Adopting Malawian babies has become a multi-trillion kwacha industry with agents who position themselves as charity organisations conducting online advertising adoption of the Malawian children using emotive images with a promise of a quick adoption process for children who, much like sought-after commodities, don’t come cheap. 

Each adoption comes with a price tag of around USD 20 700 (MK21.2m), a year-long investigation by the Platform for Investigative Journalism (PIJ) has revealed.

The PIJ can also reveal that adoptions worth $5.7 billion (MK5.8 trillion) were facilitated between 2006 and 2022. Many more are likely to have taken place and were not reviewed by the PIJ.

While the “quick adoption” process promised by agents is code for a system where government officials are able to by-pass legal issues as they too cash in on innocent children, poor Malawian families who are enticed to give up children for adoption with promises of lucrative payment are not always made aware that they will no longer have any access to their child after adoption. 

Right now, key documents about international adoptions are about to be transferred to the National Archives, where access to the documents will be limited. This deprives adoptees of the right to full insight into their own cases.

This is a debate post. The post expresses the writer's own opinion.

In November 2023, the government launched a historical study to uncover the area of ​​adoption.

But the investigation will neither conclude whether the adoptions were illegal, nor reveal whether lack of supervision and knowledge on the Danish side has led to violations of Danish adoption law and the human rights of Danish citizens.

The latest revelations from India, as shown in DR's " The Great Adoption Theft ", and Lebanon from the podcast " Falske minder " have documented, among other things, that Danish supervisory authorities and adoption agencies have approved adoptions that were illegal. They have participated in this, knowing full well that the mediation cooperation with the sending countries was problematic and illegal. In addition, inquiries from biological parents have also been ignored.

Both countries responsible for worst kind of human rights violation, says MP Katrine Daugaard

Katrine Daugaard, a member of Denmark’s Liberal Alliance Party, urged the Danish government to launch an impartial legal investigation into irregularities in past overseas adoptions from Korea, stressing that both the sending and receiving countries must take responsibility for misconduct in adoption practices.

"The work and probe results that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) has made are super important. This is a call upon the Danish Parliament to investigate Danish authorities and adoption agencies," Daugaard told The Korea Times via email, Tuesday.

"I can’t say I was surprised by the results because I have read so many government files and case documents. It is very important for the people in both countries involved that the government takes responsibility for finding out the truth however dark it is," she added.

Her remarks follow March 26 announcement by the Korean commission on its initial investigation into overseas adoptions, which found government responsibility for human rights violations in intercountry adoptions from the 1960s to the 1990s. Of the 367 cases filed, Danish adoptees accounted for 227, or about 62 percent of the total.