Adoptionsforum: What does the EU think about international adoption?

What does the EU think about international adoption?

Text: Adoption Forum // Date: 22-05-2012

In recent years, doubts have been raised about whether the European Union respects international adoption as a solution for children who cannot grow up in a permanent family in their own country.

First Published 30.01.2008

The doubts arose when Romania and Bulgaria wanted to become members of the EU. Those who negotiated for the Union made it clear that progress in child welfare was necessary if the two countries were to be accepted. The requirement was in some contexts made so that the countries had to be able to "take care of their own children". This was interpreted as - at least by some - that international adoption had to be discontinued.

Organizations: Adopsjonsforum, Subsidiarity, Nordic Adoption Council, European Parliament, Euradopt, The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and International Cooperation in respect of Intercountry Adoption, European Commission

Persons: Hans van Loon

NGOs up in arms against inter-country adoptions

Published: Monday, May 21, 2012, 15:27 IST
By Chaitraly Deshmukh | Place: Pune | Agency: DNA

Concerned over the alleged violation of fundamental rights of children, two children’s rights non-governmental organisations (NGOs), viz Thane-based Advait Foundation and Pune-based Sakhee have filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court asking for a complete ban on inter-country adoption of children.

The PIL, to be heard by the bench of justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai, claims that the country lacks proper law for protection of the rights of children up for adoption and, hence, parliament be directed to enact proper laws and amend the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986.The date of hearing is not yet fixed.

Thus, the petitioners through their lawyers Shekhar Naphade, Amit Sharma, Kunal Cheema and Rahul Jain, have claimed that the present laws governing adoption of children in India are not in consonance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children, 1989.

The Central government and Central Adoption and Resources Authority (Cara) have been made respondents in the PIL.
In their petition, the NGOs alleged that corruption and malpractices in the form of children allegedly being sold were rampant in inter-country adoption schemes. They claimed that children to be adopted are at times kidnapped from their biological parents.

Citing recent cases of blatant violation, the petition stated that in many states, cases are running against adoption centres for their alleged involvement in fraudulent and illegal activities.

Anjali Pawar, director of Sakhee, said that Maharashtra alone accounts for more than half of all inter-country adoptions taking place in the country. “Cases against five adoption agencies have been registered for allegedly demanding money for adoption,” she said.

The petition prays for access to all documents related to inter-country adoption in order to assess the extent of the problem in the country.

US, Europe residents lead in adoption
As per the data made available by the Central Adoption and Resources Authority (CARA), 593 children were adopted in the inter-country adoption schemes in 2010.

Majority of the children were adopted by people either in the US or Europe.

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Govt may help Kairi Shepherd

Cheta
Chauhan, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, May 20, 2012

The Indian government may provide help to 30-year-old Kairi Shepherd, who faces threat of deporation from United States after a local court rejected her claim for residency. Kairi Shepherd was just three months old when she adopted by Erlene Shepherd from an orphanage in India,
the youngest of her eight adopted kids.Erlene died when Kairi was eight years old, and she had not acquired US citizenship. At
17, Kairi was convicted of forging cheques to pay for her drug habit.

At 30, she faces risk of being deported back to India as US federal court
recently upheld the government’s right to deport Kairi as she had failed to
qualify for citizenship by a few months under the Child Citizenship Act of
2000.

Until 2000, parents were simply required to file a form before the adopted
child turned 21 to claim citizenship. Apparently, Erlene had filled Kairi’s
form, but failed to file it before her death.

After 2001, legal international adoptions automatically conferred citizenship
on children adopted by US citizens. Kairi, however, missed the deadline by
turning 21 a few months before the new law came into force.

With her case been highlighted by Hindustan Times. the ministry of external
affairs has asked Indian Embassy in Washington to provide details about her
case. "We have sought more details about the case," an external affairs ministry
official said.

The Central Adoption Resource Authority, mandated to look into all cases of
inter country, adoption has also asked MEA's intervention. The authority,
however, said it can't do much as Kairi Shepherd's adoption took place before it
came into being.

"It is sad that CARA has washed its hand-off her (Shepherd's case)," said
Anjali Pawar, director of Pune based NGo Sakee, which has filed a public
interest litigation in the Supreme Court against inter country adoption.

Although Kairi is out of jail but is in hiding fearing deportation by US
Immigration agencies. Her biggest fear is that if she lands in India there will
be no one to take care of her. Kairi is suffering from multiple scolerisis.

She, however, hopes that the Indian government will help as she has turned
into a "global orphan". The US has refused to acknowledge her even though she
has been staying there for almost thirty years and here in India, it will be
difficult to trace her roots. "I have no documents to trace my Indian parents,"
Shepherd had told Pawar.

Shepherd's is not the only case of deportation of adopted Indian kid. In
2008, Jennifer Haynes, 32, who was sexually abused by her adopted father, was
deported after being caught with drugs.

Organizations: ACT Case Kairi Shepherd, ACT IN THE NEWS, ACT CASE Jennifer Haynes

Countries: India

Amici dei Bambini, second biggest agency in Europe

<<indietro

Data: 17-05-12

Ai.Bi., il secondo ente in Europa

Ai.Bi. è il secondo ente della rete di
EurAdopt per numero di adozioni internazionali portate a termine nel
2011. Il buon lavoro di Ai.Bi. si segnala dunque, oltre che in Italia, anche
all’estero, all’interno di una rete che gode di largo credito presso le Autorità
Centrali del continente.

Euradopt è una rete composta da associazioni e
organismi di dodici Paesi europei che operano a servizio del minore abbandonato,
in vista di promuoverne e accompagnarne l’adozione internazionale. L’Italia è
presente con i due enti autorizzati Ai.Bi. e CIAI.

Organizations: Euradopt, Amici dei Bambini, Adoptionscentrum

Social workers reject government’s adoption reforms

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18

“Speed alone will be a recipe for disaster”

Mother and baby shadow

Countries: United Kingdom

Guatemala mom seeks Mo. court help to get girl

Posted: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 12:00 am

GUATEMALA CITY - A Guatemalan mother who says her child was stolen and later turned over to a U.S. couple for adoption said Tuesday that she will go to a Missouri court seeking to get her daughter back now that the U.S. State Department has said it doesn't have jurisdiction to help return the girl.

The State Department confirmed Tuesday that it has informed Guatemala's government that it can't help return Anyeli Hernandez Rodriguez because the U.S. and Guatemala had not signed the Hague Abduction Convention at the time of the alleged kidnapping in 2006.

"We're obviously deeply concerned about allegations regarding stolen children and intercountry adoptions wherever these cases come up," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement. "We consider the appropriate venue in the United States for pursuing this case is in the state courts. They're the competent organ for holding a full hearing on the merits and the best interests of the child."

A human-rights group that has pursued the case in Guatemala's courts on behalf of the child's biological mother, Loyda Rodriguez, said the next step will be to find a U.S. law firm to file a civil suit charging immigration fraud.

The group, the Survivor Foundation, doesn't allege that the adoptive couple knew anything about the girl being kidnapped. It argues only that the adoption in 2008 wasn't valid because of the abduction and the girl should be returned to her biological mother.

Countries: Guatemala

Indian adopted at 3 months faces deportation at 30

Article | May 16, 2012 - 10:05pm | By Tejinder Singh

Kairi Abha Shepherd/Photo obtained from Sakhee (a Pune, India-based NGO working on child rights)

Washington DC - Media outlets in India are abuzz with news of Melanie Kannokada, Miss India America 2007, arriving in Bollywood to play Seeta, an Indian girl adopted by American parents. In contrast, a real life drama is unfolding for another India-born girl, Kairi Abha Shepherd, adopted into an American family as an infant in 1982 and now facing likely deportation back to her country of origin after a recent court ruling that upheld the US federal government’s right to remove her from the country.

Organizations: ACT IN THE NEWS, ACT Case Kairi Shepherd

Countries: India

Teeven ontkracht berichtgeving adoptieaanvraag pedoseksueel

Demissionair staatssecretaris Fred Teeven reageerde vandaag op Kamervragen

Teeven ontkracht berichtgeving adoptieaanvraag pedoseksueel

Volgens verschillende media zou een pedoseksueel uit het netwerk van Robert M. een tijd in een adoptieprocedure hebben gezeten. Demissionair staatssecretaris Teeven van Veiligheid en Justitie ontkent de berichtgeving.

Door: Joost de Vries 15-05-12, 15:40 Laatste update: 06:42

Persons: Fred Teeven

Countries: Netherlands

Straf ouders voor verkopen baby J.

Toegevoegd: 14-05-2012 11:43

De biologische ouders van een baby die werd verkocht aan een Nederlands echtpaar, krijgen een jaar voorwaardelijke celstraf. Ook moeten ze het jongetje 7500 euro betalen, precies het bedrag dat ze voor de baby kregen. Daarnaast krijgen ze een geldboete van 550 euro. Dat heeft de rechtbank in Gent bepaald.

De Belgische vader en moeder van baby J. verkochten hun kind in 2008 aan een Nederlands paar uit Sibculo (Overijssel). De rechtbank vindt dat "de commerciële handel in kinderen simpelweg niet getolereerd kan worden".

De rechtbank vindt de behandeling van het kind onterend, omdat het in de toekomst waarschijnlijk het ware verhaal over zijn afkomst zal horen.

De oma van J., die volgens de rechtbank op de hoogte was van de verkoop, kreeg acht maanden voorwaardelijk en een boete van 275 euro.

Wensouders
De jongen werd op 7 juli 2008 aangegeven bij de burgerlijke stand in Sibculo. Het kind was vier dagen eerder geboren in een ziekenhuis in Gent en op een parkeerplaats overgedragen aan de wensouders. De afgesproken prijs van 7500 euro werd in termijnen betaald.

De wensouders van J. zijn vorig jaar al bestraft. Ze werden door de rechtbank in Zwolle veroordeeld tot acht maanden voorwaardelijk, een werkstraf van 240 uur en een voorwaardelijke boete van 1000 euro.

Het jongetje is inmiddels bijna 4 jaar en verblijft in een pleeggezin.

Countries: Belgium, Netherlands

Pedofiel in adoptieprocedure

AMSTERDAM - Een Amsterdamse pedofiel, die de gemeente op
de korrel had na gesprekken in een zogenaamde pedo-chatbox, bleek een
adoptieprocedure te hebben lopen.

De pedofiel was een van de mannen die gruwelijke fantasieën uitwisselde op
internet en die naar voren kwam in het proces tegen Robert M. De gemeente
Amsterdam is bezig pedofielen te achterhalen aan de hand van hun IP-adressen en
stuurt de chatters - inmiddels 23 - een waarschuwingsbrief waarin hulp wordt
aangeboden.

Toen de gemeente ontdekte dat de man bezig was een kind te adopteren, werd de
procedure onmiddelijk stopgezet. Familieleden van de man zijn ingelicht en
krijgen hulp aangeboden, meldt de Volkskrant.

De gemeente is, nadat de zedenzaak van M. aan het licht kwam, hard bezig een
vergelijkbare situiatie te voorkomen. Zo krijgen veroordeelde pedoseksuelen hulp
bij het vinden van een andere huurwoning, om niet meer in de buurt van
slachtoffers terecht te komen. Voorwaarde is wel dat zij extra toezicht of
behandeling accepteren na hun gevangenisstraf.

Organizations: PEDOS/PERVERTS

Countries: Netherlands