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TV review: Ukraine's Forgotten Children

TV review: Ukraine's Forgotten Children

This harrowing film about the plight of Ukraine's 'social orphans' is almost unbearable

Ukraine's Forgotten Children
Boys at one of the better institutions … Ukraine's Forgotten Children. Photograph: Matt Teavee/BBC3

Wasted, wax-coloured little bundles of twisted limbs lie, day after day after day, in cots. Huge eyes stare – unbearably unreproachfully – from tiny, emaciated faces. The children who aren't bedridden rock back and forth on sofas and by windows for lack of anything better to do. And this, film-maker Kate Blewett notes, is one of Ukraine's better institutions. The owner, Nikolai Slavov, and his skeleton staff are caring as best they can for their charges but are bedevilled by lack of funds, their country's lack of infrastructure and a government that seems to care nothing for the children's plight.

When Blewett and one of Slavov's staff visit one of the children in hospital – they are taking food and nappies because everything must be provided for patients – it is not the smell of an over-full diaper that greets them, but the smell of a child's flesh rotting. When Blewett questions the doctor, he tells her: "There are many other children like this. You have only seen one." The words are cruel, but his voice has the timbre of desperation. What can you do with a pint of resources and an ocean of suffering?

Ukraine's Forgotten Children (BBC4) was an examination of the legacy of the communist system whereby the parents of disabled children were allowed – encouraged, expected even – to hand over their offspring to the state, which, it was deemed, was better able to care for the children than they were. Though Ukraine gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the practice continues. And, as the number of adults turning to drink and drugs in the country increases (along with the spread of HIV and Aids), so is the number of "social orphans". Their parents live, but have no rights and, for the most part, never visit.

What can you say about such a film except that – as with Blewett's previous films The Dying Rooms (in 1996, about the fates of unwanted children in communist China) or Bulgaria's Abandoned Children (about the inhabitants of a special care home there) – if you saw it, you will never forget it and if you didn't, paltry words on a page will never convey even half the horror.

If the children survive into adulthood – and not the least of the dreadful details in the film was that every institution has its own cemetery – they go into adult, psychiatric or geriatric homes, where they are more often than not drugged into stupor or used as slave labour for life. If they are designated "incapacitated" – which can happen without them ever being personally examined by a medical worker or any other kind of official – they have no rights and no possibility of leaving.

Through an amazing woman called Tatyana Makarava, Blewett meets – secretly, in a field outside their group home – Lyonya and Slava, two "incapacitated" inmates. Lyonya talks of punishment beatings, forcible injections of drugs that "twist your body inside out" and even murders, but it is the look of terror on Slava's face when word reaches them that the home's owner has found out what they are doing that speaks loudest.

She also meets 30-year-old "incapacitated" Boris, who after 24years of institutionalisation – during which he was raped, drugged and forced to carry out and bury the home's dead (interring an estimated 150 corpses in one two-year span) – was rescued by one of his care workers ("God bless her for offering her hand to me") and now lives with her and her family. He talks calmly and lucidly about this suffering, his eloquence as powerful a rebuttal of his diagnosis as his words are condemnation of the system.

It is almost unbearable to watch. How she finds the courage to seek out and stare into the face of such suffering long enough to film it, I do not know. Nor do I know where she finds the wisdom and mastery of herself then to tread the line between shocking us so much that we are compelled to attend but not – not quite – so awful that we must look away. Or how she assembles something that grapples with and informs us comprehensibly about the wider social and political issues, rather than dissolving into one long, screaming howl of pain.

But she has foregone any such personal indulgence and produced something powerful instead of merely emotive. The Dying Rooms caused an international outcry about the terrible things it uncovered. It can only be hoped that Ukraine's Forgotten Children will do the same. There are 80,000 of them out there, waiting for the world to change.

Ukraine
Kate Blewett

Haiti - Social : UNICEF congratulates and encourages the Haitian State for its determination

Haiti - Social : UNICEF congratulates and encourages
the Haitian State for its determination17/06/2012
11:24:03
Haiti - Social : UNICEF congratulates and encourages the Haitian State for its determination

The

Week of the Child ended on an encouraging note for the rights of children in

The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and International Cooperation in respect of Intercountry Adoption, Unicef New York
Haiti

USAID Ethiopia

USAID’s Displaced Children and Orphans Fund

MONITORING VISIT: ETHIOPIA
February 6 -17, 2012

Ethiopia, United States of America
United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

In 'an affair of the heart' with US, India has an independent mind

In 'an affair of the heart' with US, India has an independent mind

The writer has posted comments on this articleChidanand RajghattaChidanand Rajghatta, TNN | Jun 14, 2012, 10.24PM IST

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at a joint news conference after India-US Strategic Dialogue in Washington on Wednesday.(PTI Photo)

WASHINGTON: Any questions whether New Delhi would serve as a US stooge and become a patsy following the American strategic embrace disappeared in vapor trails as India's foreign minister flew out of Washington DC on Thursday after what officials from both sides agreed was a successful engagement. The route he took itself was illustrative of the complexity international relations. To go south to Havana, S M Krishna had to first fly north to Toronto, Canada, because the United States forbids direct flights to its bete noir Cuba.

 

ACT Case Kairi Shepherd

Istoria tranzi?iei de la "lag?rele de copii" la problemele de ast?zi

Istoria tranzi?iei de la "lag?rele de copii" la problemele de ast?zi - GALERIE FOTO

Deficitul de personal, lipsa calific?rii sau fondurile insuficiente sunt probleme cu care se confrunt? sistemul de protec?ie a copilului dup? 15 ani de func?ionare a DGASPC, îns? neajunsurile de azi ?i "lag?rele" în care erau crescu?i copiii cu ani în urm? nu suport? termen de compara?ie.

Istoria tranzi?iei de la "lag?rele de copii" la problemele de ast?zi (Imagine: Funda?ia Sera România)

În iunie 1997, în Prahova, se înfiin?a prima direc?ie pentru protec?ia copilului. Un an mai târziu, fiecare jude? al ??rii ?i fiecare sector al Capitalei aveau o astfel de institu?ie, creat? s? vegheze interesele copiilor în general, vie?ile celor institu?ionaliza?i în mod special.

GALERIE FOTO

Imediat dup? c?derea comunismului, România a devenit celebr? în întrega lume pentru felul în care î?i trata copiii. Imagini cu "lag?rele de copii" au circulat cu repeziciune ?i au atras aten?ia întregii lumi asupra condi?iilor inumane în care cei mici, r?ma?i în grija statului, erau l?sa?i s? moar?.

"Orfanii români, copiii de care nu îi pas? nim?nui", "Copii instrui?i s? cer?easc? ?i trimi?i în Italia ?i Spania, prostituate minore oferite turi?tilor în moteluri, nou-n?scu?i vîndu?i în Ocident", "Copii ra?i în cap, care fac baie în urin? ?i se leag?n? ore întregi pentru a adormi", sunt doar câteva dintre aprecierile f?cute la vremea respectiv? în presa interna?ional?.

Protec?ia copilului a devenit în scurt timp condi?ie pentru integrarea în UE, iar m?surile nu au mai putut fi întârziate. Înfiin?area unor institu?ii care s? "guverneze" acest domeniu a fost un prim pas în ceea ce a însemnat schimbarea condi?iilor de via?? a celor mici ?i a mentalit??ii adul?ilor care îi îngrijeau.

Direc?ia pentru Protec?ia Copilului din Ministerul Muncii precizeaz? c? în iunie 1997, când a început reforma în domeniul protec?iei drepturilor copilului, existau 287 de institu?ii, dintre care 207 case de copii, 22 de case de copii cu alte servicii ?i 58 de leag?ne.

În perioada 2000 - 2001, au fost preluate în sistemul de protec?ie a copilului 250 de institu?ii (29 de protec?ie special? a copiilor cu handicap, 39 de unit??i sau sec?ii de spital ?i 182 de unit??i care îngrijesc copii în regim reziden?ial ?i care func?ioneaz? în cadrul unit??ilor de înv???mânt special), toate fiind reorganizate în cadrul serviciilor publice specializate.

"Urmare aplic?rii politicii de dezinstitu?ionalizare a copiilor, fie prin reintegrarea lor în familia natural? sau extins?, fie prin înlocuirea m?surii de protec?ie de tip reziden?ial cu una de tip familial, s-a ajuns în prezent la 1.201 servicii de tip reziden?ial, din care numai 183 centre de plasament. Într-un deceniu ?i jum?tate, sistemul protec?iei copilului s-a transformat dintr-un sistem închis ?i ignorant fa?? de nevoile reale ale copiilor într-unul flexibil, modern ?i în concordan?? cu normele ?i principiile statuate pe plan interna?ional, România fiind ast?zi în pozi?ia de a reprezenta un exemplu de bun? practic? pentru alte state europene", precizeaz? direc?ia de specialitate din cadrul MMFPS.

Dup? 15 ani de la începerea reformei în protec?ia copilului, Gabriela Coman, fost secretar de stat la Autoritatea Na?ional? pentru Protec?ia Copilului, î?i aminte?te c? adev?ratul început al reformei a fost în 1997, pân? în acel moment neexistând o organizare institu?ional?.

"Ministerele î?i puneau amprenta în îngrijirea copilului educa?ional sau medicalizat. La nivel de teritoriu nu exista niciun serviciu specializat. Din 1995 au existat ONG-uri, precum Sera România, care au pus bazele primelor servicii specializate la nivel de jude?e. Pe scheletul acestora, în 1997 a venit Ordonan?a care a pus bazele unui sistem institu?ional, printre care direc?iile erau cele mai importante. Ele s-au dezvoltat ca singura institu?ie cu aceste atribu?ii ?i ca singurul ?i cel mai mare furnizor de servicii destinate copilului ?i familiei", spune fostul secretar de stat.

Gabriela Coman recunoa?te c? de-a lungul celor 15 ani "au fost urcu?uri ?i coborâ?uri", din cauza faptului c? transferul de atribu?ii nu a fost completat ?i de transfer financiar.

În opinia sa, Direc?iile Generale de Asisten?? Social? ?i Protec?ia Copilului (DGASPC) s-au dezvoltat beneficiind de aportul organiza?iilor neguvernamentale care le-au fost partenere în crearea de centre de plasament sau pentru copii cu handicap.

"Direc?iile ?i-au f?cut treaba de-a lungul timpului. A venit momentul 2001 - 2004, când protec?ia copilului a constituit punct de interes pentru UE ?i a fost un puseu de interes c?tre aceste direc?ii, puseu de fonduri UE pentru direc?ii, proiecte importante ca bani pentru închiderea institu?iilor mari ?i crearea de servicii alternative. Este adev?rat c? presiunea interesului privind închiderea de institu?ii nu a fost întotdeaua rezultatul cel mai bun pentru cazuri concrete de copii. Viteza ?i interesul de închidere a institu?iilor nu a coincis cu o evaluare corect? în fiecare caz în parte", spune fostul secretar de stat.

Din punctul s?u de vedere, în prezent, r?mâne problema personalului, care a fost fluctuant, sistemul confruntându-se acum cu un deficit numeric dar ?i de competen??.

"E greu de f?cut compara?ie cu ce era atunci. Atunci nu aveam nici m?car o construc?ie institu?ional?. Acum sunt actori institu?ionali bine defini?i, prestatori de servicii (DGASPC) ?i o mul?ime de servicii alternative pentru copil", mai spune Gabriela Coman.

Bogdan Panait, secretar de stat la Autoritatea Na?ional? pentru Protec?ia Copilului în perioada 2005 - 2007, spune c? reforma din protec?ia copilului a fost prima în domeniul institu?iilor publice ?i a adus elemente de inspira?ie pentru toate celelalte institu?ii. În opinia sa, ele au ap?rut din necesitatea ca serviciile oferite s? se apropie cât mai mult de copii ?i s? se g?seasc? solu?ii unitare ?i servicii multiple pentru nevoile lor, direc?iile oferind în prezent o protec?ie multidisciplinar?.

"Nu a fost u?or, pentru c? au fost multe jude?e reticente ?i, de?i a început în 1997, reforma a fost finalizat? abia în anul 2000, la cererea Uniunii Europene, deci putem spune c? aceast? reform? a durat foarte mult, comparativ cu alte ??ri în care acest lucru s-a realizat în câteva zile, cum ar fi Ungaria. Cred c? direc?iile ?i-au ar?tat calit??ile prin serviciile mult mai diversificate pe care le ofer?. În perioada 1997 - 2004 au fost înfiin?ate foarte multe servicii, iar progresele au fost vizibile ?i recunoscute ?i pe plan interna?ional", precizeaz? Panait.

Din punctul s?u de vedere, exist? ?i aspecte negative, în sensul c? reforma sistemului nu a inclus ?i o reform? privind preg?tirea personalului, ?i acest lucru s-a v?zut de-a lungul timpului.

Un alt aspect negativ semnalat de Bogdan Panait se refer? la num?rul de copii din sistem, care, în ciuda tuturor schimb?rilor, a r?mas aproape acela?i.

"Din acest punct de vedere, nu a fost foarte eficient. ?i perioada de ?edere în sistem este înc? foarte lung?, în medie de vreo ?ase ani. Se pierde leg?tura cu familia", adaug? Panait, amintind ?i de dificult??ile care apar inclusiv în momentul în care copilul a ajuns la maturitate ?i trebuie s? p?r?seasc? sistemul.

Importan?a func?ion?rii DGASPC-urilor este recunoscut? ?i de c?tre organiza?iile neguvernamentale din domeniu.

"Activitatea Asocia?iei Telefonul Copilului este strâns legat? de cea a Direc?iilor Generale de Asisten?? Social? ?i Protec?ia Copilului înc? din anul 2001. Am gestionat împreun? 37.810 cazuri de înc?lcare a drepturilor copilului, cu prec?dere în ultimii ani, afecta?i de fenomenul crizei financiare ?i apreciem eficien?a interven?iei, cu atât mai mult cu cât aceast? institu?ie a suferit restructur?ri majore tocmai atunci când aveam mai mult ca oricând nevoie de ea", declar? directorul executiv de la Telefonul Copilului, C?t?lina Florea.

În opinia sa, DGASPC este institu?ia care a avut ?i are multe de spus în asisten?a social?, apreciind c? extinderea capacit??ii umane ?i logistice a acesteia este vital? atât în mediul urban, cât ?i în rural.

"Existen?a asisten?ilor sociali, nu a lucr?torilor sociali, în mediul rural ar reprezenta un sprijin real nu numai pentru comunitate, ci ?i pentru personalul DGASPC", spune C?t?lina Florea.

Bogdan Simion, pre?edintele Funda?iei Sera România dar ?i al Federa?iei Organiza?iilor Neguvernamentale pentru Copil, a explicat c? direc?iile au fost create ca organisme specializate ale Consiliilor Jude?ene cu scopul de a reforma ?i dezvolta domeniul protec?iei copilului.

"Mul?i ani, direc?iile au fost cele mai ofensive servicii specializate ale statului în reforma sistemului de protec?ie a copilului, contribuind astfel, al?turi de ONG-uri, la îndeplinirea criteriului politic impus de Uniunea European? referitor la rezolvarea situa?iei copiilor institu?ionaliza?i. Create ca ?i servicii tehnice, profesioniste, apolitice, dedicate copilului ?i familiei, au suferit prima «politizare» la începutul anilor 2000, când au fost trecute în subordinea pre?edin?ilor de Consilii Jude?ene, considerându-se c? influen?a acestor ale?i va fi benefic? sistemului", spune Bogdan Simion.

În opinia sa, influen?a CJ a fost benefic? doar în unele cazuri, de cele mai multe ori direc?iile au fost considerate de prioritate secundar?, beneficiind de resurse din ce în ce mai mici.

"Criza economic? început? în 2008, lipsa de perspectiv? a problematicii sociale a Guvernului în aceea?i perioad?, precum ?i lipsa în?elegerii ?i a strategiei unui minister învechit - Ministerul Muncii - au f?cut ca, pe fondul unui dezinteres politic general, constituit dup? aderarea la Uniunea European?, sistemul de protec?ie a copilului s? regreseze vizibil în ultimii patru ani. În 2012, la 15 ani de la creare, Direc?iile de Protec?ia Copilului încep s? se destructureze, au o lips? acut? de personal (cel pu?in 1/3 din posturile necesare sunt neocupate sau defiin?ate), sunt reactive fa?? de orice fel de probleme ale copiilor, nu mai au niciun fel de coordonare na?ional?, sunt neadecvate fa?? de problematic? ?i, din cauza m?surilor haotice luate de Ministerul Muncii, în unele cazuri au devenit nocive chiar pentru copiii pe care ar trebui s? îi protejeze", consider? pre?edintele FONPC.

Bogdan Simion atrage îns? aten?ia c? DGASPC-urile beneficiaz? de o experien?? inestimabil? în domeniu, reprezint? comunitatea local? din care provin copiii ?i ar trebui revigorate ?i utilizate pentru a continua ce s-a început în urm? cu 15 ani.

Despre o regresie a sistemului de protec?ie a copilului în ultimii ani vorbe?te ?i directorul Direc?iei Generale de Asisten?? Social? ?i Protec?ia Copilului Sector 1, D?nu? Fleac?.

"Ultimii trei ani au însemnat o pr?bu?ire a sistemului. (...) Oamenii care lucreaz? în sistem sunt desconsidera?i. Cel mai mare regret al meu este c? pentru personal nu s-a f?cut nimic", spune D?nu? Fleac?, care coordoneaz? de zece DGASPC Sector 1.

El precizeaz? îns? c? a fost nevoie de DGASPC-uri, pentru c? fostele case de copii din subordinea Ministerului Educa?iei ?i leag?nele din subordinea Ministerului S?n?t??ii trebuiau restructurate.

"Ce se întâmpla acolo a fost la nivel de «valea plângerii». Numai la leag?nul «Sfânta Ecaterina» erau 450 de copii. Sistemul reziden?ial cu sute de copii a fost o tragdie. Clar a fost nevoie de o astfel de organizare ?i, în primii ?ase, ?apte ani, to?i colegii ?i-au f?cut temele", consider? D?nu? Fleac?.

Din punctul s?u de vedere, demedicalizarea sistemului ?i faptul c? au oferit alternative viabile, de tip familial, pentru copii ?i un anumit tip de afectivitate sunt principalele reu?ite ale reformei.

"Chiar dac? nu era afectivitatea p?rin?ilor, era altceva. A fost o alt? calitate a serviciilor. În mod clar au fost alte standarde de calitate. Putem spune c? sistemul de asisten?? social? este singurul sistem cu descentralizare real?. (...) Evolu?ia este colosal?. Nu ?tiu dac? la nivel european exist? vreun stat care s? fi f?cut eforturile României. Sunt probleme pentru c? niciodat? nu ai bani destui. Dar realizarea la nivel na?ional cred c? este unic? în Europa", mai spune directorul DGASPC Sector 1.

De?i diferen?ele sunt uria?e, imaginile fostelor case de copii nu pot fi ?terse nici m?car dup? un deceniu de normalitate. De?i au trecut 15 ani de când direc?iile generale de asisten?? social? ?i protec?ia copilului func?ioneaz?, de?i lucrurile s-au schimbat radical în acest timp, înc? este greu chiar ?i pentru oamenii din sistem s? î?i aminteasc? de condi?iile trecute, de teama de a nu redeschide un subiect care pare s? nu se mai termine.

(Material realizat de Aurelia Alexa, aurelia.alexa@mediafax.ro)

 
Solidarite Enfants Roumains Abandonnes Romania (SERA Romania)
Romania

Consider Kairi's case on humanitarian grounds: Krishna asks US

Consider Kairi's case on humanitarian grounds: Krishna asks US

Updated: June 14, 2012 15:29 IST   

Consider Kairi's case on humanitarian grounds: Krishna asks US

File picture

Washington: External Affairs Minister SM Krishna has said the issue of Indian-American Kairi Shepherd, who is facing the prospect of forcibly being sent back to her country of birth, was raised with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"I put it across to Secretary Clinton that the United States would have to look at it from the humanitarian point of view," Mr Krishna said on Wednesday.

"On issues like this, I think specific assurances are not given, but they have taken note of Government of India concerns that this be addressed on humanitarian basis," he told reporters at a news conference in response to a question on Kairi, for whom immigration authorities have initiated deportation proceedings.
Shepherd, 30, was adopted by a Utah woman when she was just three months old. As luck would have it, her mother died of cancer when she was eight. At 17, she was arrested and convicted of felony check forgery to fuel a drug habit.

She now faces the prospect of being deported to India, with a local court refusing to intervene in a federal government's deportation move on the ground that she is a "criminal alien".

Shepherd has termed deportation as a "death sentence" for her.

"Hence they should look at it from humanitarian point of view. I am sure, she would certainly look into it," Mr Krishna said.
ACT Case Kairi Shepherd

Opschorten adoptieverdrag Uganda goed signaal

Opschorten adoptieverdrag Uganda goed signaal

14-06-2012 20:45

Nederland schort het adoptieverdrag met Uganda op, zo werd maandag bekend. Dit krachtige signaal is dringend nodig, weet Nico van den Berge uit eigen ervaring.

Een maand of acht geleden besloten mijn vrouw en ik om kinderen uit Uganda te adopteren, het land waar we zelf ook wonen. We meldden ons aan bij een als goed bekendstaand weeshuis. Dit weeshuis had merkbaar ervaring in de omgang met westerse adoptie­ouders. De directrice dreunde uit haar hoofd de adoptieprocedure op. Ze verzekerde ons dat het weeshuis alle mogelijke moeite deed om de biologische ouders van de kinderen te vinden, of andere familieleden. Dat is namelijk een voorwaarde bij de adoptieprocedure.

De eerste vraagtekens rezen toen de sociaal werker van het weeshuis op bezoek kwam om te kijken hoe we woonden en om te onderzoeken of wij goede ouders zijn. Het bleek al snel dat ze geen idee had waarmee ze bezig was. Ze stelde enkele simpele vragen: of we lief zouden zijn voor een kind en hoe onze familie in het verre Nederland erover dacht dat we een kind wilden adopteren. Vervolgens schreef ze een rapport met als belangrijkste constatering dat we een doortrek-wc hadden (in veel Ugandese huizen moet je met emmers water werken).

Netherlands, Uganda

Kate Blewett uncovers the disturbing fate of children in Ukraine


Kate Blewett uncovers the disturbing fate of children in
Ukraine abandoned to state care




Duration: 02:23



In Ukraine state care has become the norm for children with any kind of
disability. Kate Blewett travels to the country to investigate what life is like
for the children who, abandoned by their parents, live and die under the care of
the state. She also meets former inmates who ended up in psychiatric
institutions labelled as ‘incapacitated’. Her findings are shocking and
disturbing.


Available since: Thu 14 Jun 2012





Credits





Reporter

Kate
Blewett


Director

Kate
Blewett


Assistant Producer

Olga
Betko


Camera
Operator

Matt
Teavee


Executive Producer

Brian
Woods


Executive Producer

Clare
Paterson

This clip is from




Ukraine's Forgotten Children


What a lifetime in the care
of the state really means for Ukraine's abandoned children.


First broadcast: 18 Jun
2012

Ukraine
Kate Blewett

Adoptive parents want Amy back

By Pernille Eriksen, pere@tv2.dk 14 June 2012 08:11

For the first time breaking adoptive silence in the case of Amy. They want her to come back.

"There is nothing we want more burning than to get Amy back to our family," says Oxana and Kenneth Steen to the Sealand.

Also read: Municipality: Amy was not in acute danger

The couple is working closely with Næstved and residence ark, where 12-year-old Amy is currently located, and is trying to slowly rebuild trust relationship, so the girl can come home again.

ACT Case Amy

Governments Communicate in Kairi Case But Won’t Reveal Details (UPDATED JUNE 13)

Governments Communicate in Kairi Case But Won’t Reveal Details (UPDATED JUNE 13)
Article |    
Address from where 3 months old baby Kairi started her journey to the USA

Washington - The United States government on Tuesday told India America Today that Washington was in touch with Delhi, but the US State Department in the same vein refused to confirm if it had received the letters of communication from its Indian counterparts.

In a reply to a question posed by India America Today, the US State Department replied, “We are in touch with the Government of India regarding this case. For further information I refer you to DOJ and DHS.”

Replying to an email question, the Department of Homeland Security stated that they had no additional information they could share about Kairi Shepherd's ordeal.

“We are not aware of any new developments regarding this case,” said Lori Haley, Spokeswoman, Department of Homeland Security, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Earlier, one of the senior officials in the Indian Ministry of External Affairs had written in an email to Anjali Pawar, Director of Sakhee and Consultant to ACT (against child trafficking), “The Consulate General in San Francisco, under whose consular jurisdiction, the issue lies, has written to the Office of Foreign Missions of the Department of State in California, and the ICE of the Homeland Security Department.”

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in May confirmed to India America Today that Kairi Shepherd was “not in ICE custody at this time,” but clarified that “Shepherd has a final order of removal.” Virginia Kice, the Western Regional Communications Director/Spokesperson for ICE, replied to India America Today, “Before carrying out a deportation, ICE must first obtain a travel document to ensure the receiving country will admit the alien who is being returned. Once ICE obtains a travel document, the agency then proceeds to make transportation arrangements.”

“Completing the removal process can take varying amounts of time, depending on the country involved and the circumstances of the case,” said Kice.

On the same day, a spokesperson for the Indian Embassy in Washington, DC broke the silence saying, “The Embassy has seen reports concerning Kairi Shepherd, and has requested the US authorities for facts on this matter.”

Citing the humanitarian dimension of the case, “that cannot be ignored,” Virander Paul said in an email, “As reports indicate, Kairi Shepherd was brought to the United States after adoption, as a baby, and has known no other home.”

Without mentioning if the embassy had received a request from the US for travel documents for Shepherd, Paul said, “Her case deserves to be treated with the utmost sensitivity and compassion, keeping in mind the humanitarian dimension and tenets of universally accepted human rights.”

ICE gave India America Today a detailed account of the Shepherd case saying, “Shepherd was originally encountered by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers at the Salt Lake County Adult Detention Complex in October 2007, following her incarceration on unknown local charges. ERO officers processed Ms. Shepherd and placed her in immigration removal proceedings after determining she was potentially deportable based upon her criminal history.”

“An immigration judge with the Department of Justice’s Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) ordered Ms. Shepherd deported in February 2010, and the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals recently declined to take action that would have set aside that order,” ICE stated.

“Background checks indicate Ms. Shepherd’s criminal history includes two prior convictions in Utah in 2004 for attempted forgery and forgery, the latter of which constitutes an aggravated felony,” detailed the ICE statement about Shepherd’s criminal history.

“ICE has reviewed Ms. Shepherd’s case at length and believes seeking her removal is consistent with the agency’s immigration enforcement priorities, which include focusing on the identification and deportation of aliens with felony criminal convictions,” the ICE statement concluded.

The story began on a happy note in 1982 when 3 month old Indian orphan Kairi arrived in the US and was adopted by a Utah woman. Her adoptive mother unfortunately died of cancer when she was only 8 years old and at age 17 (still a minor under US law), Shepherd was arrested and convicted of felony check forgery to support a drug habit. She subsequently served her sentence for the conviction.

Now at the age of 30, Kairi Shepherd faces deportation because Judge Scott Matheson, in a 23-page decision, said the court didn’t have jurisdiction to determine Shepherd’s legal status.

The case is clouded in a maze of technicalities, as the court found there was a failure to file a second appeal through the Board of Immigration Appeals as well as Shepherd attempted to get her petition reviewed prematurely.

The Indian Federal Ministry of Welfare in its guidelines for adoption posted on the Indian Embassy’s (Washington, DC) website (http://www.indianembassy.org/guidelines-for-adoption-of-indian-children.php) outline very specific procedures which must take place in order for an Indian child to be adopted abroad. Questions are being raised regarding whether the procedures are actually followed, as 30 year old Kairi Shepherd faces deportation to a country from which she was uprooted as a 3 month old baby.

Chapter 2 of the “Liaison with Indian Diplomatic Missions,” instructs:

“The Central Adoption Resource Agency shall maintain liaison with Indian diplomatic missions abroad in order to safeguard the interests of children of Indian origin adopted by foreign parents against neglect, maltreatment, exploitation or abuse and to maintain an unobtrusive watch over the welfare and progress of such children.

For this purpose, the Central Adoption Resource Agency shall inform every Indian diplomatic missions concerned whenever an Indian child is taken in adoption or for the purpose of adoption, by foreign parents. The names, addresses and other particulars of such children and their adoptive/prospective adoptive parents shall be supplied to the Indian diplomatic missions as early as possible and in any case before the end of every quarter.”

The chapter states that "Periodical Progress reports of children from foreign adoptive parents as well as from recognized social or child welfare agencies in foreign countries" should be obtained, "to examine such reports and to take such follow-up action as deemed necessary.”

It is unknown whether Periodical Progress reports were obtained in Kairi Shepherd’s case or if CARA followed up after the death of her adoptive mother.

Chapter 6, under “Rights of the Child Taken Abroad,” explicitly notes, “On adoption of the child by the foreign parent according to the law of his/her country, it is presumed that subject to the laws of the land the child would acquire the same status as a natural born child within wedlock with the same rights of inheritance and succession and the same nationality as the foreign parent adopting the child.”

Guidelines penned by a task force of members from voluntary placement agencies under the chairmanship of Justice P.N. Bhagwati (the former Chief Justice of India) declared: “Even after the adoption is legalized, the enlisted foreign agency should maintain contact with the adoptive family in keeping with the need of privacy of the adoptive family and provide support and counseling services, if necessary and safeguard the interest of the child till such time as he/she attains majority.”

It appears the repeatedly orphaned Shepherd was denied her specific “rights of the child taken abroad” from India and that there were widespread failures among the checks and balances designed to protect vulnerable minor children from India who have been adopted abroad.

“She doesn’t have any known family in India, has no contacts, has lost the ability to speak any Indian language and might just die due to her serious health ailment of multiple sclerosis, after being thrown on Indian roads,” declared Pawar, questioning, “Why after her adoption in the US, her citizenship status has not been adjusted?”

“As long children from India adopted by US parents are faced with the threat of deportation, adoptions from India to the US should be halted altogether,” demanded Pawar in her letter to Indian Foreign Minister Krishna. (IATNS)

ACT Case Kairi Shepherd, ACT IN THE NEWS
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