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Nigeria calls for poverty alleviation programs against child trafficking

Nigeria calls for poverty alleviation programs against child trafficking
17:02, June 29, 2010      
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The Nigerian government has said implementation of poverty alleviation programs aimed at enhancing socioeconomic conditions of families can help in combating child trafficking.

Minister of Women Affairs Josephine Anenih said this on Monday in Abuja at the opening of the 4th Specialized Meeting on Child Trafficking in West and Central Africa organized by the Interpol African Regional Bureau and the Nigeria Police.

She said progress could be recorded in combating child trafficking within the sub-region through advocacy and sensitization programs targeted at rural communities where majority of the people live.

Anenih said the menace of child trafficking in Africa becomes prominent in the last two decades because of the severe economic challenges faced by the continent.

"In this regard, trafficking in children for prostitution and forced labor have been elevated to lucrative business enterprises by cartels," she said.

"Records indicate that trafficking in persons, especially women and children, constitute the third largest profit yielding business behind arms dealing and narcotics," the minister added.

Anenih, quoting the UN statistics, said traffickers generated between 7 billion U.S. dollars and 10 billion dollars annually from the illicit trade.

"An African child trafficked to the United States might earn the trafficker between 10,000 dollars and 200,000 dollars annually, " the minister added.

Anenih said the meeting demonstrated the commitment of governments in the sub-region as well as the concern of international organizations to stem the menace of child trafficking.
 

Courtcase Ghana adoption Netherlands - Guardianship Youthcare

LJN: BN1331, Rechtbank 's-Gravenhage , 368424 / FA RK 10-4590 Print uitspraak

Datum uitspraak: 29-06-2010

Datum publicatie: 15-07-2010

Rechtsgebied: Personen-en familierecht

Soort procedure: Eerste aanleg - enkelvoudig

American Ambassador to Bucharest: "reopening international adoptions will be the priority of my mandate"

American Ambassador to Bucharest: "reopening international adoptions will be the priority of my mandate"

While the mobilization of local associations for the pro-adoption petition continues, the American ambassador in Bucharest Mark Gitenstein has taken a stand to support the reopening of international adoptions of Romanian abandoned minors. The ambassador, on the sidelines of a hearing in the Senate, yesterday expressed his desire to exert pressure on the Bucharest government on the delicate issue of adoptions.

In an interview with the international agency AFP Gitenstein, he stated that the reopening of international adoptions in Romania has become one of the priorities of his mandate.

"I am aware of the story of 300 Romanian children who could be adopted right away but cannot find a Romanian family willing to do so. The authorities in Bucharest have given me some information on their situation: it appears that only 40 of them will have the opportunity to be adopted. I am carrying out a series of investigations to understand what their state of health is, what are the treatments they receive in the structures where they live, what are the chances of being adopted. However, the situation is complex: the current law does not facilitate their adoption, I find it absurd that these children do not have the opportunity to be welcomed as soon as possible. My wife works as a volunteer at the center of a hospital that takes care of abandoned babies in the maternity wards where these babies are cared for in their first year of life. These children deserve a family just like everyone else living under the state protection system. "

"

Indian children stolen for adoption

Indian children stolen for adoption

Shaikh Azizur Rahman, Foreign Correspondent

  • Last Updated: June 28. 2010 11:13PM UAE / June 28. 2010 7:13PM GMT

Nagarani, with her husband and two children in the background, at their home in Pulianthope slum in Chennai. Their bid for a DNA test to confirm whether a boy adopted by a Dutch family is their son kidnapped 11 years ago was turned down. Shaikh Azizur Rahman / The National

CHENNAI, INDIA // When Nagarani and her husband, Kathirvel, reached the Netherlands from India this month, the couple believed they would be able to prove that a 12-year-old Dutch boy was their son Sathish, who had been stolen from their home in a Chennai slum 11 years ago. 

But a Dutch family court last week turned down the couple’s request for a DNA test on the adopted son of a Dutch ethnic Indian family, ruling that it risked inflicting severe emotional trauma to the minor.


“I am dead sure that Rohit is none but our Sathish. I went all the way to the Netherlands, I am disappointed that I was not even allowed to meet my son,” said Nagarani on her return to India last week,

“I am not angry with the Bissesars for taking my son into adoption. We felt very bad that the adoptive parents did not even want to meet us. I wanted to tell them that we became distraught after Sathish was lost. One day I hope Sathish will understand at least our pain we have lived through since we lost him.”


The struggle to retrieve their son by the couple highlights the plight of dozens of Indian parents who are searching for their children after they were apparently stolen by child traffickers and then sold into adoption in foreign countries, without the knowledge of their birth parents. 

According to Bachpan Bachao Andolan, or Save Childhood Movement, an Indian child-rights non-governmental organisation, 45,000 children go missing in India every year. Most of the lost children end up as prostitutes, bonded labourers or among the homeless population in big cities. Some of the missing children land in orphanages, and a percentage of those reach their adoptive families in India and abroad.


One night in 1999 when Nagarani and Kathirvel, who only use one name each, were sleeping with their three children in front of their slum hut, one-year-old Sathish was snatched from their bed. Months of searching for the baby proved futile, but the couple suspected that Sathish had been stolen by child traffickers to be sold abroad.

Then in 2005, when police arrested a gang of child traffickers in south India, it was found that they had secretly supplied the children, Sathish among them, to the Malaysian Social Services (MSS), a Chennai-based orphanage that had the permit to send children for adoption abroad.


The investigation revealed that in the previous decade MSS had illegally sent at least 350 Indian children abroad for adoption.

From the office of the orphanage, police recovered in 2005 photos of scores of children who apparently had been stolen from their parents, and Nagarani and Kathirvel identified one child, sent for adoption in the Netherlands, as their son.

As India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) began investigating the case of Sathish, Against Child Trafficking (ACT), a Netherlands-based non-governmental organisation fighting for the prevention of child trafficking for international adoption, contacted the Dutch family in the city of Almere in 2006 and broke the news that their adopted son, Rohit Shivam Bissessar, may have been stolen from his original family in India.


The Bissessar family, who paid US$35,000 (Dh128,555) to adopt the child, have refused to take a DNA test, fearing that the child could be taken away. Nagarani and Kathirvel, with the help of ACT activists, last Tuesday filed a complaint with the Almere police against officials of the Meiling Foundation, the intermediary Dutch adoption agency that placed Rohit, and the Bissesars, accusing them of kidnapping.


In the complaint to Dutch police the couple alleged that Dutch courts and legal authorities were “shielding the Dutch kidnappers” and that “the Netherlands have been promoting kidnapping of children from other countries to their land”.

The Dutch police is of the opinion that the Bissesar couple had no role in kidnapping and trafficking the child. In a Chennai court India’s CBI, following its investigation in the case of Sathish, charged the child traffickers and Indian MSS officials with kidnapping, fabricating records and sending him for illegal adoption.


There are more than 11.5 million abandoned children in India, according to Bachpan Bachao Andolan, and authorities regularly urge western countries to adopt children from the country’s hundreds of orphanages. According to India’s Central Adoption Resource Authority [Cara], about 1,000 Indian children go for adoption abroad yearly with most going to the US.

Cara guidelines say that a foreign couple adopting an Indian child should not pay more than $3,500 to the Indian orphanage. However, in reality, foreign parents often are forced to pay up to 10 to 12 times that to private adoption agencies that act as middlemen, making adoption a lucrative business in India.


The Child Welfare Committee of Tamil Nadu (CWC) believes trafficking and selling children into adoption in foreign countries is still common in south India.

“Last week we discovered that one Chennai-based orphanage, having licence to send children for adoption abroad, had virtually stolen five babies by fooling their birth parents, apparently to sell them into adoption to wealthy families – possibly in foreign countries,” said P Manorama, the chairman of CWC in Chennai, referring to the adoption agency Guild of Service, which is currently under investigation for its role in illegal adoption.


“Children are continually getting lost and many are remaining untraced. We have reason to believe that kidnapping of children for business is still going on in the region.”

foreign.desk@thenational.ae

Petitie: "Petitie privind dreptul la adoptie internationala"


Data: 28-06-10

Petizione pro-adozioni: a quota 8.500 le adesioni

Continuano ad arrivare le adesioni alla petizione pro-adozioni promossa da un coordinamento di 14 associazioni e ONG rumene unite per la riapertura delle adozioni internazionali.

Sono arrivate a quota 8.500 le firme a sostegno della petizione che continua a raccogliere adesioni con una sottoscrizione di firme nelle principali città rumene. In un primo momento la mobilitazione era partita a Brasov, poi si è allargata a Constanta, Cluj Napoca e Prahova. La protesta contro la chiusura delle adozioni internazionali è arrivata anche sul web, dove si continuano a raccogliere le adesioni.


http://www.aibi.it/ita/petizione-pro-adozioni-a-quota-8-500-le-adesioni/


 

Data: 28-06-10

Romania, petizione pro-adozioni: le adesioni volano a quota 8500

banchetto_firmeContinuano ad arrivare le adesioni alla petizione pro-adozioni promossa lo scorso 2 giugno da un coordinamento di 14 associazioni e ONG rumene unite per la riapertura delle adozioni internazionali. Sono arrivate a quota 8.500 le firme a sostegno della petizione che continua a raccogliere adesioni con una sottoscrizione di firme nelle principali città rumene. In un primo momento la mobilitazione era partita a Brasov, poi si è allargata a Constanta, Cluj Napoca e Prahova. La protesta contro la chiusura delle adozioni internazionali è arrivata anche sul web, dove si continuano a raccogliere adesioni.

Servono ancora più di 90mila firme per chiedere al Parlamento di inserire nel testo di modifica alla legge 273/2004 il ripristino delle adozioni.

Il Governo di Bucarest ha bloccato in più occasioni la richiesta di riaprire le adozioni internazionali dei minori rumeni, nonostante questa linea politica sia in pieno contrasto con la Convenzione de l’Aja del 1993 e la Convenzione per i Diritti del Fanciullo di New York del 1989, entrambe ratificate dalla Romania.

Con la raccolta firme si intende quindi sollecitare il Parlamento ad abrogare l’articolo 39 della legge sull’adozione attualmente in vigore (273/2004) e l’articolo 45 della proposta di modifica della stessa Legge. Allo stesso tempo con la petizione le associazioni rumene chiedono la riapertura delle procedure di adozioni internazionali per i minori rumeni che non trovano una famiglia disposta ad adottarli nel loro Paese.

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Petitie: "Petitie privind dreptul la adoptie internationala"

 

Daca doriti ca si alte persoane sa afle despre aceasta petitie, le puteti trimite urmatorul link: 

Promoveaza petitia!        Semneaza petitia!

Petitie privind dreptul la adoptie internationala

04/06/2010

categorie: Proiecte de lege, legislatieSocial.

destinatar: Guvernul Romaniei

Petitie privind dreptul la adoptie internationala

Semnatura ta realizeaza interesul superior al copilului !

Asociatia Catharsis Brasov, sustinuta de un grup de Organizatii Neguvernamentale, care promoveaza Drepturile Copilului, dar si de tineri care au parasit centrele de plasament inainte sau dupa implinirea varstei de 18 ani, propune Societatii Civile prezenta petitie, privind dreptul la adoptie internationala a copiilor abandonati care nu sunt ceruti in adoptie nationala.

Sansa copiilor romani abandonati, de a creste intr-o familie, a fost spulberata in ultimii 10 ani de Moratoriul impus adoptiilor internationale in octombrie 2001 dar si de art. 39 din Legea nr. 273/2004 -privind regimul juridic al adoptiei:

“Adoptia internationala a copilului care are domiciliul in Romania poate fi incuviintata numai in situatia in care adoptatorul sau unul dintre sotii din familia adoptatoare care domiciliaza in strainatate este bunicul copilului pentru care a fost incuviintata deschiderea procedurii adoptiei interne."

Zeci de mii de copii abandonati, din care peste 4,000 orfani, care nu sunt ceruti în adoptie nationala, sunt condamnati sa traiasca fara familie, dac? art. 45 din proiectul Guvernului Romaniei de modificare a Legii nr. 273/2004 va fi legiferat in forma actuala:

“Adoptia internationala a copilului care are domiciliul in Romania poate fi incuviintata numai in situatia in care adoptatorul sau unul dintre sotii din familia adoptatoare care domiciliaza in strainatate este ruda pana la gradul al III-lea inclusiv cu copilul pentru care a fost incuviintata deschiderea procedurii adoptiei interne.”

Ambele articole incalca dreptul fundamental al copilului la o familie, drept constitutional prevazut in Legea nr. 272/2004 privind drepturile copilului (art.6), in Conventia Organizatiei Natiunilor Unite privind Drepturile Copilului incheiata la New York in 20 noiembrie 1989, ratificata de Parlamentul Romaniei in septembrie 1990, in Conventia asupra protectiei copiilor si cooperarii in materia adoptiei internationale incheiata la Haga in 29 mai 1993, ratificata de Parlamentul Romaniei in octombrie 1994. Cele doua articole discrimineaza atat copiii cat si familiile care doresc sa adopte, incalcand principiul care sta la baza promovarii si respectarii drepturilor copilului “egalitate de sanse si nediscriminare”.

Cerem Parlamentului Romaniei abrogarea art. 39 din Legea 273 /2004 cat si renuntarea la art. 45 din proiectul Guvernului Romaniei de modificare a Legii nr. 273/2004, care mentine de fapt Moratoriul instituit in 2001, privind interzicerea adoptiilor internationale.

Solicitam redeschiderea procedurii adoptiilor internationale pentru copiii romani, de catre persoane sau familii care au domiciliul pe teritoriul altui stat, parte a Conventiei de la Haga, astfel incat, copiii adoptati sa poata beneficia in tara straina de garantiile si normele echivalente acelora existente in cazul unei adoptii nationale. 

De asemenea, solicitam instituirea unui cadru riguros de derulare a adoptiilor internationale, care sa confere garantii ferme de realizare a acestora numai in cazuri justificate de interesul superior al copilului si sub controlul strict al institutiilor de specialitate ale statului. 

Citeste si semneaza petitia pentru abrogarea art. nr. 39 din Legea nr. 273/2004 privind regimul juridic al adoptiei si pentru modificarea art. nr. 45 din proiectul de modificare a Legii nr. 273/2004. Ajuta-ne sa strangem 100,000 semnaturi! Trimiteti mai departe si copiii va vor fi recunoscatori.

Semnatura ta schimba destinul unui copil!

Asociatia Catharsis, presedinte Azota Popescu
Asociatia Pro Democratia, presedinte Bogdan Lazar
Asociatia Samariteanul Milos, director Ecaterina Guguianu
Asociatia de Servicii Sociale SCUT, director Gabriela Dima
Asociatia Un Pas Spre Viitor, presedinte Florin Catanescu
Fundatia pentru Copii Abandonati, director Maria Gavriliu
Fundatia Ge-Ro, director Gheorghe Carapalea
Fundatia Rafael Codlea, director Tatiana Tita
Fundatia Sunshine Romania, director Viorel Mares
Organizatia Salvati Copiii Filiala Brasov, presedinte Anca Timis


Autor: Azota Popescu

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Vezi semnaturile pentru petitia: Petitie privind dreptul la adoptie internationala


Inter-country adoption laws in offing




Inter-country adoption laws in offing 




   
OM ASTHA RAI

KATHMANDU, June 27: If everything goes as planned, internationally distinguished foreign nationals will soon be able to adopt Nepali children.

Officials at the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW) have been mulling over some amendments in the procedures regarding inter-country adoption under Muluki Ain (Civil Code), which, once implemented, will pave the way for foreign nationals to adopt Nepali children of their choice. 



Existing international standards and practices and Nepal´s existing laws prohibit any foreign nationals from selecting the children of their choice for adoption.

However, MoWCSW´s proposed amendments overlook existing international practices, which are considered imperative for protecting children from abuses.

Officials at the ministry have proposed such an amendment after the government had to deny several internationally distinguished foreign nationals´ requests for adopting the children of their choice in the past.

Recently, about two dozen American senators had lobbied with the government for adoption of a Nepali child by a US based entrepreneur, according to ministry officials.

The government will allow a foreign national to select a Nepali child of their choice only under special circumstances, an MoWCSW official told myrepublica.com. According to him, MoWCSW will soon send the proposed amendments, which are being discussed in various intra-ministry committees, to the Ministry of Law and Justice (MoLJ).

In addition, MoWCSW officials have proposed that those orphanages which have looked after orphans for at least five years, be made eligible for inter-country adoption. At present, any orphanages can obtain license for inter-country adoption irrespective of the years of its operation.

“The existing laws have arguably helped those people who want to make quick buck by setting up orphanages, and selling off children in the name of adoption,” a ministry official said. “Inter-country adoption has become a booming business. We urgently need laws that will deter such an unscrupulous practice.”

As of now, 42 orphanages have been enlisted for inter-country adoption. Ministry officials believe that a significant number of the listed orphanages have been using inter-country adoption as a means of income generation.

Likewise, as per the proposed amendments, foreign agencies involved in inter-country adoption will necessarily have to open their offices in Nepal. About 80 agencies have been assisting prospective parents to adopt Nepali children. However, none of them have opened their liaison offices in Nepal.

 
 
Published on 2010-06-27 02:00:01

Fighting to bring the family home

Fighting to bring the family home

Sunday, June 27, 2010
By Lena Sin, The Province
 

For nearly a year, the Segals have lived as a family divided -- after the bureaucratic process of adopting twin boys in West Africa left them in limbo on two different continents.

Andrea Bastin now lives in Ghana with the couple's adopted twins, 19-month-old Will and Charlie.

Vietnam law change may allow adoptions to resume

Vietnam law change may allow adoptions to resume
27 June 2010 By Kieron Wood

Adoptions from Vietnam are set to restart from January next year, after Vietnam passed legislation to ensure that its laws comply with the Hague Convention on intercountry adoption.

Around 60 per cent of the 400 or so international adoptions in Ireland every year are from Vietnam.

However, the existing bilateral adoption agreement between Ireland and Vietnam lapsed on May 1, 2009, leaving many Irish couples unable to complete adoptions.

Sixty applications from people seeking to adopt Vietnamese children were subsequently withdrawn.

Some prospective adopters were said to have been six or seven years in the system.

A number of international reports have criticised adoption procedures in Vietnam, and Minister for Children Barry Andrews also expressed concern about the Vietnamese adoption process before the country passed its new law.

The ratification of the Hague Convention by Ireland and Vietnam means that both countries will have to adhere to certain standards.

Vietnam decided last week to pass legislation to ensure that its laws comply with the convention.

Ireland is due to ratify the convention when the new Adoption Bill comes into force in the autumn. The bill is to be considered by the Dáil this week.

A spokeswoman for Andrews said: ‘‘In the event that both Ireland and Vietnam ratify the convention, there is every reason to expect that adoptions from Vietnam could re-commence, subject to the provisions of the convention being met in this regard."


http://www.sbpost.ie/news/vietnam-law-change-may-allow-adoptions-to-resume-50161.html

 

Nepal will soon allow foreign nationals to adopt Nepalese children

Nepal will soon allow foreign nationals to adopt Nepalese children

Kathmandu, June 27 (ANI): Nepal is mulling amendments that would allow internationally distinguished foreign nationals to adopt Nepalese children, the Republica daily reported.

Officials at the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW) have been mulling over some amendments in the procedures regarding inter-country adoption, which, once implemented, will pave the way for foreign nationals to adopt Nepali children of their choice.


Existing international standards and practices and Nepal's existing laws prohibit any foreign nationals from selecting the children of their choice for adoption.

However, the ministry proposed amendments overlook existing international practices, which are considered imperative for protecting children from abuses.

Officials at the ministry have proposed such an amendment after the government had to deny several internationally distinguished foreign nationals' requests for adopting the children of their choice in the past, Xinhua reports.

According to the daily, recently, about two dozen American senators had lobbied with the government for adoption of a Nepali child by a U.S. based entrepreneur.

According to ministry officials, the government will allow a foreign national to select a Nepali child of their choice only under special circumstances. (ANI)
http://news.oneindia.in/2010/06/27/nepalwill-soon-allow-foreign-nationals-to-adopt-nepalesech.html

Hungary is final!

Hello Everyone,

So last Friday we decided and made the final choice to choose Hungary as the country of adoption.

This means that we indicated during the intake interview that we would go for Hungary. Our documents are now being translated into Hungarian and then sent to Budapest. (capital Hungary)

This is an important choice within the adoption process, because you can only go for 1 country (at a time). If your entire file has been sent to the chosen country, it is very complicated to switch to another country due to all kinds of issues (bureaucracy and costs).

Our choice for Hungary has partly come about because we prefer to adopt 3 or 4 children at the same time and this is a (slightly) more complicated process (in the Netherlands) than adopting 1 child. If you want to adopt more than 1 child, the number of countries you can choose from becomes more limited. In addition, you must complete a separate procedure with the Child Protection Board. So we did this.