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150 Kids Missing - HANCI Implicated

150 Kids Missing - HANCI Implicated

 
Written by The Exclusive News Paper   
Wednesday, 28 October 2009
Over the past few days The Exclusive office has hosted groups of concerned parents from Makeni. The aggrieved parents complained that they don’t know the whereabouts of their children they claimed were adopted by an organization called Help A Needy Child
 International (HANCI).   
 

A cross section of missing kids
 

A cross section of agrieved parents at The Exclusive office
One of the parents, Sheik Alimamy Kamara of Makeni told this press that between 1996-97 HANCI which has their offices on Pademba Road set up a Child Survival Centre at 3 Mission Road Makeni.
 
According to the parents, HANCI offered to take care of their children and showed them the centre where they intended to house the young ones. Sheik Kamara said that they saw other children between the ages of 1 years to 17 years adding that “because we saw other children in the centre that prompted us to give our children to HANCI.”
 
These allegations have been investigated before. According to the UNAMSIL Human Rights Office in Makeni, HANCI in collusion with an organization called Maine Adoption Placement Services (MAPS) helped to smuggle these children out of the country without the consent of their parents or guardians. 
 
HANCI denies involvement in the matter and claims that the responsibility lay with MAPS which no longer operates in the country and the Ministry of Gender and Social Welfare with whom the adoption papers were signed. Last Friday some of the parents went to the Ministry and met with the Social Welfare Minister Soccoh Kabia.
 
Abu Bakarr Kargbo brother of one the missing children says that “the Minister asked us to submit all the relevant paperwork and promised to look into the matter personally.” Despite HANCI’s denial all that the parents have as proof of adoption are receipts on HANCI letterhead saying that their children had been admitted to the HANCI Children’s Home in Makeni.  
 
Sheik Kamara adds that “The HANCI people never told us anything about adoption. Our children were taken for medical in Freetown and since then we have never saw our children”, he said in tears.
 
Since HANCI was the only point of contact with the parents, it seems strange that they are now denying any involvement with the adoptions.
 
 The matter was reported to the police in Sierra Leone and was charged to the courts in Freetown in 2004 and in 2005 but was not tried because the parents did not go forward with the prosecution.
 
Dr. Roland Foday Kargbo, who is the Executive Director of HANCI was charged along side two others on 23 counts of conspiracy to commit a felony contrary to law and child stealing contrary to section 56 of the offences against the persons Act 1861. 
 
When The Exclusive contacted Dr. Kargbo at his Pademba Road offices, he denied the allegations. “We did not do the adoption. It was MAPS that did the adoption. When asked why the correspondences in possession of the parents for their children were on the HANCI Letterhead, he said, “MAPS was operating under HANCI when they initially came into the country. They later broke away from us when they acquired legal status and continued dealing with the children up to the time they taken to the United States.”
 
Also Speaking to The Exclusive, the Operation Director of HANCI, Kelfa Kargbo denied that 150 children were adopted. According to him only 24 children were registered under the MAPS programme in 1989.
 
“The parents have been dealing with MAPS since 1989 and that was when the adoption took place. The parents were fully aware that MAPS was an adoption organization,” he said, adding that his organization has over the years put pressure on MAPS through the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children Affairs. MAPS, he said, has ceased dealing with HANCI and that since the adoption was done, MAPS had claimed to be updating the Ministry about the adopted children. The parents, he said have since be referred to the Ministry for update of their children.
 
 However the parents lament that they don’t know MAPS but HANCI and that up to date not even the photos of their children have been made available to the let alone an update of their overall wellbeing.
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 28 October 2009 )

 

Sierra Leone, United States of America
Help a Needy Child International (HANCI), MAPS (Maine Adoption Placement Services)

Wrong Interpretation art 21b (VVD/Kind en Toekomst)

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: iara de witte

Date: 2009-10-08 20:44 GMT+02:00

Subject: verkeerde interpretatie

To: Roelie Post

The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and International Cooperation in respect of Intercountry Adoption, Subsidiarity
Iara de Witte
Netherlands

Wikileaks - adoption fraud - Uganda

F) ADOPTION FRAUD

ΒΆ22. (U) Ugandan law restricts a foreign citizen's ability to adopt a

Ugandan child, and the adoption process is complicated. Ugandan law

requires that foreign adoptive parents be physically present in

Uganda and foster the child for three years before an adoption is

Uganda
Wikileaks

Guidelines - EU is DIVIDED

 

 

 

From: TOMKIN Jean (RELEX-NEW YORK)  
Sent: Tuesday, October 27, 2009 1:08 AM
To: GORSKA   Malgorzata (RELEX); ZARU Davide (RELEX); GEURTS Charles-Michel   (RELEX)
Cc: CURTIS Michael (ECHO); COMBES Isabelle (ECHO); GARAY   AMORES Juan (DEV); ZITO Anna (JLS); OLTEANU Dora (JLS); DE SADELEER Katja   (ELARG); GIAUFRET Emanuele (RELEX-NEW YORK); WIRKUS Tomasz (EMPL); TIMANS Rolf   (RELEX); VAN BELLINGHEN Marc (RELEX); DE PEYRON Kristin (RELEX);   KASSANGANA-JAKUBOWSKA Margareta (RELEX); BOIDIN Jean-Claude   (DEV)
Subject: RE: guidelines for the alternative care of children  

 

(UN) Guidelines on Children without Parental Care, European Commission

Ex-adoption agency director must repay theft victims

Ex-adoption agency director must repay theft victims

By TOM BRENNAN | The Tampa Tribune

and JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 26, 2009

Related Links

Adoption By Choice (PA)
Debra West

Gamete offspring have 'right to know' biological parents

Gamete offspring have 'right to know' biological parents
 
 
By Neal Hall, Vancouver Sun October 27, 2010
 
 
One Toronto man spent years searching for his sperm donor "biodad" and eventually learned he had 13 half siblings, an unusual civil trial heard Tuesday.
Barry Stevens, a 58-year-old Toronto filmmaker, found out when he was 18 that he was conceived through artificial insemination using donated sperm.
His mother revealed the truth after the death of Stevens' father, who didn't want his children to know.
Stevens spent years searching for his biological father, including 16 years of DNA detective work, before learning that the man who was his father was the husband of the female doctor who had done the artificial insemination of Stevens' mother.
Finding his father was a satisfying experience, lawyer Sean Hern told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Elaine Adair.
Stevens found he had 13 half siblings, whom he met, and may have several hundred half siblings, the lawyer said.
Stevens' documentary about his search, titled Bio-Dad, aired on CBC last year.
The happy-ending story was contained in Stevens' affidavit, which was read in court Tuesday by Hern, one of two lawyers representing Olivia Pratten, 28, who was born in B.C. and now is a Toronto journalist.
Pratten contends that those born through "gamete" donation of sperm and eggs should have the same rights to information about their biological parents as adopted children when they reach age 19.
She wants to have B.C.'s Adoption Act struck down as unconstitutional and replaced with legislation that will preserve the records of gamete donors -- which now only have to be kept for six years -- so they can be revealed to gamate offspring when they turn 19.
Although Pratten was raised by a mother and father, who are separated, she argues that it is important to her well-being and identity to know the ancestral background and medical history of her biological father.
"You can come from the most loving family and you still want this question answered," Hern argued in court.
Pratten's lawyers, including Joe Arvay, have filed in court affidavits of both sperm donor offspring and sperm donors. One donor's affidavit said he believes donors should have consensual contact with offspring seeking to fill in the blanks about family and medical history.
The court was told the sperm donor was paid up to $50 for each donation he made at the Vancouver fertility clinic run by Dr. Gerald Korn, now is in his 80s and retired. The man, who believes he may have dozens of offspring, has registered with the online donor sibling registry, the court was told.
 
Canada

Embettled adoption agency defends its role


Embattled adoption agency defends its role
25 October 2009 By Susan Mitchell 

It has not been a good year for Sharon O’Driscoll. As chief executive of Helping Hands, which facilitates overseas adoptions from Vietnam, she has been at the centre of a media storm surrounding the issue of how adoptions from the country are arranged.

Last May, it emerged that a bilateral agreement covering adoptions between Vietnam and Ireland had not been renewed.

Without it, no legal adoptions can be processed in Vietnam. Minister for Children Barry Andrews refused to explain why the agreement had not been renewed, and was accused of leaving hundreds of prospective adoptive parents in limbo.

Then an unfavourable draft United Nations report which painted an unflattering picture of Helping Hands was leaked to the press. It emerged that the Adoption Board was also seeking clarification of the fees charged by Helping Hands for its services.

O’Driscoll has, in the main, shunned the media, but over the past week, appears to have reversed that strategy. She is now keen to shed some light on a number of the concerns raised, in particular media coverage of the draft UN report.

This described the information Helping Hands provides to the public as ‘‘at least somewhat misleading and consequently disturbing in its implications’’.

Parents who have adopted from Vietnam in recent years paid $11,100 (€7,400) to Helping Hands. Of that, $9,000 was paid as ‘‘humanitarian aid’’ to regional authorities in Vietnam.

O’Driscoll acknowledged that Helping Hands had not always lodged that humanitarian aid to identifiable bank accounts.

About €3 million has been paid out in total and sizeable sums - she was unable to disclose the precise amounts - were paid over in cash. Helping Hands did not receive audited accounts from the Vietnamese.

‘‘It’s just the way things are done," O’Driscoll said.

She added that Helping Hands had repeatedly expressed concerns about the lack of accountability for money paid out in Vietnam in humanitarian aid, and had raised the issue a number of times with the Adopt ion Board. ‘‘We made recommendations about this to the Adoption Board as far back as 2006.

We said greater accountability was needed and we continued to make that point," she said.

That said, she does not believe the money is going astray. ‘‘I go out there every eight weeks and I see the progress that is being made on the ground with the money," she said.

O’Driscoll said criticism of Helping Hands in the draft report from the UN International Social Service (ISS) solely pertained to a recent $1,000 increase in the fee levied for humanitarian aid. The report’s authors claimed Helping Hands had not clarified this increase.

‘‘The first we knew about this was when we read it in the papers," said O’Driscoll. ‘‘We had never even been contacted by them about it. We wrote to them and they sent us a set of questions, which we subsequently responded to."

A recent letter from the UN body confirmed there had been a mix-up over the initial questionnaire, which was sent to the wrong address, and that the recent response ‘‘clarified very well the main questions’’ it had. It said this would be reflected in its final report.

O’Driscoll said she had also responded to similar queries from the Adoption Board.

She feels aggrieved at the leaking of elements of the ISS report and details of correspondence between Helping Hands and the Adoption Board.

‘‘The draft ISS report was leaked inappropriately and was done to cause trouble, in my view. Stuff from the Adoption Board was mysteriously leaked. I’m assuming my most recent response will be leaked too," she said. ‘‘But it is very hurtful to the applicants and the children involved, many of whom are of school age. I have raised it with the department and the Adoption Board. What is the agenda?"

The amount paid in humanitarian aid by Irish parents is agreed in informal round table discussions with Vietnamese authorities, O’Driscoll said, adding that she believed the amount should be decided at government level.

The bilateral agreement that was agreed between the Irish and Vietnamese governments, and which expired in May, contained a clause stipulating that humanitarian aid be paid to the donor country. It failed to specify the amount, whereas bilateral agreements that the Vietnamese have with other countries specify the precise amount.

O’Driscoll said the amount charged to parents in Ireland was similar to the amount paid by parents in other countries who were also adopting from Vietnam. ‘‘There is a misconception about this," she said.

Other sources rejected that statement. In France, for example, parents pay half that amount for the processing of the application and the humanitarian fee combined.

O’Driscoll said all money paid to Helping Hands by adoptive parents was placed in a holding account. ‘‘We receive none of that money," she said.

‘‘The $9,000 is paid directly to regional authorities and the remaining $2,100 is used to cover medical checks, the processing of all documentation, translation and notarisation, and transport costs. We make the payments on the parents’ behalf. We don’t charge for the service. We are funded entirely b y the HSE."

Helping Hands has received funding of €1.6 million from the Health Service Executive since 2006.

O’Driscoll said there was ‘‘simply no chance’’ that an Irish parent would end up with a child who was put up for adoption in the circumstances that were outlined in a report in the Daily Mail last weekend.

The report read: ‘‘In a dingy shack, young women wait to give birth. Soon, for a few dollars, they will hand their newborn to desperate Irish couples."

O’Driscoll said Helping Hands existed to protect people from such a scenario. Such an adoption would never be registered in Ireland in the first place, according to O’Driscoll, as the adoption had to be referred through the Vietnamese Central Authority.

Under the previous bilateral agreement, every adoption had to be conducted through a mediation agency licensed by both central authorities, O’Driscoll said.

‘‘They have a very stringent process, as do we. I have always found them very diligent. The paperwork is examined and re-examined.

‘‘We also got them to introduce a database to ensure there is a clear trail of all the documentation. It gives added protection," she said.

‘‘We have no worries or concerns over the eligibility of any of the children we have facilitated adoptions for."

Barry Andrews has said he will consider the ISS report - which is expected to be published in mid-November - before deciding whether to renew the bilateral agreement with Vietnam.

The question beckons: if the minister is as concerned as he purports to be, why is his office trying to process 20 applications that had already been received by the Vietnamese before the bilateral agreement lapsed?

O’Driscoll was reluctant to be drawn on this. She evidently doesn’t want to offend the man who may hold the key to the survival of her organisation. ‘‘I don’t know," she said.

The Helping Hands saga has overshadowed other concerns that have been raised about the inter-country adoption process in Ireland.

They include the bureaucratic minefield people face when being assessed for adoption and the failure to ratify the Hague convention (aimed at improving the inter-country adoption process). Ireland committed to ratifying it in 1993 and we will be the last country in the European Union to do so.

O’Driscoll said Helping Hands had been inundated with calls from concerned adoptive parents and prospective adoptive parents in recent months.

‘‘It is desperate for them. Many are up to are eight years in the system," she said.

‘‘I have seen the draft ISS report and there is nothing in that report we did not know before. I think the big thing that is being forgotten is that the Vietnamese commissioned the ISS and the Unicef report.

There were a huge number of domestic adoptions in Vietnam last year. Nobody is reporting that. There were 12,000 domestic adoptions and 3,000 intercountry adoptions - which is unlike any other donor country.

They are improving their processes all the time and they want to improve their processes. That is being lost." 
Helping Hands, Ireland
Vietnam, Ireland
Sharon O'Driscoll

ACT BRIEFING FOR CD/GV ON STATE OF PLAY: A EUROPEAN ADOPTION POLICY

. 

Lobby for a European Adoption Policy/cross-border adoption, 2009 Conference: CHALLENGES IN ADOPTION PROCEDURES IN EUROPE - Strasbourg, Falsified Report DG JUST - Frattini Report

Child trafficking ring busted

Oct 23, 2009

Child trafficking ring busted

BEIJING - POLICE in north China have busted a ring of baby traffickers suspected of pocketing up to 400,000 yuan (S$80,800) through the sale of 52 children, state media reported on Friday.

Police arrested 42 suspected ring members who allegedly trafficked 19 boys and 33 girls in northern Hebei and Shanxi provinces as well as eastern Shandong and the capital Beijing, Xinhua news agency said.

The case came to light after Zhao Dongsheng and his two sons confessed to police that they had bought 13 babies from two women living in Shanxi's Yingxian county in May, the report said.

China

‘Christen moet tegen nota Rouvoet ingaan’

‘Christen moet tegen nota Rouvoet ingaan’
Geplaatst: 24 oktober 2009 06:33, laatste wijziging: 23 oktober 2009 21:13
door onze redacteur Petra Noordhuis
VOGELENZANG - Christenen hebben de plicht om tegen de gezinsnota van minister Rouvoet in te gaan. Die oproep klonk vrijdag op een studiebijeenkomst van het rooms-katholieke Centrum voor de Sociale Leer van de Kerk.

4 reacties
3 waarderingen
 
Discussies over het gezin zijn vaak ideologisch gekleurd, constateert prof. dr. René Hoksbergen, emeritus hoogleraar adoptie. In de jaren zestig en zeventig werd de functie van het gezin gebagatelliseerd, volgens hem. ,,Een irritante ontwikkeling'', vond hij dat. Hij is blij dat minister André Rouvoet van Jeugd en Gezin erkent dat het gezin belangrijk is.
Vorig jaar bracht Rouvoet de nota 'De kracht van het gezin uit'. Het rooms-katholieke Centrum voor de Sociale Leer van de Kerk wijdde er vrijdag een studiebijeenkomst aan, waarop een kleine vijftig geïnteresseerden af kwamen: ouders, priesters en mensen die vanuit hun werk met het gezin te maken hebben.
Hoksbergen was een van de sprekers. Er bestaan volgens hem veel misverstanden over het gezin. Zo leeft het idee dat veel kinderen niet meer in een gezin opgroeien. ,,Terwijl zeven op de acht kinderen opgroeit bij beide biologische ouders.'' De ouders zijn meestal ook getrouwd met elkaar, zegt Hoksbergen. ,,Mensen die ongehuwd samenwonen, trouwen bijna altijd als er een kind komt.''
Carolien Tax, actief in het CDA en in de rooms-katholieke kerk en hoofdredacteur van jongerentijdschrift Omega , vindt het jammer dat het in de gezinsnota vooral over probleemhuishoudens gaat. ,,Er wordt gedaan alsof elk gezin een potentieel probleem is. Waar blijft de aandacht voor de kracht van het gezin?'' Rouvoet lijkt wel de minister van probleemhuishoudens, zegt ze gekscherend.
In de centra voor jeugd en gezin ziet ze weinig heil. Mensen willen volgens haar opvoedtips die bij hun geloofsovertuiging of levensbeschouwing aansluiten. ,,We moeten vechten voor het bijzonder onderwijs en met andere parochianen over de opvoeding praten'', vindt ze daarom. Het leren van andere, gelijkgezinde ouders kan nooit worden vervangen door de gezinscentra, volgens haar.
Minister Rouvoet definieert het gezin in zijn nota als 'elk leefverband van één of meer volwassenen die de verantwoordelijkheid dragen voor de opvoeding van de kinderen'. Tax heeft daarmee moeite. ,,Zo ongeveer alles valt eronder, ook samenwonenden, homostellen, zelfs een man die een harem heeft en twintig kinderen.'' Zij ziet het gezin met een vader en een moeder als het ideale gezin.
Contract
Ook prof. jhr. dr. Frans Alting von Geusau heeft moeite met de in de nota gebruikte definitie. Hij is emeritus hoogleraar 'internationaal recht' en 'westelijke samenwerking', maar is als spreker uitgenodigd omdat hij vader is van zes getrouwde kinderen. ,,Die allen niet voor het huwelijk hebben samengewoond'', voegt hij daaraan toe.
Het gezin als leefverband omschrijven, haalt het gezin onderuit, vindt hij. ,,De belofte van het leven is in Nederland gereduceerd tot een contract. Het huwelijk kan makkelijk worden beëindigd. Waarom moeten wij als christenen, die de dragers zijn van de beste boodschap over het huwelijk, daarin meegaan en concessies doen over de definitie van het gezin? Het huwelijk is een belofte aan elkaar en aan God. Liefde is geen romantische aangelegenheid, je hebt de essentiële plicht om bij elkaar te blijven. Voor het CDA is het de hoogste tijd om vanuit de C te spreken en niet vanuit concessies. Anders dragen we bij aan de verwarring die over dit onderwerp bestaat. Verloedering van de taal, is het begin van verloedering van de geest.''
Tot zijn spijt heeft hij nergens in de nota iets teruggevonden over de voorbereiding op het huwelijk en over de rol van de kerk. ,,Het gezin is een door God zelf gegeven opdracht. Als zo'n nota verschijnt, hebben we als christenen de plicht ertegen in te gaan.''
Net als Alting von Geusau dat heeft gedaan, combineert prof.dr. Leonard Besselink zijn hoogleraarschap met de opvoeding van zes kinderen. Nederland is niet gezinsvriendelijk, houdt hij de aanwezigen voor. Werk en gezin zijn moeilijk te combineren, door onder meer wachtlijsten bij de dure kinderopvang en te weinig mogelijkheden om flexibel te werken.
René Hoksbergen vindt daarom dat de gezinsnota wel een aanvulling kan gebruiken. Ouders moeten in de gelegenheid worden gesteld om de tijd te nemen voor hun kinderen. Het gezin is volgens hem de kern van de samenleving en verdient daarom blijvende aandacht van de overheid en van de ouders. ,,Je wilt je kinderen toch goed afleveren aan de samenleving?''
 

Rene Hoksbergen
Netherlands
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