12.6 million for investigation of the adoption area

The agreement on the SSA funds has been published on the website of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Housing and the Elderly .

It appears from the text of the agreement that 12.6 million will be set aside. DKK for investigation of the international adoption agency to Denmark:

"The world of adoption has changed over time, and not least in light of the requirements that have become more stringent over time, there is an ongoing focus on suspicions of illegal circumstances, especially in relation to adoptions carried out back in time. Funds are therefore set aside to map the historical development in international adoption mediation to Denmark in the form of an impartial study of the international adoption mediation from the ten countries from which most children were adopted to Denmark in the period 1964 to 2016. The purpose of the study will be to provide information that supports the adoptees' right to know their own history. The investigation is not carried out with the aim of concluding whether the specific adoptions took place on an illegal basis, and therefore the investigation will have the character of a historical investigation and not a legal assessment 2025-2027."

DIA drew attention to the need for an investigation in a request to Social Affairs and Housing Minister Pernille Rosenkrantz-Theil in September.

DIA believes:

• An impartial investigation will, to a large extent, need to start from the archives of the historical dissemination agencies in the area, which DIA currently administers. When the purpose of the investigation is to provide information that supports the adoptee's right to know their own history, it should be high on the agenda to ensure the comprehensive digitization of the archives, which DIA has alerted the minister to the necessity of. The need for future access to and searchability of the information for those to whom it primarily belongs – the adoptees and their descendants and research for the benefit of these – should therefore be prioritized in connection with the investigation.
• It is not clear whether the state's role in relation to international adoption is part of the investigation. This is a very central question in relation to internationally adopted people's right to and claim to their own identity.
• It is unclear what the investigation will contribute in relation to strengthening the Post Adoptions area in the future
• The commissioner's report is not yet available, but based on the text of the agreement and the budget, the investigation does not appear to be as thorough as similar investigations in other countries. An ongoing investigation in Sweden, for example, aims at a thorough investigation of the entire adoption system, where all actors, including the state and municipalities, are looked at, mapping changing rules and processes and investigating illegalities and possible knowledge of illegalities (see the commission for the Swedish investigation here. )

Against this background, DIA may be concerned about whether the investigation is missing a unique opportunity to get to the bottom of the conditions regarding international adoption.