Adoption middleman speaks out

Gimma Kebele worked at DanAdopt’s now closed children’s home in Ethiopia, Enat Alem. In addition to his work on the night shift, he helped the children’s home to identify suitable families and convince them to give their children up for adoption. According to a local official, he received compensation for this work, which is illegal in Ethiopia.

Foto: DR

Adoption middleman speaks out

08. apr. 2013 13.42 English

On Friday the Danish Ministry of Social Affairs imposed a ban on adoptions from Ethiopia through DanAdopt after a group of women complained that they felt pressured to give their children up for adoption.

The news programme 21Søndag has since revealed that a number of adoptions through DanAdopt employed the use of middlemen to coax the women into giving their children up for adoption, which is in violation of the Hague Convention.

Convinced families

Gimma Kebele worked at DanAdopt's children's home, Enat Alem, until it was shut down by the authorities. But in addition to working on the night shift, he also worked to identify children suited for adoption.

This involved canvassing the village and talking with families to convince them to give their children up for adoption.

"Enat Alem used middlemen to convince the parents to give up their children for adoption. They coaxed the parents by telling them that the children would have a better life and a good education," a source told 21Søndag about Gimma Bekele's job.

Lucrative job

Gimma Kebele himself says that he was involved in 145 adoptions through Enat Alem.

He also said that working as a middleman was quite lucrative. For each child he provided to the children's home, he received between DKK 75 and 110, which is a lot of money in Ethiopia. By comparison, his monthly salary for working the night shift at the children's home was about DKK 150.

But according to the responsible office for the region, many of the parents never understood that adoption meant that they would never see their children again.

"They did not know what adoption meant because they were pressured and tricked. They were promised many things," said the official.

Illegal to profit from children

Prior to the closure of the Enat Alem children's home, DanAdopt sent 21 children to Denmark for adoption.

The agency told 21Søndag that it was unaware of the use of these middlemen.

Profiting from dealing in children is a crime punishable with imprisonment.

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