Opinion: 'Prevent new generation of adoptees who cannot verify their identity'

Last week, the cabinet announced that it would now only wish to allow intercountry adoptions to go through a government organization. Patrick Noordoven would rather see the Netherlands renounce intercountry adoption altogether.

In 1980, with the help of a Dutch diplomat, with the cooperation of the consulate in São Paulo, I was illegally adopted from Brazil. Because my identity has been forged – a common problem for adoptees – it has been virtually impossible to obtain vital information about my ancestry.

As a result, I do not know under what circumstances I was handed over and as a result, after more than twenty years of searching for my identity, I have not yet been able to find my father.

According to the District Court of The Hague, the Dutch state has acted unlawfully towards me by failing to take measures to protect my right to know my origin. The state was required to make every effort to ensure that I, as a victim of criminal conduct, would actually receive parentage and other identifying information, the court ruled.

Gross violations of children's rights

The court reached that verdict after the Intercountry Adoption Investigation Commission (COIA) concluded in the past that the state has ignored reports of illegal intercountry adoption practices for years. It also turned out that civil servants and diplomats had acted in violation of national and international laws and regulations. These acts have led to gross violations of children's and human rights conventions, the COIA said.

The judgment in my case against the Dutch state confirms that this is the case. The court ruled in my favor and ruled that the state must compensate my damage. However, the state has no intention of carrying out the judgment of the judiciary and has subpoenaed me. This has led to parliamentary questions and human rights organizations have called on the state to withdraw the appeal.

Slap in the face for adoptees

After the COIA report was published, the then minister for legal protection apologized to adoptees and the government suspended intercountry adoptions. That decision has lifted his successor in office. The government has announced that it will continue with intercountry adoption through a newly established government agency; intended parents can continue to count on government support.

That is a slap in the face of adoptees who for years have been unsuccessfully asking the minister for financial support to find out their identity. The minister refuses to provide subsidies and therefore does not hesitate to maintain legal inequality: adoptive parents received 3700 euros in adoption subsidy, tax advantage and adoption leave. Adoptees receive no subsidy to trace their original identity, no tax benefits and no family reunification leave.

Instead, the minister has announced the establishment of a center of expertise that adoptees have not requested, the state continues to deny all liability of adoptees and refuses to enforce judgments of the judiciary.

Learning from the past

By deciding to proceed with intercountry adoption, the Minister for Legal Protection makes the Dutch state, again, responsible and liable for a future generation of adoptees whose right to identity, inherent in intercountry adoption, cannot be guaranteed. In doing so, the minister ignores the COIA's conclusions and recommendations and nullifies the apologies of his predecessor in office.

The minister should recognize his mistakes and learn from the past by withdrawing the appeal and carrying out rulings by the judiciary about victims of – illegal – intercountry adoption. The minister should also take responsibility by handling liability claims of adoptees out of court, compensating adoptees for damage and eliminating legal inequalities by making subsidies and statutory schemes available to adoptees.

Finally, the minister should definitely renounce intercountry adoption and thereby prevent new violations of the right to identity.