The Dutch cabinet said in a Monday parliamentary letter, signed by State Secretary for Justice and Security Claudia van Bruggen, that it will formally apologize to people affected by the forced removal of children in the second half of the last century. The letter responds to a June 2025 report by the Commission on Domestic Relinquishment and Adoption.

According to the Commission's findings, between 1956 and 1984, thousands of newborn children were placed for adoption under pressure. Most cases involved unmarried women who saw no viable option to raise their children themselves. Girls and women who became unintentionally pregnant were, in some instances, required to place their children with a guardian.

In its response, the cabinet stated that the events described in the report “never should have happened and caused significant suffering.” It added that “there was insufficient attention to the vulnerable and distressing position of mothers and children" and said this led to considerable pain and grief. The government also acknowledged its role in these events.

The statement said that for those affected, government apologies represent “a starting point for recognition of this suffering.” It added that the cabinet aims to organize a meeting before the summer, in which the apologies will be formally delivered. Preparation for that meeting will involve those affected and advocacy organizations.

GWACHEON, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s justice minister has pledged to expand access to judicial remedies for victims of state-led abuses, including foreign adoptees whose adoptions were marred by widespread fraud under previous military governments.

Using unusually strong language for a senior South Korean official, Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho said the country’s past adoptions amounted to “forced child trafficking” and that the government will largely refrain from appealing rulings in cases brought by victims seeking compensation for government wrongdoing. Jung spoke Thursday in a roundtable interview with selected journalists.

Hundreds of Korean adoptees in the West have already requested that their cases be investigated by a fact-finding commission reviewing past human rights violations. The body was relaunched in February after its previous mandate ended in November. That earlier Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded that the government bore responsibility for an adoption program riddled with fraud and malfeasance, driven by efforts to cut welfare costs and carried out by state-authorized private agencies that systematically manipulated children’s origins.

Some adoptees hope the commission’s findings will provide legal grounds for damages lawsuits against the government or their adoption agencies. But victims of other government abuses recognized by the commission have often been locked in lengthy legal battles after state prosecutors appealed rulings in their favor, citing expired statutes of limitations or deeming the commission’s findings inconclusive.

Pregnancy. Source: Priit Mürk/ERR

Draft amendments to the Penal Code and the Victim Support Act would make exploitation for the purpose of surrogacy or illegal adoption in connection with human trafficking punishable.

According to Minister of Justice and Digital Affairs Liisa Pakosta (Eesti 200), the focus of the amendments is on preventing human trafficking and strengthening the protection of victims.

"Demand fuels human trafficking, so those who knowingly use the services of victims and thereby effectively support the criminal world must also be held strictly accountable. Even in cases involving services such as massage or manicure — if the service is provided by a trafficking victim and the client is aware of this, it may result in up to five years' imprisonment for the client," she said.

A victim of human rights abuses in Korea's past intercountry adoption process filed a criminal complaint against the adoption worker involved in her case, but the investigation ended after the worker died.

Marie Louise Wang, whose Korean name is Choi Jin-suk, filed a police complaint in May 2025 against a worker surnamed Kim at the volunteer organization responsible for her adoption on charges including falsification of official documents and child abduction.

Tue 7 AprTuesday 7 April

Indonesian police have charged 19 people for allegedly buying babies from new parents and selling them at a profit. (Flickr: Government of Alberta )

In short:

A man and 18 women have been charged with human trafficking in Indonesia.

Adoption waiting list shrinks, foster care under strain: what changes when prospective parents follow a single pathway?

A foster parent.

A foster parent. Source ID/ Aron Vermeiren

In Flanders, fewer and fewer children are being put up for adoption, while the need for foster care continues to increase. To solve these problems, the two waiting lists will be merged next year. 'A good idea, but not a miracle solution,' says the sector.

This article was written by

In their book '(Un)wanted: The Complex Reality Behind the Adoption Fairytale', Ae Ra Van Geel and Kiran Van der Avert describe the often conflicting interests and emotions that adoption entails. Although the end of transnational adoption seems near, they view a definitive adoption freeze as merely the beginning. “The impact of adoption does not stop when you arrive in our country and end up in the adoptive family here.”

© ID / Sebastiaan Franco

At least 23,000

Today, there are at least 23,000 transnational adoptees in our country – we do not know the exact number because the number of adoptions has only been properly recorded in recent years. Many of them need help. They have questions about their origins, family, relationships, and identity. They wish to travel back to their country of origin or face psychosocial challenges linked to their adoption, where current support services fall short.

https://www.beobachter.ch/gesellschaft/wie-terre-des-hommes-babys-fur-experimente-missbrauchte

Before leaving India, we sat down with the tour members for India Ties Kolkata and asked them what the journey was like for them - what made them travel with Ties, how the trip has impacted their relationships to themselves and their families and if they would recommend a Ties tour to anyone considering it. Excerpts have been edited for clarity.

Michelle, adoptee: It's been a couple of years that I've been wanting to go back. I turned 40 and I finished my studies and I lost my job all at the same time - it just seemed like a perfect moment to do something for me, to take some time for me, and maybe to redefine, think about who I am. And I realized that in order to do that, I needed to know a little bit more about where I came from.  And it just felt like a right time. I mean, there's never a right time: I've got two kids, got a lot going on, never a right time. But the more and more I thought about it, the more and more I thought the time is now.

What impact has this trip had on how you see yourself, your identity, or your story?

Lizzie, adoptee:  This trip has given me more of a sense of pride in who I am. I feel like visiting this country has been so important to me. I've wanted to do it for a long time.  I used to feel a lot of shame about being Indian or being born in India. I had maybe a negative impression of India growing up. I didn't know a lot about India growing up, and I had false impressions about India growing up. But by taking this trip and visiting my birthplace, as well as other cities in this country, exposed me to so many things I didn't know about India, and I've learned a lot about this country. I'm very happy that I took this trip.

The Government must provide an unqualified formal apology to all those affected by historical forced adoption in the UK, the cross-party Education Committee recommends in a report launched today.

Ministers should provide an initial commitment to an apology, begin working with survivor groups as quickly as possible, and commit publicly to a clear timetable for developing and issuing its apology, MPs say.

It should work directly with mothers, adult adoptees and lived-experience organisations to co-author the apology and any subsequent commitments.  

The Chairs of the Education Committee and the Joint Committee on Human Rights have also jointly signed a letter to the Education Secretary, published today, which highlights the recommendations made in the Education Committee’s report and calls for the Government to act urgently.