Over 11,000 intercountry adoptions have taken place across Australia. With the help of non-government organisations some adoptees are finding their overseas biological families - but these organisations are in decline.

Rohan Samara came to Australia in a box on a plane with 330 other kids, he was an orphan evacuated in Operation Babylift after the fall of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) in April 1975.

Forty-two years later in 2017 Rohan decided he’d try to find his biological mum.

“I don’t want this poor old little Vietnamese woman going to her grave not knowing about her kid,” Rohan said.

“That thought just breaks my heart."

International Social Service (ISS) continues to refine the draft principles throughout 2019; this work will continue next years. The preparation of these Principles was recommended by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Sale and Sexual Exploitation of Children in 2018 (UN Doc. A/HRC/37/60), in her recommendation: [At the international level]:

78. The Special Rapporteur invites the international community to:

[...] (d) Support the work of the International Social Service in developing international principles and standards governing surrogacy arrangements that are in accordance with human rights norms and standards and particularly with the rights of the child. [...]

A core group of experts including Claire Achmad, Nigel Cantwell, Patricia Fronek, Olga Khazova, John Pascoe, David Smolin, Katarina Trimmings and Michael Wells-Greco with International Social Service has been responsible for drafting these principles. A wider group of experts and observers including CRC Committee, Governments, HCCH, UNICEF, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Sale and Sexual Exploitation of Children, academics and practitioners from multi-disciplinary backgrounds representing all regions in the world have contributed to development of the principles.

As part of the consultations, meetings with experts were held in Cape town, London and Geneva in August and September. See below for further information

Baltimore, Maryland, Mon. October 7, 2019 — In August 2019 the Lumos Foundation USA renewed funding for International Social Service, USA (ISS-USA) to serve up to 50 returning children to Guatemala using their cross-border case management model and best practices outlined in International Social Service’s Children on the Move Guidelines. ISS-USA first received funding from Lumos in December 2018 for a six-month pilot program to provide services for up to 15 children returning to Guatemala after a separation at the US border. After an initial extension, the program is currently serving 26 families, which includes approximately 130 individuals.

Families in the ISS-USA Reunification and Reintegration Program receive comprehensive support services for six months after the child’s return home. A social worker visits each family prior to the child’s return, works with the family to understand their individual needs, and develops a comprehensive reintegration plan. The social worker accompanies the child’s reception in Guatemala and makes sure the child arrives safely home. Over the next six months, the social worker helps the child and his or her siblings to enroll in school, access medical and mental health services, support the parent’s access to vocational or skill-building programs, coordinate with local protection officials, and provide other basic household items to help stabilize the family situation.

“We are grateful to our partners in the US and Guatemala for the hard work on the Guatemala Reunification and Reintegration program,” said Julie Rosicky, Executive Director of ISS-USA. “With this additional investment we expect to support 130 more individuals affected by a traumatic family separation.”

Billy DiMichele, Chairman of Lumos USA’s Board of Directors, said “the Reunification and Reintegration Program is providing vital holistic services to support children, and strengthen families. We are delighted to renew our partnership with ISS-USA and appreciate their commitment to this valuable work.”

ISS-USA, Lumos and their Guatemalan partners are able to serve children up to age 18 throughout Guatemala. If you are working with children who have experienced a family separation, please contact eweisman@iss-usa.org for more information on how this program can help prepare for a safe and stable return to family.

Building Bridges

“Building Bridges between Belgium & India for Adoptees - A final call”

Lieve mensen, Het heeft me wat tijd gekost om na de terugkeer deze tekst te kunnen schrijven. Zoveel indrukken en emoties, het doet een mens toch wel wat. Het was voor mij de tweede keer dat ik India bezocht. Deze keer met een doel dat ook meer was dan reizen en verkennen. Het project “Building Bridges” ligt me na aan het hart, natuurlijk in de eerste plaats door mijn persoonlijk verhaal. Maar zeker ook door de ervaring van de laatste 2 jaar dat mijn verhaal met zovele anderen gedeeld wordt en ook deze anderen op muren botsen als ze naar hun roots op zoek gaan. Ik was dan ook erg blij dat Pia, onze adoptiecoach haar schouders met hart en ziel onder dit project heeft gezet, waarvoor mijn dank.

Ik hoop dat mijn verhaal kan helpen bij jullie eigen zoektocht, op welke manier dan ook: praktische tips, modelbrieven, persoonlijke ervaring,.. Door de meetings in Mumbai is alvast een eerste steen gelegd. Er is al een goed bewustzijn, beleid en methodiek om geadopteerden te helpen bij hun zoektocht. Veel hangt af van de adoptiediensten. Mijn persoonlijke zoektocht leverden enkele belangrijke antwoorden op, maar er zijn minstens evenveel vraagtegens bijgekomen. Stap voor stap komen we toch dichter bij ons doel: de weg is iets meer geopend, ook al is die nog zeer lang.

Ik schrijf mijn verhaal in dagboekstijl. Voor de formele en praktische elementen verwijs ik naar de bijlagen. Er volgt in de nabije toekomst een officieel rapport dat aan betrokken diensten en overheden zal worden bezorgd. Ik benadruk dat dit mijn persoonlijk verhaal rond deze reis. Voor iedereen zal dit anders zijn.

"The time has come for a change in the childcare system. It is necessary to invest resources, firstly, to help families with children in crisis, and secondly, to create a sufficient number of foster families of different types. Children should live in families, not in institutional care, and the state is obliged to provide this."

- Z henya Ershova, Speech given at the Celebrating 30 Years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child Workshop

Introduction to this Special Issue

November 20th 2019 marked two important anniversaries- 30 years since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and a decade since the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children were ‘welcomed’ by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in 2009. To mark the occasion, Better Care Network asked several key actors to write brief reflections on different topics and aspects of children's care for this special issue of the BCN newsletter, focusing on the last 10 years of progress in the care reform movement, as well as hopes and recommendations for the future.

These partners were asked to consider the following questions: What has been some of the most significant progress on this issue since the Guidelines were adopted? What are the key challenges now? And where do you see things going in the next ten years?

From: Arun Dohle [mailto:arundohle@gmail.com]

Sent: Donnerstag, 28. November 2019 07:49

To: m.vnispen@tweedekamer.nl

Subject: FW: newsletter

Dear Michiel van Nispen,

How do we respond to international views on fraudulent adoptions?

In May of this year, an additional hearing took place on intercountry adoption from Ethiopia in the Committee on Welfare, Public Health and Family of the Flemish Parliament. This hearing came after the testimony of Thereza De Wannemaeker who questioned her adoption from Ethiopia in 2009. Several testimonies of Ethiopian adopted children and their parents followed, after which Flemish Member of Parliament Lorin Parys (N-VA) asked for an extra hearing in the Flemish Parliament to hear those involved.

During the hearing, the then Flemish Minister for Welfare, Jo Vandeurzen (CD&V), promised to create an expert panel to conduct in-depth research into past adoptions and to formulate policy recommendations. In July, the former Flemish Government composed this panel. Recently Christof Bex and Miranda N. Aerts, both adopted and familiar with the theme, were also added to the panel. This happened after 23 adoptees in an open letter to current Flemish minister of Welfare, Wouter Beke (CD&V), criticized the fact that none of the adoptees led the investigation. The panel will soon be meeting for the first time to define the content and determine a concrete work approach.

Unfortunately, malpractice within adoption remains a reality, despite efforts made worldwide to prevent it. In March 2016, the ISS1 published "Responding to Illegal Adoptions: a professional handbook". This international publication was the first attempt to provide a comprehensive overview of possible remedial and preventative measures. Stakeholders and experts from various countries contributed to the manual and highlighted action points from a legal, psychosocial, social and political framework. In summary, David M Smolin² formulated four perspectives and four recommendations that we present below at the end of the handbook.

Four perspectives to look at adoption fraud

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

From: ACT

Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2019 at 2:05 PM

Subject: File National Archive

To:

International views on fraudulent adoptions, how do we respond to this?

In May of this year, an additional hearing was held on intercountry adoption from Ethiopia in the Commission for Welfare, Public Health and Family of the Flemish Parliament. This hearing came after the testimony of Thereza De Wannemaeker who questioned her adoption from Ethiopia in 2009. Various testimonies from Ethiopian adoptive children and their parents followed, after which Flemish Parliament member Lorin Parys (N-VA) requested an additional hearing in the Flemish Parliament to hear the people involved.

During the hearing, then Flemish Minister for Welfare, Jo Vandeurzen (CD&V), promised to set up an expert panel to conduct in-depth research into past adoptions and to formulate policy recommendations. The former Flemish Government assembled this panel in July. Recently Christof Bex and Miranda N. Aerts, both adopted and familiar with the theme, were added to the panel. This happened after 23 adopters in an open letter to the current Flemish Minister for Welfare, Wouter Beke (CD&V), had criticized the fact that none of the adopted persons co-led the investigation. Soon the panel will meet for the first time to define the content and to determine a concrete work approach.

Unfortunately, malpractice within adoption remains a reality, despite the efforts being made worldwide to prevent it. In March 2016, ISS1 published "Responding to Illegal Adoptions: a professional handbook". This international publication was the first attempt to provide a comprehensive overview of possible remedial and prevention measures. Stakeholders and experts from various countries participated in the handbook and highlighted action points from a legal, psychosocial, social and political framework. In summary, at the end of the handbook, David M Smolin² formulated four perspectives and four recommendations that we present below.

Four perspectives for looking at adoption fraud

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

From: Nigel Cantwell

Date: Tue, 3 Dec 2019 at 7:28 PM

Subject: Re: Reminder, newsletter

To: Arun Dohle