At least three Congolese children, declared as orphans and adopted in Belgium, still have biological parents in their country of origin. After being kidnapped, they were taken to an orphanage in Kinshasa where they were given false names, Het Laatste Nieuws reported on Friday. The adoptive parents knew nothing.
 

The federal prosecutor's office discovered that the children, who arrived in Belgium in 2015, had been kidnapped. They were given other identities and dates of birth, even though they were not intended for adoption at all.

Reporters from the newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws went looking for the biological parents and found them. They explained that they had the opportunity to send their offspring to a camp, through a youth organization, from which they never returned. Defrauded, the parents had no money to pay a lawyer and were also unable to count on help from the local authorities. According to journalists, it appears that some high-ranking local officials are involved in the trafficking or have at least decided to turn a blind eye.

When the authorities learned that reporters were looking into the case, they were questioned for three days, before being released after the intervention of the Belgian embassy.

The kidnapped children came from the orphanage of Julienne Mpemba, a Belgian-Congolese lawyer from Namur who previously appeared on a PS list during the elections. The person concerned was arrested last year in Belgium, but was released by the indictment chamber after a month and a half awaiting trial.

The High Court has approved the adoption of a teenage girl with complex physical and intellectual needs by her foster parents.

The birth mother of the girl, who is nearing adulthood but who will not be capable of independent living as an adult, had objected to the adoption.

The girl had spent a considerable portion of her childhood in the care of the foster parents who had sought the adoption order.

Ms Justice Nuala Jackson decided it was in the child’s best interests that the adoption order should be made. The judge said that as a six month old, the girl was placed in voluntary care having previously been admitted to hospital on three occasions for what were considered “social admissions”.

There was evidence that her birth mother was finding it difficult to cope and “needed a break”.

Police in Thanh Hoa Province, north-central Vietnam on Wednesday announced the arrest of a 38-year-old woman for allegedly trafficking an infant, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

Pham Thi Hang, a 38-year-old from Tung Lam Commune in Nghi Son Town, is currently in police custody for 'transferring and trafficking individuals under the age of 16,' according to the public security division of Thanh Hoa City, which is the provincial capital.

On Tuesday afternoon, police officers caught Hang arranging to sell a five-day-old infant at a motel on To Vinh Dien Street in Dien Bien Ward, Thanh Hoa City. 

Hang had planned to sell the newborn daughter of a woman from Vo Nhai District, Thai Nguyen Province, northern Vietnam to a family in Hoa Quy Commune, located in Thanh Hoa Province’s Nhu Xuan District, for VND45 million (US$1,768). 

Prior to this incident, local authorities had discovered a social media group founded to help infertile families adopt children.

Belagavi: The city police have busted a trafficking case involving a one-month-old child by taking five accused, including two women, into custody on Sunday. Mahadevi Bahubali Jain of Neginahal village in Bailhongal is the main accused. She is accused of buying children from needy families and selling them to affluent families.
Mahadevi had purchased the 30-day-old girl child from Abdulgafar Hussainsab Ladakhan of Hanchinal in Savadatti taluk, who currently resides in Kittur town, for Rs 60,000.

She was also in search of a buyer for the child. Based on a complaint by Rajkumar Rathod, coordinator of the government children's adoption centre in the Belagavi District Child Protection Unit, police traced the case. In a covert operation, police posed as buyers for the child. They contacted Mahadevi, and agreed on a deal for Rs 1.4 lakh.
Police took Mahadevi into custody when she came to sell the baby. Subsequently, the child was transferred to the child protection unit. The case has been registered against the accused under Sections 363 and 370 of the IPC and Sections 80 and 81 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015 at the Malmaruti police station.
Police have also taken the child’s seller Abdulgafar Ladakhan, and three other accused - Chandan Girimallappa Subhedar and Pavitra Somappa Madiwalar from Turkar Shigihalli and Sampagaon, respectively, in Bailhongal taluk, and Praveen Manjunath Badiger of Hosatti in Dharwad taluk into custody.

A couple from Bihar were arrested on charges of selling off an infant in Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore district. Three others, including a farmer, were also arrested in connection with the incident.

A couple from Bihar living in Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore district were arrested for selling off an infant for Rs 2.50 lakh to a farmer, police said.

Based on a complaint, child rights officials initiated an investigation to find out whether the accused, Mahesh Kumar and Anjali, were involved in selling the infant. The accused were living in Appanayakanpatti in Sulur and running an eatery.

The officials filed a formal complaint with Karumathampatti Police, who then arrested the couple on June 3 and discovered that the baby was sold off to a farmer identified as Vijayan.

Mahesh and Anjali had sold a 15 day old child to Vijayan for Rs 2.50 lakh, and they had also sold a baby girl to a couple in Andhra Pradesh last month.

KARACHI: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Wednesday arrested human rights activist and philanthropist Sarim Burney when he arrived at Karachi airport from abroad for his alleged involvement in “child trafficking by way of illegal adoption” on the complaint of US authorities.

An FIA official said that the Anti-Human Trafficking Cell (AHTC) of the FIA-Karachi registered a case (FIR No. 126/2024) against Mr Burney under Sections 420 (Cheating and dishonestly, inducing delivery of property), 468 (Forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (Using as genuine a forged document), 109 (abetment) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Sections 3 (trafficking in persons), 4 (aggravating circumstances) and 5 (abetment and criminal conspiracy) of the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act, 2018.

According to the FIR, “Sarim Burney and his associates Basalat Ali Khan, Humaira Naz and others, in collusion with each other knowingly and wilfully gave false information, made misdeclaration as well as concealment of the facts before the Hon’ble Family Courts District East Karachi in the garb of illegal adoption/guardianship of three baby girls by using and providing fraudulent documents.”

It stated that the statement by the suspects that “the three baby girls in question were orphans and found from outside the gate of M/s Sarim Burney Trust and it tried level best to find their parents but no person came forward for claiming them” was contrary to the facts.

The FIA official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the US Consulate General had stated in its complaint that during the last one and half years, around 17-18 children had been adopted in the US but the adoption process was ‘illegal’.

The election campaigns are in full swing again. Posters, flyers, advertisements – we are inundated with them. But one topic is often missing: children's rights. Unbelievable, right? Political decisions in Brussels affect children directly. Climate policy determines their future. Migration affects children fleeing war. And security of existence? Children in poverty start their lives at a disadvantage.

The biggest social problems also affect children. Why then are their rights ignored in debates? European policy has a major influence on our youngest inhabitants. That is why we must protect their rights and well-being. And politicians must pay attention to this. That is missing. The Children's Rights Collective therefore took matters into its own hands and organized the only debate on children's rights in the European election campaign in De Balie in Amsterdam.

Marc Dullaert, chairman of the Children's Rights Collective, opened the evening with a plea to put the interests of the child first. This does not happen enough and it has major consequences: despite prosperity, millions of children in Europe grow up in poverty, two images of child abuse are posted online every second, and the EU Migration Pact allows children to be locked up. “Unacceptable,” said Marc Dullaert.

Six candidate European Parliamentarians debated poverty, online security and migration: Gerrie Elfrink (SP), Ufuk Kâhya (GL-PvdA), Judith Koop (CU), Laura de Vries (D66), Sacha Muller (Volt) and Gerben Horst (CDA). ). The Children's Rights Collective would not be the Children's Rights Collective if the voice of the child itself was not central to the debate. That is why each theme was introduced by an expert who immediately asked the candidate parliamentarians a question.

Poverty

KARACHI:

Zia Ahmed Awan, a human rights activist and founder of Madadgaar National Helpline 1098 and Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid (LHRLA), have highlighted the issues surrounding child adoption in Pakistan.

While addressing a news conference on Thursday, Awan, who is also a senior advocate of the Supreme Court, underlined the state’s failure due to the lack of legislation, insufficient rules, and procedures, and the absence of proper monitoring mechanisms, which create opportunities for child traffickers under the guise of false adoptions.

Awan said that NGOs play a crucial role in filling the gaps left by the government in caring for street and orphan children. He pointed to the alarming linkage between adoption and child trafficking and called for necessary reforms to address these issues effectively.

Awan said that without comprehensive laws and specialised adoption and post-adoption child welfare agencies, many children are denied the chance for a positive adoption experience, making the process challenging in Pakistan.

A father who murdered his baby just weeks after adopting her may have slipped under the radar as he was seen as a "positive parent", a review has found.

Elsie Scully-Hicks died in May 2016 when she was 18 months old.

She was subjected to a catalogue of injuries by killer Matthew Scully-Hicks in the eight months he had care of her.

A child practice review said these were never considered anything other than "childhood accidents".

Cardiff and Vale's Regional Safeguarding Children Board agreed that while Elsie's death could not have been predicted it could potentially have been prevented.

The Madras High Court has observed that a woman's marital status should not be a determining factor while considering her child's adoption. Justice GR Swaminathan observed the proviso to Section 9(2) of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act 1956 which mandates consent of the other parent would not apply when the mother/father of the child to be given in adoption is absent....