The Council of Europe called on Friday for the establishment of official reparation measures for the millions of children in care who are victims of violence in Europe

“I survived but many children died”: whether they attended Romanian orphanages or Portuguese Catholic schools, mistreated children in Europe must benefit from official reparation measures, the Council of Europe argued on Friday.

In a resolution, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) considers that the 46 member states of the institution - whose main mission is the defense of human rights - must shed light on the acts of child abuse, whether physical, psychological or sexual violence.

It recommends that each country take stock of this violence, recognize the suffering suffered, present an official apology and compensate the victims.

NEW DELHI: Clearing the air on whether the health status of the biological parent of a child placed in the adoption pool should be disclosed to prospective adoptive parents, the government has said that such information may only be shared if it “does not violate the privacy of the biological parents”.

The steering committee of the Central Adoption Resource Authority under the ministry of women and child development at its meeting last month took into consideration two conflicting opinions received from AIIMS and NIMHANS on the matter by CARA and finally after a “detailed discussion” decided to go with the the opinion offered by the latter.

The matter was placed on the agenda for opinion, as CARA has been receiving requests from stakeholders for providing guidance over disclosing health status of biological parents to PAPs, be it HIV positive or mental instability/illness. “Moreover, it has also been observed that in the case of a surrendered child, where the health status of biological parents is disclosed in the child study report (CSR), PAPs are not accepting the child,” it is cited in the minutes of the meeting available in the public domain on the CARA website.

CARA received two conflicting views on the matter. “The expert from AIIMS is of the opinion that complete information about the mother's status should be furnished as it is legally required to do so.On the other hand, NIMHANS representative has stated that such information may only be shared if it does not violate the privacy of the biological parents,” said the minutes of the meeting. The steering committee in its decision concluded that following discussions in detail, the opinion of NIMHANS has been approved..

The adoption regulations deal with the issue of ‘background information of the biological parent’. The 2022 regulations address the issue in the section on information regarding the social background of a child. It states that "do not give identifying information about the natural parent". Social background should include a child's social history which can be a brief background about the birth parents and circumstances necessitating the child's surrender or abandonment. However, “identifying information such as the name and address of birth parents or relatives is prohibited”.

Saba, who is the favorite to win the Danish Melodi Grand Prix, settled in Tine Gøtzsche's basement when she became single a few years ago

That's what clicked between the TV host Tine Gøtzsche and the singer Saba when they met four years ago during the big TV show, Danmarks Indsamlingen.

Gøtzsche was the host, while Melodi Grand Prix current and big favorite Saba guested the show with her story about being an adopted child from Ethiopia.

- I don't know exactly what happened, but we just clicked. Perhaps because Tine is the mother of Jakob, who was also adopted from Ethiopia. We could do something for each other, and I think that this is how deep relationships arise, says Saba to Ekstra Bladet.

The relationship continued when the cameras turned off. Saba, whose surname is Oehlenschlæger, visited Tine Gøtzsche and her son privately.

 Danish authorities helped deprive Greenlandic children of their identity through illegal adoptions before 1979. This is the opinion of a group of adopted children who will now demand compensation and an apology from Denmark.

Margrete Johansen found her biological mother in Greenland at the age of 39. Today, she is one of the adopted children who want to file a lawsuit against the Danish state for illegal adoption from Greenland.
 

There may well be another compensation case on the way against the Danish state. This time from a group of citizens who, as children, were adopted away from Greenlandic parents to Danish couples.

The group currently consists of seven people who want to file a case against Denmark for illegal adoptions from Greenland that took place before home rule was introduced.

From 1991 to 2005, 120,000 Chinese children were adopted to Western parents. Now all grown up, many question the decisions that shaped their lives.

This article originally appeared on VICE Netherlands.

In the 90s and early 2000s, China became a hub for international adoptions. After implementing its one-child policy in 1979, families who conceived more than once were forced into unwanted abortions and sterilisations, or to abandon their “over-the-quota” children. This problem was especially prevalent in poorer, rural areas, where serious allegations of child trafficking also emerged over the years.

In the 80s, many abandoned children were informally adopted by Chinese families and kept off official records, with dire repercussions. In 1991, China opened itself up to international adoption – at least in part – to prevent the tradition of informal adoption. Between 1991 and 2005, over 120,000 Chinese babies were adopted by foreign parents. Up to 90 percent of them were girls under the age of two, and over half of them went to U.S. couples.

https://sm.dk/nyheder/nyhedsarkiv/2022/feb/godtgoerelse-paa-vej-til-seks-nulevende-groenlaendere-som-blev-sendt-til-danmark-i-1951

The state has entered into a settlement in a lawsuit brought by the six people.

In 1951, 22 Greenlandic children were temporarily sent to Denmark as part of a social experiment. The intention was to give them a Danish background and language as well as a better life. But as the experiment progressed, it also came to be about the children being able to return to Greenland to form a vanguard for the development in Greenland.

In December 2020, the Prime Minister gave an official apology for the failures the children were exposed to.

The state has entered into a settlement in a lawsuit brought by the six people.

In 1951, 22 Greenlandic children were temporarily sent to Denmark as part of a social experiment. The intention was to give them a Danish background and language as well as a better life. But as the experiment progressed, it also came to be about the children being able to return to Greenland to form a vanguard for the development in Greenland.

In December 2020, the Prime Minister gave an official apology for the failures the children were exposed to.

In December 2021, the six people sued the state because they believed that the move, among other things, was a violation of their right to private and family life.

Now the six people will each be paid a compensation of DKK 250,000 after the state has reached a settlement in the case.

There is a need to change the statute of limitations so that compensation can be paid to adoptees if their human rights have been violated. In addition, the government should set up an independent board that can in future initiate investigations and make decisions about possible compensation for victims.

The Danish state's responsibility in cases of illegal international adoptions should be thoroughly investigated. If the state has violated human rights, the state may be obliged to pay financial compensation. Therefore, the statute of limitations should be changed as soon as possible, so that there is no doubt that the state can pay compensation to the adopted.

This is the assessment of the Institute for Human Rights in a new analysis in the wake of recent media coverage of a large number of cases of illegal international adoptions.

" It is absolutely crucial to find out whether the Danish state has committed human rights violations in the adoption cases in question. In particular, it is important to map out whether the Danish state has violated human rights by failing to protect the right to family life, " says Marya Akhtar, head of legal affairs at the Institute for Human Rights.

According to international conventions, Denmark is obliged to ensure that adoptions take place in the best interest of the child and with respect for fundamental rights, including the right to family life.

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Parliamentary questions

3 March 2015

E-003431-15

Question for written answer

to the Commission