Thousands of children were illegally given up for adoption under the dictatorship. Those affected are demanding justice and international investigation. German authorities show little awareness of the problem.

Santiago. A new law came into effect in Chile at the end of July, permitting adoptions by single individuals and same-sex couples. It also limits the period for final court decisions to 18 months and allows adopted children contact with their biological parents. Furthermore, it sets limits to prevent illegal adoptions.

Back in March, the government established an interministerial task force to investigate 20,000 suspected illegal adoptions during the Chilean military dictatorship ( as reported by Amerika 21 ). To seemingly legitimize the adoptions, those involved left traces that are now being sought in medical records, forensic documents, registry offices, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

President Gabriel Boric has promised to establish a genetic database by the end of his term, which can facilitate and expedite the tracing of family members. The identification and potential prosecution of those involved is only just beginning.

The mothers involved came without exception from poor, socially disadvantaged backgrounds, from whom any resistance or subsequent inquiries were not to be expected. Social workers and clergy took on the task of persuasion, while hospital staff, midwives, and doctors manipulated medical records and registered the births with the civil registry under false names. Either the mother was coerced into signing an adoption agreement under threat, or she was denied the handover of an allegedly stillborn child under false pretenses. Lawyers then used these documents to file for adoption in court, in order to feign the legality of the process to potential adoptive parents abroad. Since placement immediately after birth was impossible, the children were temporarily placed in selected institutions.

Agnès Rogliano-Desideri's family was targeted by several internet users after the publication of an article about the adoption of their son Antoine, born in Congo-Brazzaville. Despite a wave of hate on social media, the mother says she is particularly touched by the numerous messages of support.

" Abject messages. "
On Tuesday, November 25, Corse Matin published an article on adoption in Corsica, featuring a main photo of Agnès Rogliano-Desideri and her son Antoine, born in Congo-Brazzaville. While the newspaper's article focused on the complexities of the adoption system on the island, some internet users concentrated on the high school student's skin color. On social media, racist remarks flooded in, directly targeting the 16-year-old and his family. " I expected strong reactions, but not to this extent ," the mother confided. " I saw horrible messages, several of them sexual in nature. "

Faced with this wave of hatred, Agnès Rogliano-Desideri's family was torn between grief and incomprehension. " The first thing Antoine said to me was 'I don't understand ,'" recounts the woman from Bastia. " In his daily life, he was never targeted because of his skin color. At football, catechism, the conservatory, or high school, my son was able to live normally, without facing racism. We always warned him and reassured him, which allows him today to take a step back from all of this. "

A "lack of knowledge of the adoption system"

Among the comments, while some are explicitly hateful, others question Agnès Rogliano-Desideri and her husband's choice to adopt a child born in Africa rather than in France. These criticisms exasperate the mother: as president of the Corsican branch of Enfance & familles d'adoption (EFA2B), the Bastia native points out "the lack of knowledge many people have about the adoption system . Very few French children are eligible for adoption ," explains Agnès Rogliano-Desideri. " Many children in foster care should, in my opinion, be adopted in their best interests, but the fact is, currently, they are not. " In the rare cases where adoption is possible, the process takes an average of four to five years to complete, according to Child Welfare Services.

Dawn raids on the EU diplomatic service and the College of Europe deepen fears that corruption has reached the highest levels of the bloc’s foreign-policy machinery

Belgian police arrested the EU’s former top diplomat Federica Mogherini and senior Commission official Stefano Sannino as part a sweeping fraud investigation that is renewing fears about corruption in the highest ranks of the European bureaucracy.

The arrests came amid dawn raids, first reported by Euractiv, on the EU diplomatic service in Brussels and the College of Europe in Bruges, where Mogherini, who previously served as Italy’s foreign minister, is the rector. The ongoing probe involves alleged misuse of EU funds, according to people familiar with the investigation and witnesses.

In addition to Mogherini, a socialist who headed the EU’s foreign service between 2014 and 2019, and Sannino, a fellow Italian diplomat who heads the Commission’s directorate general for the Middle East and Northern Africa (DG-MENA),  a third person, who works in the executive education department of the College of Europe, was also detained.

All three were questioned on suspicion of procurement fraud, corruption, and criminal conflict of interest. Sannino and Mogherini did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the EEAS said he had no information.

News of a baby being abandoned in the baby hatch emerges regularly. In October, it happened again: the third in three months. Since the hatch opened in 2000, 22 children have been abandoned. This is often presented as good news: a child has been saved. But behind this physical rescue lies primarily psychological suffering. A mother is left without a child and carries lifelong trauma. And the baby gets a difficult start from birth.

A system that leaves women alone

The baby hatch is described as "an opportunity for a distraught mother to anonymously give her child a warm and safe home." This sounds reassuring, but the reality is that the system leaves women in crisis completely alone. A mother who, out of desperation, has to abandon her baby in this way, has usually been isolated for a long time: financially, emotionally, socially. A hatch in a wall doesn't change these circumstances. She receives no information, no shelter, no psychological support. She disappears, just like her story. The guilt, shame, and grief remain, in silence, without a name or record, without anyone to listen. That's not a care system; that's looking the other way.

What a baby loses

For a newborn, the baby door might seem like a safe place, but it immediately deprives the child of their first right: knowing where they come from. A baby door deliberately creates a void: a system in which a child legally and emotionally belongs to no one. No mother's or father's name, no medical history, no family history. Only a date and file number. For many adoptees, the question "Why couldn't I stay?" isn't a philosophical consideration but a daily loss. Lack of information about their lineage can develop into a lifelong wound.

Interview with Former Chairperson Park Sun- young of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Concluding its Second Term

"South Africa, which was under colonial rule for over 300 years, finally came to terms with its past in just three years. But South Korea has been dealing with its past for over 20 years. Resolving the issue of the past is about achieving justice, not a pawn for some leftist lawyers."

Park Sun-young, former chairwoman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), said in an interview with this newspaper, “In Korea, settling past history has become a ‘commercialization,’” and “Justice has long since been distorted into vested interests.” Park served as the final chairwoman of the second-term Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which launched in December 2020, and resigned on the 26th of last month, concluding her term. Regarding the Democratic Party of Korea’s push to revise the Past History Act to launch the third-term Truth and Reconciliation Commission, she said, “If we continue to cling to the past, a proper investigation of the truth will be delayed, and victims may be forced into lawsuits again.” The interview with Park was conducted on the 25th of last month, a day before her retirement, at the TRC’s office in Jung-gu, Seoul.

In an interview, former Chairman Park said, “The unreasonable situation in which the issue of resolving past history has become a means of business for left-wing activists continues to persist,” and “The so-called past history specialist lawyers and law firms are using the past history as a business.” Previously, attorney Kim, formerly of the Lawyers for a Democratic Society (Minbyun), was indicted on charges of receiving 2.47 billion won in legal fees for taking on around 40 lawsuits, including lawsuits for state compensation filed by victims based on cases he investigated while working at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He was found guilty by the Supreme Court in 2022.

Orphelinats : retour à la case départ ? De notre envoyé spécial en Roumanie.

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Following a nomination by INEA, the Executive Board of the University for Humanistic Studies has appointed Elvira Loibl as Endowed Professor of Recognition, Dialogue, and Recovery after Intercountry Adoption. The chair is established by the INEA Center of Expertise on Intercountry Adoption. Elvira Loibl will focus on research into both the recognition of past abuses surrounding intercountry adoption and how recovery can take place, both at the individual and societal levels.   

Elvira Loibl on the endowed chair: “With this chair, I want to contribute to legal clarity and consistency in addressing the complex questions surrounding state responsibility and reparation. I also want to strengthen the role of adoptees by placing their voices and needs at the center of the debate, and build a bridge between the government and adoptees to promote constructive dialogue. My goal is to use this knowledge to better inform policy debates, stimulate broader public discourse, and jointly explore meaningful forms of recognition and reparation.”  

New research and expanding knowledge 

When INEA was established,  it was tasked  with revitalizing the scientific infrastructure surrounding intercountry adoption. The chair was established to promote research, education, and knowledge transfer in the areas of recognition, dialogue, and recovery surrounding intercountry adoption. The chair's ambition is to bring together and deepen the relevant interdisciplinary scientific knowledge. James Timmermans, INEA manager: "Funding for this chair creates the opportunity to conduct new research and expand knowledge on relinquishment and intercountry adoption. This is not only beneficial for science but also for practice, as it contributes to improving the care and support for adoptees."  

Relational perspective 

HEADLINE
On sale 
Adoption from Nepal is beginning to look like trafficking 

A NEPALI TIMES INVESTIGATION

FROM ISSUE #339 (09 MARCH 2007 - 15 MARCH 2007) | TABLE OF CONTENTS SUBSCRIBE NT PRINT REFER WRITE TO EDITOR