By Elvira Loibl

Introduction

The case concerned the decision by the Norwegian authorities to allow the adoption of a child by a ‘Norwegian Christian’ foster family against the wishes of his mother, a Muslim Somali refugee. The judgment seems to reflect the new Zeitgeist regarding adoptions, which came to be viewed more critically within the past couple of years. This is due to the serious abuses and human rights violations that have been uncovered in past adoptions as well as the fact that adoptions are highly invasive as they cut the child off from his family and culture of origin. The judgment of the ECtHR’s Grand Chamber in Abdi Ibrahim v. Norway strengthens the position of parents, whose children have been removed, and whose interests traditionally played a minor role in the welfare systems. It further emphasises the importance of the child to maintain ties with their family and their cultural and religious origins.

Facts

The case concerns a Somali woman who immigrated to Norway in 2010 as a single underage mother with her one-year old son where she was granted asylum status. In order to be assisted in caring for her child, the applicant had stayed at a parent-child-centre, which notified the child welfare services that it considered the applicant’s child to be at risk. The child welfare services issued a care order regarding the applicant’s son, arguing that the case clearly involved gross physical and emotional neglect. The child was subsequently placed with ethnically Norwegian foster parents, who were active Christians, even though the applicant had requested that her child should be cared for by her cousin or a Somali or a Muslim family. The Country Social Welfare Board, however, had claimed that it could not find a foster family with a more similar cultural background and that it considered it more important that a placement was chosen on the basis of the child’s need for stability. For three and a half years, the applicant was allowed very limited contact with her son.

Statement Adoption Association Reformed Gezindte (AVGG) in response to the Standpoint on the future of intercountry adoption of the Minister for Legal Protection, dated April 11, 2022.

On Monday 11 April 2022, the Minister for Legal Protection, FM Weerwind, sent a letter to the House of Representatives containing his position on the future of intercountry adoption. This was in response to the critical report of the Joustra Committee of 8 February 2021.

Our -short- response is as follows:

We are happy and grateful with the choices the minister has made;

The letter has a good tone, the right balance and it's nice that adoption has been clearly chosen as a child protection measure;

A bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Dr Dhananjaya Yashwant Chandrachud issued notice to the Centre on the petition filed by the The Temple of Healing through its secretary Piyush Saxena.

The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Centre after hearing a petition seeking leniency in the adoption modalities in the country.

A bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Dr Dhananjaya Yashwant Chandrachud issued notice to the Centre on the petition filed by the The Temple of Healing through its secretary Piyush Saxena.

The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre, after hearing q plea filed by The Temple of Healing seeking preparation of an Adoption scheme by Ministry of Women and Child development.

“The petition has merits and thereby we issue notice to the Central government in the issue. We will see and wait for the replies of the Centre,” the Supreme Court said.

BREAKING NEWS

NL - The Dutch Government has lifted its suspension on intercountry adoptions with immediate effect! This reversal of the Joustra Commission’s recommendation of a moratorium is OUTSTANDING news for children who need permanent family but do not have suitable local options. An added bonus? The confirmation that South Africa meets international Hague adoption standards in placing children, including the principle of subsidiarity. As specialists inputting internationally into children’s lives since 1995, we will continue what we’ve done for years: placing the best interests of the child FIRST. Brad Oliver Debbie Wybrow #WOWZA placements partnering with Wandisa Specialist Child Protection & Adoption Agency #ChildrenFirst #childrensrights #right2family #BestInterests #SAConstitution #southafrica #Netherlands #JoustraCommission #subsidiarity

David Webb

On the dark web, men fantasize about private brothels with Ukrainian women or wait at the borders with minibuses and dubious job offers. The NGO International Justice Mission fights against human traffickers.

They distribute flyers, research the dark web and campaign for announcements on trains: The NGO International Justice Mission (IJM) fights modern slavery and forced prostitution worldwide. The organization is currently providing emergency aid and education at the Eastern European borders, where women fleeing Ukraine arrive. Dietmar Roller, Germany chairman of IJM eV, fears that human traffickers will massively exploit the plight of women and children.

SPIEGEL: Mr. Roller, what are your employees currently observing on site at the borders?

Roller: You report on men who drive minibuses to the borders or bus stations and specifically address women. These men offer Ukrainian women great jobs in London, Madrid or Germany. A volunteer recently observed a man trying to convince the grandmother of a 16-year-old to give him the girl. He doesn't have room for everyone in the car, but the girl is safe and can work in Berlin. Our employee prevented this; the man disappeared.

SPIEGEL : Do these problems only exist at the borders or also at German train stations?

Ieder kind heeft het recht om te weten van wie het afstamt. Dit staat in het internationale kinderrechtenverdrag. Soms weet een kind niet van wie het afstamt, bijvoorbeeld na adoptie of draagmoederschap. Kinderen die meer willen weten over hun identiteit en afkomst, kunnen terecht bij de Raad voor de Kinderbescherming.

Stap voor stap

Meer te weten komen over je afstamming

Overzicht inklappen

Stappen

The adoption ban for children from abroad is going to disappear, it became clear today . However, it remains to be seen what exactly this will mean for waiting candidate parents in the Netherlands.

There is no sign of relief with Dirk Jan and Christiaan. They have wanted to adopt a child from the United States for three years, but that was not possible due to the corona virus and an adoption stop of more than a year. "We do not yet know very well what effect this decision will have," says Dirk Jan.

Separate government organization

What is already clear is that there will be a separate government organization that will take the place of the current employment agencies. The four bureaus that now have a permit will be merged into that organization and there will be stricter supervision. The Hague sources confirmed a report about this in the AD .

This should prevent abuses from the past. In a report on this by the Joustra Committee, it was recommended to stop adopting from abroad completely, but the cabinet is not going along with that.

Adoption from abroad Adoptions from abroad were abruptly stopped in February 2021, but now seem to be possible again. There are still many questions from adoption agencies and adoptive parents.

Adoption agencies and adoptive parents are delighted that intercountry adoptions are once again possible. They are curious about the exact details of the new system.

They say that in a response to the plan leaked through the AD on Friday morning that all intercountry adoptions should go through a government agency in the future. The role of the intermediary agencies would then be reduced. The cabinet will decide on Friday afternoon on the proposal from Minister Franc Weerwind (Legal Protection, D66), the official announcement will follow on Monday. The plan will then also be discussed with the organizations involved and more details should become clear.

Adoptions from abroad were abruptly stopped in February 2021 after an advice from the Intercountry Adoption Investigation Committee led by Tjibbe Joustra – ongoing adoptions could be completed. The commission presented an investigation into adoption abuses from Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka in the years 1967 to 1998. Evidence was found of gross abuses, such as child trafficking, falsification of documents and transferring children to other countries under false pretenses. The Netherlands. The committee also 'screened' eighteen other countries and detected signals of the same abuses, including signals from after 1998.

Stories about abuses

From a slap in the face to hope for improvement: the fact that the adoption of children from abroad will soon only be possible through a government organization has caused mixed reactions.

Patrick Noordoven prepares a glass of water. He needs that when he talks about the suffering his adoption entailed. He was born in Brazil and grew up in the Netherlands after an illegal adoption in the 1980s. Lied against the state, which ignored adoption offenses like his and allowed, among other things, birth certificates to be forged, making it nearly impossible for biological trace family. When Patrick looks in the mirror, he wonders: who am I anyway?

That the government, which did nothing to treat him and other children decently, is now going to facilitate foreign adoptions through a special government agency, is a slap in the face. Foreign adoptions were suspended last February, after an extremely critical report by a committee led by Tjibbe Joustra. The committee concluded that too many abuses had taken place and that they occur 'to this day'. To continue would be irresponsible. Joustra advised to stop with foreign adoptions altogether.

The right to a child does not exist. The right to identity does

Patrick Noordoven

Adoptions are still possible in the future. They were discontinued after a damning report. But the new cabinet wants to allow it again under certain conditions. Anyone wishing to adopt a child can only do so through a newly established government organization. Emeritus professor of adoption Rene Hoksbergen reacts to the news. Sarah de Vos, herself adopted and very critical of adoption from a knowledge center, also tells what she thinks of these cabinet plans.