Question écrite n° 07698 de M. Edouard Le Jeune (Finistère - UC)
publiée dans le JO Sénat du 28/12/1989 - page 2154
M. Edouard Le Jeune attire l'attention de M. le ministre d'Etat, ministre des affaires étrangères, sur le drame particulièrement douloureux que vivent, depuis deux ans, un certain nombre de familles françaises désireuses d'adopter des enfants roumains. En effet, selon une procédure établie et qui avait été jusqu'alors appliquée, des familles françaises ont engagé auprès des autorités roumaines une demande d'adoption d'enfants roumains, orphelins ou abandonnés. Le gouvernement roumain a mis un veto, sans raison apparente, à la sortie du territoire des enfants adoptés. Ces parents adoptifs ont, à de multiples reprises au cours de voyages en Roumanie, rencontré ces enfants avec lesquels ils ont noué des liens affectifs et se retrouvent aujourd'hui désemparés. En conséquence, il lui demande quelles mesures il compte prendre afin que cette situation particulièrement inhumaine et scandaleuse cesse rapidement.
Réponse du ministère : Affaires étrangères
publiée dans le JO Sénat du 12/04/1990 - page 769
Réponse. - Dès le début des événements qui se sont produits en Roumanie, la question posée par l'honorable parlementaire a été évoquée par notre ambassade à Bucarest, par M. Bernard Kouchner, secrétaire d'Etat auprès du Premier ministre chargé de l'action humanitaire et par Mme Georgina Dufoix lors des entretiens qu'ils ont pu voir avec les nouvelles autorités de ce pays. Ces dernières ont donné une réponse positive qui répondait aux attentes de nombreux parents français. Dans les jours qui ont suivi, il est apparu que le recensement des enfants dans les crèches et la vérification de leur situation s'opéreraient plus rapidement à Bucarest qu'en province, et qu'il était préférable d'envisager la remise des enfants aux parents adoptants en deux temps. Dans ces conditions, un premier vol a été organisé le samedi 6 janvier, qui a permis d'assurer la venue en France de soixante-trois enfants (un 64e, qui n'avait pas été conduit à temps à l'aéroport a, depuis lors, été remis à sa famille d'adoption). Dans un certain nombre de cas (vingt-deux à ce jour), il s'est révélé que les enfants n'étaient plus adoptables. Les interlocuteurs de notre ambassade se sont montrés ouverts pour essayer de remédier à ces situations douloureuses. Les autorités roumaines s'emploient, maintenant en liaison avec notre ambassade à Bucarest, à faire le point des dossiers encore en instance, concernant notamment des enfants se trouvant dans des crèches en province, pour que ceux d'entre eux qui demeurent adoptables puissent être rapidement accueillis par les familles françaises concernées.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — The unsealed indictment in the Jason Carney case outlines the United States government’s case against the 2nd Milk co-founder in his federal wire fraud trial.
The 29-page document outlines how the prosecutors say Carney misappropriated donations intended to help orphaned children from impoverished villages in Africa.
The federal government alleges Carney and his family used portions of those donations to fund personal travel, boat loans, and routine living expenses.
Misuse of donated funds
In count one of the indictment, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the government highlights 13 donations made to 2nd Milk from two companies, one individual, and one foundation.
Jason Carney ran 2nd Milk charity and found orphans in Malawi for U.S. families
Federal authorities have arrested Jason Carney, an American who ran a charity to feed African orphans and brokered adoptions in Malawi for U.S. clients.
Carney was detained Friday in Arkansas in connection with a U.S. State Department investigation, according to a local law-enforcement record and people familiar with the matter. Carney and his wife couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. It couldn’t immediately be learned what charges he faced.
The Wall Street Journal in August reported that the State Department was investigating Carney and his charity called 2nd Milk. Officials suspected Carney was using money raised for the charity to pay for his travel and lifestyle, according to an affidavit filed by a State Department investigator.
The Journal investigation found former employees at 2nd Milk who said that Carney represented to U.S. families that certain babies were available for adoption, even though Carney hadn’t gotten proper approval from their biological families or the Malawian ministry.
The Chief Resident Magistrate Court in Blantyre has set aside 12th March 2025 as a day it will start full trial of a case involving a Dutch national Wim Akster who is answering multiple charges of indecency. Akster who is a former Financial Director at Timotheos Foundation is accused of sexually abusing beneficiaries of a bursary scheme by the organization including former employees. Child Rights Activist, Memory Chisenga has since called for …
It is hard to believe that it has only been 7 days since we have arrived in Malawi. It seems like a lifetime ago that we boarded the plane in Toronto. Some things are being adjusted to very easily, others not so much. The weather is probably the easiest to adjust too, as it is unimaginable that it is winter back in Canada. Here it is warm everyday, and it rains every other, and the thought of snow actually doesn’t cross any of our minds. The slow manner in which things are done around here definitely does take some getting used to.
Boarding the plane
So, what has this week been like? A few examples I suppose. We landed at Chileka airport in Blantyre last week Wednesday, and were completely shocked to find that all 17 suitcases, 8 hand luggages, the stroller, and the booster seat had all made it on our plane!!! Out of the 4 previous times that I have visited Malawi, 3 times the luggage was missing, so you can understand that now we were very surprised. We were warmly greeted as Wim Akster and Charles Paundedi came to the back to help organize the visa’s and to load up all the luggage. It was nice to see some familiar faces. We also had a surprise as we walked out of the building, to see a couple from Tillsonburg, who attend our church in Ontario, standing there to greet us and say “welcome to Malawi”. This couple was visiting his family in Malawi. When we came “home” (the guest wing at Wim Akster’s house is our temporary home) we had coffee, followed by a meal which we ate together with Wim Akster and Thera Verdouw. Shortly after this we went to bed, exhausted after 21.5 hours of flying, plus driving, and waiting at the airport. We had an interesting night of sleep. Or rather, lack of sleep. Half of the kids could not sleep until 2:30, while the other half slept really well until about 2:30. Thankfully that has all straightened out after 2-3 nights. Thursday was spent exploring some of the city of Blantyre. We did some groceries, bought some SIM cards for our phones, and took a quick stop at our rental house in Mpemba, which is just south of the city of Blantyre. On Friday I went with Clement Gopanikufa, the secretary of Timotheos Malawi, to immigration and put in the paperwork for the Employment Permit. This was all accepted, and we should hear back within a month. This was a very positive outcome, as that process can take many trips and papers, etc. Also, on Friday, a container arrived from Holland with donated school furniture and many shoeboxes filled with gifts for the orphans and students. The container was supposed to be at Wim’s place at 8 a.m. but didn’t show up until 1 p.m. The container also could not be unloaded unless a government official was there, for customs and duties purposes. This government official was supposed to be there at 1, but didn’t show up until 3. During this time there are many people sitting around, waiting, waiting, and waiting some more, but no one is upset, no one is impatient, and no one is worried. Waiting is part of life in Malawi. On Sunday we went to church in Mbulumbudzi. This is a village where one of the Dutch projects is located. (In the Reformed Presbyterian Church they have church at 10 a.m. and have two services following each other.) There was a translator there, as there are also two of the Dutch employees attending. Church was good, although we had a fairly difficult time trying to understand the translator. His English was quite good, but he had a very Malawian accent. On Monday we went back to our patience training, as we had to go for curtains (curtains are a necessity for security). This included arranging to pick up a tailor who then measures the windows of your house, going to a store to pick out material, measure it, cut it, and then to bring it down to the tailor who works on the front porch of the store; all this took more than 5 hours, and that’s just normal. That’s what Malawian life is about. Everything takes long, and if you accomplish something in a day, that’s great! So after a week even though it feels like we haven’t gotten a whole lot done, we still have immigration arranged as far as we can; we have a duty waiver arranged for the container, whenever that shows up; we have arranged curtains; we have arranged a painter for our rental house; we have made some headway in looking at cars; and we have made many contacts.
NewsThe Blantyre court in Malawi failed on Thursday to start the case against Dutch national Wim Akster, who is accused of abuse. At the start of the hearing it was discovered that the case file was missing.The former development worker has been charged with sexually abusing students and employees of Stichting Timotheos.Victor Jere, the lawyer representing the victims, said that senior magistrate Andrew Mmanga could not find the case file. ‘This morning the magistrate said he did not have the file. The case was adjourned to 2pm to give him time to contact the Chief Resident Magistrate (CRM), but that also failed. So we will contact the CRM to discuss the next steps,’ he said.
Senior Resident Magistrate Wanangwa Nyirenda has reserved his ruling to 1 September 2022 on the application to discharge Dutch national Wim Akster on charges of being found in possession of firearms.
Akster was arrested in November 2021 after police found that the firearms did not have any legal documentation.
State Prosecutor Levison Mangani told the court that Akster’s discharge application is baselessly aimed at delaying the case.
However, the defence lawyer, Gimeon Nyanda, insisted the case dates back to 2020, hence applying for discharge.
Meanwhile Child Rights Activist, Memory Chisenga, asked the court to deport Akster arguing he is a total threat to children and national security.
BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-The High Court sitting as Constitutional Court in Blantyre on Tuesday, July 18, 2023 afternoon completed hearing of the same-sex law case and has adjourned the case to August 28 and 29 2023 for hearing of submissions.
Joseph Chigona, a lead judge of a three-member panel, directed that written submissions by parties be filed with the court by close of business on August 4 2023, ahead of oral presentations of the submissions on August 28 and 29.
Claimants in the case, Jan Willem Akstar from The Netherlands and Jana Gonani from Mangochi, want the court to declare some provisions in the Penal Code that criminalise same-sex unions unconstitutional.
The State, supported by faith groups who joined the case as friends of the court, has been objecting to the claimants’ demands.
