Adoption forum sues state after halt in Colombia adoptions
Three adoptions from Colombia were stopped because Bufdir believed that biological parents were not given sufficient notice. Now the Adoption Forum has filed a lawsuit against the state. The rights group RACO supports Bufdir's claim.
The Adoption Forum has sued the state after the Directorate of Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufdir) stopped three adoptions from Colombia.
The case has lasted three days in Oslo District Court and may have implications for future adoptions from the country, writes NRK .
Colombia is currently the only country with which Norway still has an adoption cooperation.
Dispute over notification of biological parents
Bufdir stopped the three adoptions because the directorate believed that the biological parents were not sufficiently notified before the children were released for adoption.
Adoption Forum believes that Bufdir has made personal notification too absolute a requirement. The organization believes that the authorities must consider the entire process in each individual case.
The state, for its part, believes that Norway must be able to say no if biological parents have not been given a real opportunity to safeguard their rights.
The Adoption Forum asks the district court to rule that the three rejections and the new condition for future Colombian adoptions are invalid.
See also: Colombian adoptees: – Expect a public apology after the investigation
Adopted supports Bufdir
The rights group RACO (Rights Group for Adoptees from Colombia), which organizes adoptees from Colombia, supports Bufdir's demands.
Sofie Valoyes Florez of RACO believes that children's rights cannot be separated from the rights of their original parents.
Photo: private
– We agree that this is necessary to ensure the legal protection of the child and the parents, says Sofie Valoyes Florez of RACO in an email to Utrop.
She refers to the Commission of Inquiry into Intercountry Adoptions, which describes the way in which original parents are notified of the hearing and decision on release for adoption as a serious weakness in the Colombian adoption system.
RACO is strongly critical of the fact that the Adoption Forum has taken legal action.
– The lawsuit that has been initiated against the state indicates that the Adoption Forum is guided by self-interest in carrying out as many adoptions as possible. We find it particularly concerning that the Adoption Forum does not seem to understand that the best interests of the child are best served when the rights of the original parents are respected.
“When the rights of parents are violated, the rights of the child are also violated,” says Valoyes Florez.
Denies that they have self-interest
Adoption Forum rejects the criticism from RACO.
– Adoptions Forum has no vested interest in promoting international adoptions from Colombia, writes general manager Sidsel Elie Aas in an email to Utrop.
General Manager Sidsel Elie Aas of the Adoption Forum denies that the organization has a vested interest in carrying out adoptions from Colombia.
Adoption Forum believes that the organization has a responsibility to speak out if Bufdir sets guidelines that it believes are not in line with the Hague Convention and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
– The fact that Bufdir disagrees with us on this is the background to the lawsuit, which is primarily about safeguarding children's rights.
The organization believes that a legal clarification will provide more predictable processes in both Norway and Colombia.
In response to RACO's criticism that the Adoption Forum does not take sufficient account of the rights of the children's original parents, the organization responds that RACO is not a party to the case and is not familiar with the specific cases.
The Adoption Forum also says that they would like to invite RACO to a conversation about the organization's views and the specific allocation proposals from Colombia.
Disagreements about Norwegian minimum requirements
Utrop has been given access to the final submissions from both the Adoption Forum and the state in the case.
The documents show that the parties agree that Norwegian authorities can in principle refuse an adoption even if Colombian law has been followed if there are serious shortcomings in the process.
The disagreement concerns whether the lack of personal notification in itself can be decisive.
The Adoption Forum believes that Bufdir has made notification a categorical minimum requirement and that the authorities must instead consider the entire process in each individual case.
The state believes that lack of notification may be such a serious weakness that Norway may refuse to allow the adoption to proceed.
In the three cases being heard by the district court, the biological parents had not consented to the adoption. According to the state's closing argument, no one from the children's biological families participated in the final hearing. The decisions to release the children for adoption were therefore not reviewed by the courts.
The state therefore believes that the families did not have a real opportunity to protest or have the decisions legally challenged.
– Time to learn from the past
RACO believes that the trial must be seen in light of the findings of the investigation into international adoptions to Norway.
The Inquiry Committee on Intercountry Adoptions issued its final report on June 22 of this year. RACO was part of the reference group for the Inquiry Committee.
See also: International adoption: Norway has failed vulnerable women in the global south
“The investigative report shows a wide range of illegalities and examples of how children have been unjustly separated from their parents. RACO believes it is time to learn from the past, and we are particularly concerned about the continuing risks associated with adoptions from Colombia,” says Valoyes Florez.
The Oslo District Court has not yet issued a ruling in the case.
