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ACT in the news:Source:
http://www.abc.net.auFamilies in the dark as adoption chief quits By Cassie White for News Online's Investigative Unit
Updated Thu Jul 8, 2010 1:14pm AEST
Adoptive familes condemned what they say is the Government's "secrecy" surrounding the real reason he stood aside. (Flickr: Mk B)
The man who ran Australia's adoption program with Ethiopia for 20 years has stood down amidst ongoing serious allegations of corruption.
Earlier in the year ABC News Online revealed allegations by adoptive parents about the program, which until the end of last month was run by Ato Lakew Gebeyehu and his wife Misrak from their transition home for children, Koala House.
Families told heartbreaking stories of their time in Ethiopia - from witnessing their new baby choking on vomit, to a young boy being kept in a bucket to stop him from moving about. One family had to pay a bribe and others found their paperwork falsified with their child's age dramatically altered.
Other families discovered their new children had parents and sibilings who were still alive, when they had been told they were adopting orphans.
Adoptive familes have welcomed the news Mr Gebeyehu will no longer be in charge, but have condemned what they say is the Federal Government's "secrecy" surrounding the real reason he stood aside...
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http://www.thenational.aeIndian children stolen for adoptionShaikh Azizur Rahman, Foreign Correspondent
Nagarani, with her husband and two children in the background, at their home in Pulianthope slum in Chennai. Their bid for a DNA test to confirm whether a boy adopted by a Dutch family is their son kidnapped 11 years ago was turned down. Shaikh Azizur Rahman / The National CHENNAI, INDIA // When Nagarani and her husband, Kathirvel, reached the Netherlands from India this month, the couple believed they would be able to prove that a 12-year-old Dutch boy was their son Sathish, who had been stolen from their home in a Chennai slum 11 years ago. But a Dutch family court last week turned down the couple’s request for a DNA test on the adopted son of a Dutch ethnic Indian family, ruling that it risked inflicting severe emotional trauma to the minor. “I am dead sure that Rohit is none but our Sathish. I went all the way to the Netherlands, I am disappointed that I was not even allowed to meet my son,” said Nagarani on her return to India last week... Source:
http://www.netwerk.tvIndian parents 'Rahul' file complaint of kidnappingIndiase ouders 'Rahul' doen aangifte van kidnappingUitzending van 22 juni 2010De zaak rond het geroofde adoptiekind 'Rahul' krijgt een nieuwe wending: het Indiase echtpaar dat claimt dat ze de biologische ouders van de jongen zijn, stappen naar de politie om aangifte te doen van kidnapping.
DNA-test Ontvoering Source:
http://www.netwerk.tvIndian parents 'Rahul' in The Netherlands for DNA-testIndiase ouders 'Rahul' in Nederland voor DNA-testHet is de nachtmerrie van iedere adoptieouder: je adoptiekind wordt opgeëist door de vermeende biologische ouders. Het gebeurt in de zaak rond 'Rahul'. Een Indiaas echtpaar, dat zegt de biologische ouders van de jongen te zijn, eist een DNA-test om vast te stellen of hun geroofde zoon door Nederlandse ouders is geadopteerd...
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http://periodismohumano.com"I wanted them to study, I did not give them for adoption"“Yo quería que estudiaran, no darlas en adopción”Las niñas fueron declaradas en situación de abandono y poco después enviadas a España 14.06.2010 · Luna BolívarFacebook Meneame Digg Twitter Bitacoras Kisabai Lokhande vende verduras en Karad, en el Estado indio de Maharashtra. (ATC)Kisabai Lokhande tiene más de 60 años y ha perdido a dos de sus nietas, seguramente para siempre. En Karad, una ciudad de medio millón de habitantes situada en el oeste de la India, vende verduras en un puesto callejero. Source:
http://www.timesonline.co.ukFrom June 6, 2010
Mother fights to meet son 11 years after his kidnapSource:
http://poundpuplegacy.org
When they closed the Romanian "Baby Shops" Informal translation. Original article : Cuando cerraron los “baby shops” de Rumania When they closed the Romanian “baby shops”
“There have been moments when we took more into account the interests of the parents then those of the children” “The Irene Foundation, the Romanian associate of the Spanish agency ADECOP, was the best in manoeuvering bribery” “As the US managed to get exceptions to the moratorium on international adoptions in Romania, we wanted an equitable treatment” PICTURE EXPLANATION: On their way to the US, two Romanian kids adopted by US couples in June 2001, just before the European country suspended – as demanded by the EU – sending children abroad. (AP /Vadim Ghirda) “Mr Delegate, I would like to highlight and make clear - even I am aware that not everybody would like to hear this – that – given he choice between the protection of a Romanian child and the desire of parents coming from countries where [international] adoption became fashionable - we will always favour the first one”, was the answer of the German Commissioner for Enlargement at that time, Günter Verheugen, to a questioned asked on 12 March 2002 by the Spanish MEP José María Gil Robles during a Parliamentary Session of the Community institution. In an interview for the German public TV, Verheugen would describe later that period as one of the most difficult of his political career. Because of the serious accusations of illegal practices and minor trafficking, the Commission forced Romania to suspend international adoptions if it wanted to be part of the group of Eastern European countries wanting to accede to the EU in the years to come. 1.200 Spanish families hoped to be able to adopt a Romanian child when Bucharest stopped sending children abroad: 1.200 families who had spent already important amounts of money, so that agencies like ADECOP could start proceedings and who suddenly felt frustrated...
Cuando cerraron los “baby shops” de Rumania “Hubo momentos en los que tuvimos más en cuenta los intereses de los padres que los de los menores” “La Fundación Irene, la socia rumana de la agencia española ADECOP, era la mejor en el manejo de la corrupción” “Si EE UU había logrado excepciones a la prohibición de las adopciones internacionales en Rumania, nosotros queríamos un trato igualitario” 31.05.2010 · Luna Bolívar “Señor delegado, quiero recalcar y dejar claro- aunque sé que no a todo el mundo le gusta escuchar esto- que entre la protección de un niño rumano y el deseo de unos padres procedentes de países en los que la adopción se ha puesto moda, nosotros optaremos siempre por lo primero”, contestaba el alemán Günter Verheugen, entonces comisario de Ampliación, a la pregunta que el 12 de marzo de 2002 le había formulado el europarlamentario español José María Gil Robles en una sesión de control del organismo comunitario. Verheugen describiría tiempo después en una entrevista concedida a la televisión pública germana aquella época como una de las más difíciles de su carrera política. Ante las graves denuncias de prácticas ilegales y tráfico de menores, la Comisión había forzado a Rumania a suspender las adopciones internacionales si quería formar parte del grupo de Estados de Europa del este que iba a incorporarse a la UE en los próximos años. 1.200 familias españolas esperaban para poder adoptar un niño rumano cuando Bucarest prohibió el envío de menores al extranjero: 1.200 familias que habían desembolsado ya importantes cantidades de dinero para que agencias como ADECOP iniciaran unos trámites que, de pronto, se veían frustrados... Source:
Times of IndiaA Chennai slum dweller's fight for her Dutch son
Jaya Menon, TNN, May 28, 2010, 03.15am IST Tags:Chennai|Madras High Court|Rohit Shivam Bissesar|ZwolleLelystad|director of ACT|fight for dutch son|Chennai slum dweller CHENNAI: On June 15, when Nagarani Kathirvel leaves the squalor of a Chennai slum for the first time and appears in a court hall in Zwolle-Lelystad in the Netherlands, she would still be a long way from the end of her bitter, traumatic struggle. But it would be a beginning — to establish in a foreign court of law that she is the mother of a 12-year-old Dutch boy. About 10 years ago, Rohit Shivam Bissesar was Satheesh Kumar, a toddler living in the Pulianthope slums, that is, until he was kidnapped and given away in adoption to a Dutch couple. Earlier this month, a court in the town of Lelystad in the Netherlands summoned her to appear before it. "Nagarani has been directed to appear before the court of Zwolle-Lelystad at 3.30pm on June 15. The proceedings will be held behind closed doors," Maaike Junte, a spokesperson for the court, told TOI from the town of Zwolle. It is a victory of sorts for the 35-year-old woman but it has come after hard battles both in courts in Chennai and the European nation. Only a month ago, her plea for a DNA test to establish that Rohit was her son was rejected by a fast-track court there. Going along with views of the special curator appointed for Rohit, the fast-track court in Zwolle-Lelystad decided "it was not in the interest of the child to know its roots." ... Source:
http://poundpuplegacy.orgUnofficalTranslation: Original article : Se venden niños pobres para padres ricos Selling poor children to rich parents
“There wouldn't be so many children in orphanages if there weren't so many people ready to pay so much money for them”"Those who pay too much, and 20.000 euros is too much, contribute to maintaining a corrupted system""There is no better place for a child than the one where s/he was born"Later and later: our society tends to postpone the moment to have children. Come first the career, travelling, then the difficult task of finding the perfect partner. “And, all of a sudden, one gets to thirty something and realizes that is it not so easy any more and s/he has to go for adoption if s/he wants to become a parent”, explains Rudi Tarneden, spokesperson to UNICEF Germany. Getting in their forties, many do not want to wait for 10 years so that they can be « attributed » in their country a « minor in a difficult situation » and whose biological parents still preserve their rights over the her/him. “Moreover”, continues Tarneden, “family planning policies, extensive use of contraceptives and social protection to single mothers kept reducing the number of children available for adoption in our countries ”...
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http://periodismohumano.comSe venden niños pobres para padres ricos “No habría tantos niños en orfanatos si no hubiera tanta gente dispuesta a pagar tanto dinero por ellos” "Quien paga demasiado, y 20.000 euros es demasiado, contribuye a sostener un sistema corrupto" No hay mejor lugar para un niño que allí donde ha nacido 21.05.2010 · Luna Bolívar Bebés, sanos, sin padres que ostenten derechos sobre ellos y disponibles en el menor periodo de tiempo posible: así rezan las preferencias en el mundo de las adopciones internacionales. (AP /Chitose Suzuki) Camino de la cuarentena, muchos no quieren esperar 10 años a que en su país les sea adjudicado un menor “en situación de desamparo”, cuyos padres biológicos siguen conservando, con frecuencia, derechos sobre él. “Además”, continúa Tarneden, “las políticas de planificación familiar, la extensión del uso de anticonceptivos y las medidas sociales de protección de las madres solteras han ido reduciendo en nuestros Estados el número de niños que son entregados a la adopción”...
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http://www.taz.de
14.05.2010 AUSLANDSADOPTIONEN Die Zahl der Kinder, die aus Äthiopien ins Ausland adoptiert werden, ist in den vergangenen Jahren deutlich gestiegen. Mindestens 3.000 Kinder sind im Jahr 2008 in Länder wie die USA, Frankreich oder Spanien vermittelt worden. Das geht aus einem internen Papier der US-Botschaft in Addis Abeba hervor, das der sonntaz vorliegt. Während deutsche Familien 2007 noch 29 Jungen und Mädchen von dort aufnahmen, waren es 2008 laut dem Statistischen Bundesamt schon 47. Aus keinem anderen afrikanischen Land kommen mehr Kinder zur Adoption nach Deutschland. Menschenrechtsaktivisten warnen, dass die Vermittlung von Waisenkindern zu einem Geschäft wird... Source:
http://www.dradio.de21.04.2010 · 09:10 Uhr Auslandsadoptionen bleiben für viele Paare die einzige Möglichkeit. (Bild: Jan-Martin Altgeld) "Die gehen in die armen Gegenden und Dörfer, und gucken, wo es arme Familien gibt, oder allein stehende Mütter, oder Familien in Krise, und sagen dann: wir haben eine bessere Lösung: Ihr Kind kann in ein Heim und eine gute Ausbildung kriegen. Und am Ende geht das Kind dann ins Ausland."..
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WDRAuslandsadoptionen - das Geschäft mit der Armut Nicht erst durch die zweifelhaften Adoptionen in Haiti fragen sich viele: Ist es eigentlich Fluch oder Segen, wenn Eltern aus reichen Ländern Kinder aus armen Ländern adoptieren? Nachdem Rumänien 2004 Auslandsadoptionen verboten hatte, schien dem Geschäft mit der Armut mitten in Europa der Garaus gemacht. Doch der Arm der Adoptionslobby ist lang und reicht offenbar auch bis in die Europäische Kommission...
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www.abc.net.auOnline investigation into overseas adoptions Suzanne Smith reported this story on Sunday, March 21, 2010 08:20:00 Listen to MP3 of this story ( minutes) ELIZABETH JACKSON: A couple of weeks ago we featured an interview with Mary Ann Jolley from ABC TV's Foreign Correspondent program. Mary Ann had an alarming story to tell about the largely unregulated inter-country adoption industry in the US. There were allegations that both children and adoptive parents were lied to by one particular adoption agency in Ethiopia, and as a result one young girl said she felt like she'd been sold. Journee Bradshaw was told she would go to school in America, and would visit her family in Ethiopia often. Her adoptive family were told that Journee's father was dying from AIDS and that she would most likely become a prostitute. All lies...
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www.abc.net.auAustralians caught in Ethiopian adoption nightmare Updated Tue Mar 16, 2010 9:03am AEDT The Evidence First warning: In 2005, a Federal Government report detailed concerns raised about Ethiopian adoptions. The ABC has spoken to several families who claim they have been lied to in the course of their adoption process But the ABC has obtained documents showing the Howard government knew of serious concerns about the program in 2005 and that the Rudd government was warned again in 2008 by Brussels-based human rights organisation Against Child Trafficking.... Source:
www.bayerische-staatszeitung.deFragen nicht erwünscht 05-03-2010 Die Zustände in vielen Kinderheimen in Schwellen- und Entwicklungsländern sind erbärmlich. Ob Adoptionen ins Ausland der richtige Lösungsweg sind, ist jedoch äußerst umstritten. Foto: ddp
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Atlantic Times‘Child wanted, cash paid’ The shady world of adoption – By Thomas Schuler Date:
2010-03-04
Former EU official Roelie Post campaigns worldwide against foreign adoption. She says the line between foreign adoption and child trafficking is too often blurred. She also sees potential danger in plans to introduce a trans national “European Adoption” authority. When Roelie Post, along with a translator and a film crew, set off for Romania some months ago and visited Marineta Ciofu, the story the child rights’ activist heard was a very familiar one. Ciofu had no idea what had happened to her child. Almost 10 years ago, poverty had forced the single mother to leave her daughter in a children’s home. But it was her firm intention to get her back as soon as her situation improved. The last time she saw her daughter was when she was two-and-half years old....
Source: International adoption -
Saviours or kidnappers? AFP Furious officials arrested ten of the group’s members on charges of kidnapping (which they deny). Many of the children turned out to have families. A similar row erupted in 2007 when workers from Zoé’s Ark, a French charity, were accused of kidnapping 103 children in Chad. Ostensibly orphans from the Darfur region of Sudan, destined for adoption in France, many turned out to be local children, and not orphans. Six charity workers were jailed...
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www.kpfa.orgThe Morning Show - February 2, 2010 at 7:00am The Morning Show - February 2, 2010 at 7:00am
The Morning Show
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fuereinebesserewelt.infoRadio: Der andere Babyboom - Wenn Kinder zur Ware werden 25. Januar 2010 | Von marek | Kategorie: Politik & Gesellschaft Thomas Diehl, Vorsitzende des Vereins Haiti-Not-Hilfe e.V.
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www.telegraph.co.ukHaiti earthquake: charities warn against rush to speed adoptions By Bruno Waterfield and Nick Allen in Port au Prince A young orphan cries at the Lycee Francais in Port-au-Prince as he waits for a bus to the airport to be flown to France for adoption Photo: AFP
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www.wienerzeitung.atKinder als Exportschlager Von Thomas Schuler Auslandsadoptionen sind oft ein Deckmantel für Kinderhandel. Besonders schlimm war (und ist zum Teil noch) die Situation in Rumänien. Die ehemalige EU-Beamtin Roelie Post kämpft massiv dagegen an.
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www.independent.ieNew horror as traffickers grab children from hospital By Nick Allen Countries, including France and Spain, have streamlined the process in the hope of getting young people to safety as soon as possible. But the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) and other welfare groups have warned that orphans risk being separated from their families and that the well-meaning moves by Westerners could even be considered to be abuse. The adoption row came as the UN said Haitian children had also been abducted from hospitals by people traffickers taking advantage of the chaos to trade 'orphans' on the international adoption market.
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www.globe-democrat.comAgencies warn against quick adoptions PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- International agencies have warned against fast-tracking adoptions of Haitian children, saying the practice could encourage trafficking.
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Al JazeeraHaiti's orphan adoption debate It is not known how many children have been orphaned by the earthquake [GALLO/GETTY] But it has also raised the question of whether taking children away from their homeland, even in extreme or impoverished conditions, is the right solution.
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www.evangelisch.de9. Januar 2010 Adoption - hilfreiches Instrument für verwaiste Kinder nach der Erdbebenkatastrophe? Diese Kinder in Port-au-Prince beobachten die Helikopter mit Hilfslieferungen, die in der zerstörten Stadt landen. Foto: dpa / Jorge Nunez Kinder - Das Erdbeben in Haiti hat auch Familien auseinander gerissen. Die Waisenhäuser bereiten sich auf mehr Zulauf vor. Für manche der Kinder verspricht eine Adoption ein besseres Leben - aber auch Haiti ist Teil eines weltweiten Netzes von Kinderhändlern. Denen liegt das Wohl ihres Kontos mehr am Herzen als das der Kinder. Sie geben die Kinder lieber ins Ausland ab, als nach den Eltern zu suchen, auch wenn es noch welche gibt. Hilfsorganisationen sagen, es ist besser, den Kindern vor Ort zu helfen. Von Petra Thorbrietz Source:
www.berlinonline.de/berliner-zeitungArchiv » 2010 » 12. Januar » Seite 3 Auslandsadoptionen sind für Eltern oft die letzte Chance, eine Familie zu gründen. Dahinter steht eine mächtige Lobby - bis hin zum Kinderhandel Roelie Post kennt die Spielregeln, die bei Verhandlungen Eindruck machen. Zwanzig Jahre lang war sie selbst Beamtin in der Europäischen Union, von 1999 bis 2005 zuständig für die EU-Erweiterung und Auslandsadoptionen aus Rumänien. Sie kennt auch die Umwege, die man in Brüssel nimmt, um ans Ziel zu kommen. Das macht sie für ihren ehemaligen Arbeitgeber zu einer Gegnerin, die man ernst nehmen muss... Source:
www.trouw.nlDE VERDIEPING 22 DECEMBER 2009 Iris Pronk Arun Dohle en Roelie Post. © FOTO WERRY CRONE, TROUW Adoptie is gelegaliseerde kinderhandel, zeggen Roelie Post en Arun Dohle. Samen richtten zij Against Child Trafficking op. Als het aan hen ligt, is interlandelijke adoptie over vijf jaar verdwenen. Aan de muur van hun kantoortje in Brussel hangt een grote wereldkaart met groene, rode en blauwe stippen. Groen zijn de ’open’ adoptielanden, rood de landen die de deuren sloten. En blauw staat voor de regio’s waarin Roelie Post (49) en Arun Dohle (36) tot nog toe onderzoek deden: Malawi, Ethiopië, China, Peru en India... Source:
Star TribuneMinnesota couple caught up in apparent adoption fraud By David Shaffer, Star Tribune In court papers that paved her way to Minnesota, Komal is described as a 12-year-old girl from northern India, eligible for adoption in the United States. She liked to assemble puzzles and briefly attended fifth grade, but the 112-pound orphan displayed a violent streak that soon left a Mayer, Minn., couple wondering if they were told the truth about the two Indian siblings they spent $30,000 trying to adopt. Within months of their arrival, and before the adoption became final, Komal confessed: She was 21. Her younger sister, Shallu, admitted she was 15, not 11 as advertised. The sisters said they were told to lie about their ages and backgrounds by orphanage officials and an India-based representative for Crossroads Adoption Services of Edina, which handled the failed placements... Source:
euobserver.comRomania should withstand pressure to lift ban on international adoptions 13.11.2009 @ 15:34 CET "The financial incentives involved in international adoptions corrupt health, welfare and legal services" (Photo: wikipedia) When Hillary Clinton met the Romanian Foreign Minister earlier this year she handed him a letter which said "We urge you to reform current law in Romania...including a reevaluation of your decision to remove international adoption as an important permanency option". Romania should continue to stand firm in the face of this intense lobby for international adoption, a lobby which talks about tens of thousands of Romanian orphans languishing in grim institutions. But the EU-funded reform of Romania's child welfare system resulted in the closure of almost all the notorious children's homes, introduced foster care and a range of family-based alternatives. The EU also insisted that Romania stop international adoptions as it had established a free market in children... Source: PRESIUNI EXTERNE LA NIVEL ÎNALT Lobby american facut cu mânuta doamnei Hilary Clinton - click pe imagine - Jurnalul National a intrat în posesia unui document oficial al Congresului SUA, prin care 8 senatori si 13 membri ai Congresului American cereau Guvernului român, înca din luna mai, redeschiderea adoptiilor in ternationale. În paralel, Comitetul pentru Protectia Copilului a facut aceleasi "recomandari" ca urmare a prezentarii Raportului de tara al României, de la Geneva la data de 5 iunie. România a redevenit tinta presiunilor venite din partea unor grupuri de interese si a unor ONG-uri straine, care lupta de mai bine de aproape 5 ani pentru redeschiderea adoptiilor internationale din România... Source:
UAIHIGH LEVEL EXTERNAL PRESSURE U.S. and EU force reopening international adoptions Jurnalul National came into possession of an official document of the U.S. Congress, in which 8 senators and 13 members of the American Congress ask the Romanian Government, since May, to reopen international adoptions. In parallel, the Committee on the Rights of the Child has given the same "advice" following the presentation of the country report of Romania in Geneva on June 5. Romania has become the target of pressure from some interest groups and some foreign NGOs that fight for more than about 5 years to re-open international adoptions from Romania...
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@2009 Against Child Trafficking