Door Frankrijk 'ontvoerde' kinderen van La Réunion eisen excuses

Frank Renout

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Een groep kinderen van het eiland La Réunion voor de kust van Oost-Afrika eist excuses van de Franse regering. Ze werden in de jaren 60 en 70 'meegenomen' door de Franse autoriteiten en verhuisd naar het Franse platteland. Ouders werd vaak valse beloftes gedaan. De kinderen werden na aankomst in Frankrijk soms tot wees verklaard of kregen een nieuwe identiteit.

"We zijn inmiddels 50 jaar verder. Er is niet één regering die iets voor ons heeft gedaan. Het is de hoogste tijd voor excuses", zegt Inel Annette. Hij is lid van een belangenvereniging die de kinderen van destijds hebben opgericht.

A group of children from the island of La Réunion off the coast of East Africa demand an apology from the French government. They were 'taken' by the French authorities in the 1960s and 1970s and moved to the French countryside. Parents were often made false promises. After their arrival in France, the children were sometimes declared orphans or given a new identity.

"We are now 50 years later. Not one government has done anything for us. It is high time for an apology," says Inel Annette. He is a member of an interest group founded by the children of the time.

They have engaged the National Ombudsman in France. It is too late for legal proceedings: the facts are time-barred. But apologies and possible compensation should take away some of the suffering.

An investigation has shown that between 1962 and 1984 the French authorities collected a total of more than 2000 children from La Réunion, which is part of France as an overseas department. The children were almost all under 15; there were also babies and toddlers.

Inel Annette, one of the children of La Réunion FRANK RENOUT/NOS

Edible oil brand Dhara has rolled out a digital film celebrating the occasion of Father’s Day, which urges consumers to legally adopt and support unaccompanied children in this pandemic. Showcasing the joy of parenthood, the digital film subtly conveys a father’s love for her adopted daughter encapsulating the emotional connection beautifully.

The digital film by Dhara edible oils takes the leap from its brand proposition of ‘Zara Sa Badlaav’, with essence of bringing a positive change in life. The newly showcased film is also about bringing in the same ‘Badlaav’ while ushering in positivity in our society and encouraging prospective parents to go for adoption of children, who have been left stranded in this crisis.

Elaborating on the concept Mother Dairy spokesperson said, “Brand Dhara has always endeavoured and supported the cause of bringing the desired change for better health and a better tomorrow. With this crisis, we all need to come forward and bring in the change for a better future of children who have lost their parents to pandemic by adopting them under laid regulations and give them the conducive environment, they deserve. Through this film, we aim to inspire the generation who can support the cause and bring in that change in our society.”

Ashutosh Sawhney, Managing Partner, DDB Mudra Group, North, mentioned, “This film further strengthens Dhara’s point of view of ‘Zara sa badlaav’. The pandemic has meant devastation for many families and we believe that trusted brands like Dhara must drive the altruistic narrative of bringing about positive change at every conceivable level of the society, in which these brands live.”

The Film opens around a dinner table wherein a father, mother and a cute 7–8-year-old daughter are having their meal. During the discussion, daughter asks “Papa, can you pass me the roti?” Both the parents are keenly looking at her and then the father asks her to repeat which she does with a naughty smile, however, misses to address him as ‘Papa’ in the beginning, to which father asks her to follow the sentence again. She repeats the same as asked. The father then passes on the roti to her daughter and then looks towards her wife with teary eyed and eventually both turn emotional with tears. The camera slowly pans towards the father’s workstation at home where a file rests mentioning, “Riya Agarwal – Adoption Papers” implying towards the legal adoption process in place. Heading to the last frame the super says that ‘The second wave of Covid-19 has left thousands of children in India orphaned. The best time to become a strong dad is now.’

Two days after a Meerut-based doctor couple was booked for the alleged kidnapping of a newborn, the initial probe indicated that it could be a case of illegal adoption.

The couple told the police that they had given money for the prenatal and postnatal care of the mother and her baby, said Ganga Ram Punia, SP.

“On the complaint of Jyoti of Kunjpura village, we have registered a case under Sections 363, 368, 420, 467, 468, 471 and 34 of the IPC and Sections 80 and 81 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, against Dr DP Srivastava and his wife Dr Shashibala of Meerut,” the SP added.

“In the initial investigation, it came to the light that it could be a case of illegal adoption, but we are probing all angles. Nobody can take or give money for adopting a child,” he said.

Jyoti had filed a complaint with the Kunjpura police, alleging that the doctor couple had taken her son forcefully on September 14 from her, when he was just four days old.

After three long years of search and struggle, Sreya and Nikhil (names changed), a Bangalore-based

couple, managed to adopt a four-year-old boy. Sreya says she initially wanted a baby girl, a newborn if

that would have been possible. But the options were limited and the couple finally went with the boy. It

has brought happiness and joy into the lives of the childless couple. They are so relieved that they

managed to adopt a child after so long.

In the year of the violent military coup in Chile, Adoptionscentrum begins arranging adoptions in the country. The organization's local representative is a Swedish woman called Aja. But where do the children being flown to Sweden really come from? Part 1 of 4. English version.

1. The Swede in Santiago

Published: Fri 11 Jun 06:30Fri 11 Jun • 27 min

In the same year as the bloody military coup in Chile, the Adoption Center starts its operations in the country. On site, they have a Swedish representative, a woman named Aja. But where do the children who fly to Sweden actually come from? Part 1 of 4.

More about the program

A Scottish mother forced to give her baby up for adoption in the 1970s says an apology for the cruel practice would "lift women out of shame".

The Scottish government is facing calls to issue an official apology to Scottish mothers who were pressured into giving up their children.

It is estimated 60,000 women had babies adopted simply because they were unmarried.

MSPs debated the issue of a government apology at Holyrood on Wednesday.

In the 50s, 60s and 70s, many women were coerced into handing over their babies. Many were denied access to housing and social benefits which may have allowed them to have kept them.

ASSIGNMENT REVIEW · On Tuesday, the Riksdag decided that the government should as soon as possible investigate how Swedish authorities and adoption organizations have handled international adoptions to Sweden. The decision comes after several revelations about historical irregularities with adoptions to Sweden from, among others, Chile.

In 2018 , SVT together with Chilean journalists revealed how adopted children from Chile in the 1970s and 80s may have been taken without the consent of mothers. In the spring of 2021, Dagens Nyheter also reviewed adoptions to Sweden - and last week, Assignment Review published the series "The Stolen Children" , about the Chilean adoptions.

Now the Riksdag has decided that the government should as soon as possible investigate the international adoptions to Sweden from the middle of the 20th century until today. The decision comes after a proposal from the Social Affairs Committee and will, among other things, look at how Swedish authorities and adoption organizations have handled the adoptions.

Martina Johansson (C) thinks that Sweden should have appointed an investigation much earlier.

- I think it's a great pity. We have lost three years investigating what Sweden has played a part in this, she says.

Family Minister Michael Falzon is aware of at least 6 Maltese couples who have still chosen to go to India to adopt a child, in spite of a devastating Covid-19 wave in the country which has claimed the life of a prospective adoptive father.

47-year-old Ivan Barbara and his wife had travelled to India to adopt a girl last March, but ended up succumbing to Covid-19 in April, before evacuation could be carried out. His widow had also contracted Covid-19, but recovered and has since returned to Malta with the daughter they had adopted.

Maltese COVID-19 patient dies in India before being evacuated

During question time on Tuesday’s parliamentary sitting, Falzon was asked a number of questions on adoption, and revealed that the couples who had gone to India to adopt a child had even asked whether the authorities would stop them.

“But who am I to do so,” Falzon reflected. “You have to be in their shoes.”

News reports of children being orphaned by Covid-19 deaths in India raise the spectre of a generation of children without adequate parental care. But international responses that favour solutions like building orphanages and seeking adoption for these children are misguided and can lead to child exploitation. In this post, Kristen Cheney explains why, and how you can better support children orphaned during the pandemic.

A year ago, my colleagues and I were already forewarning of calls to ‘rescue’ ‘Covid orphans’. As care reform advocates, we are familiar with the pattern: after every disaster—natural or manmade, instant (‘Haitian earthquake orphans’) or slow-burn (‘AIDS orphans’)—media coverage laments the situation of children left without parental care. So when Covid-19 was declared a global pandemic last year, we worried—not so much about whether as about when we would start to see calls for assistance to these orphans. It has taken a while, but now, with the horrible escalation of Covid-19 in India, these stories are starting to emerge.

Children’s advocates worry because these calls tend to take the form of ‘orphan rescue’ narratives, which usually spur desires to go to the children and build massive orphanages, as well as demands for international adoption. And yet we have known for decades that these responses, though well-meaning, are at best deeply flawed and counter to children’s overall wellbeing. Over half a century of child development research has documented the deleterious effects of institutionalisation and risks in international adoption, prompting the United Nations to adopt the Alternative Care Guidelines, which call for institutionalisation and international adoption as last resorts, favouring instead family-based care solutions.

Orphans don’t need ‘rescuing’; they need protection

At worst, ‘orphan rescue’ narratives have spurred corruption and exploitation of children, prompting perverse incentives to traffic children into institutions and even international adoptions for profit. In fact, this has profit motive been so prevalent that I have been tracking its development in what I call the global Orphan Industrial Complex.