The cabinet must put an end to adoptions from abroad as soon as possible. That is one of the recommendations from the upcoming report of the Joustra Committee on the abuses in foreign adoptions. "What we have known for years is now finally being recognized," victims respond to Hart van Nederland .

Parents who gave up children without knowing it, children who subsequently received a false adoption report and can therefore no longer find their biological parents. Much went wrong in the adoptions between 1967 and 1997. Monday the report of the committee headed by Tjibbe Joustra that has investigated the role and responsibility of the Dutch government in Indonesia, Brazil, Colombia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will be published.

Ghost parents

One of those adopted children is Amanda Janssen from Nieuwegein. "I have ghost parents," she tells Hart van Nederland . "I know I was born of something, but from what?"

Amanda's life was turned upside down when she and her adopted sister set out to investigate her origins. But at the hospital she found out that her whole life, her name, her date of birth, belonged to someone else. "At the hospital they said: your document is false." The sister, who had always been told to be a thoroughbred sister, turned out not to be related.

Adoption of children from abroad must be halted for the time being. This conclusion can be found in the yet to be published report of the Joustra Committee. Under the leadership of former top civil servant Tjibbe Joustra, this committee advises the cabinet on international adoptions and the role of the Dutch government in this culture.

The verdict of the leaked report feels like recognition for Patricia Steenstra from Groningen. She was adopted from Indonesia as a five month old baby. She is looking for her biological family in her native country. This did not work, her file appears to be forged. She is one of the thousands of children who were brought to the Netherlands for adoption from countries such as Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia and Colombia in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and now find out during their search that their adoption file has been tampered with.

Serious wrongs

Due to the continuing flow of adoption abuses, Sander Dekker, Minister for Legal Protection, announced that an investigation would be conducted in 2018. The report will be presented next Monday. Sources around the cabinet leaked to the Algemeen Dagblad about the content. According to the newspaper, it appears that this investigation shows serious abuses in the adoptions of children from Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka in the period of 1967 and 1997. This problem continues to this day, the committee finds .

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Tough report on adoptions from abroad: cabinet urged to stop

The adoption of children from abroad must be stopped completely for the time being. A committee led by former top civil servant Tjibbe Joustra draws this conclusion in a report to be published, sources around the cabinet report. The outgoing government team is very upset with the recommendations.

Jan Hoedeman 05-02-21, 03:00

In a harsh judgment about the Dutch adoption culture and the role of the government in this, mention is made of 'serious abuses'. The committee identified child theft, child trafficking, corruption, forgery and theft of documents, unethical acts of civil servants and the transfer of children to the Netherlands under false pretenses.

The Joustra committee has mainly focused on adoptions of children from Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Joustra researched the thirty years between 1967 and 1997, but encountered a permanent and structural problem that still persists. Because contemporary adoption practice is still not good enough, bringing children to the Netherlands should stop for the time being, the advice is.

Minister Sander Dekker voor Rechtsbescherming (VVD) afgelopen zomer tijdens het Tweede Kamerdebat over fouten bij het onderzoek naar afstand en adoptie in Nederland.

Minister Sander Dekker voor Rechtsbescherming (VVD) afgelopen zomer tijdens het Tweede Kamerdebat over fouten bij het onderzoek naar afstand en adoptie in Nederland. © ANP

Kabinet zet nieuwe adopties in pauzestand, maar wil geen verbod

Het kabinet volgt de suggestie van de commissie-Joustra om adopties vanuit het buitenland stop te zetten. Maar het wil niet zo ver gaan dat interlandelijke adopties verboden worden. Maandag wordt het besluit bekend, melden Haagse bronnen.

Jan Hoedeman 05-02-21, 19:04

What the government knew for decades but always covered up is now being confirmed. There are many abuses in foreign adoptions, concludes an investigation committee led by former top civil servant Tjibbe Joustra. Adoptees are happy with the recognition. Wish-parents fear a stop on adoptions.

"This proves that I do have a point and have not just shouted in a vacuum," says Butink. “It is nice that this is recognized. At the same time, it is crazy to be happy with the confirmation that abuses have taken place. ''

Butink filed a lawsuit against the Dutch state last year. She believes that the state and the Kind en Toekomst foundation, which arranged her adoption in 1992, made serious mistakes. The agency did not investigate whether the details of biological parents were correct or whether they gave her up for adoption voluntarily.

Barred

The judge ruled that the state is not liable because the fraudulent practices are time-barred. The court thus followed the defense of the state. Moreover, it would be impossible to detect fraud.

The adoption of children from abroad must be stopped completely for the time being. A committee led by former top civil servant Tjibbe Joustra draws this conclusion in a report to be published, sources around the cabinet report to the AD .

The report on the Dutch adoption culture and the role of the government in it mentions 'serious abuses' in Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. The committee pointed to child theft, child trafficking, corruption, forgery and theft of documents, unethical acts of civil servants and the transfer of children to the Netherlands under false pretenses. Because today's adoption practice is still not good, bringing children to the Netherlands should stop for the time being, the advice is.

Council of Ministers on report

Friday, the Council of Ministers will talk about the report that will be published on Monday. Not everyone in the government would feel in favor of a complete stop on adoption. The ongoing adoption procedures should go ahead, some believe. A stop should therefore relate to new applications.

Zembla paid attention to abuses in intercountry adoptions in four programs. In response to that broadcast, Minister Dekker said that the “primary responsibility” for a careful adoption procedure lay and lies with the sending countries. But on the basis of later information, Dekker said he saw reason to take a closer look at the actions of the Dutch government.

HOOGE MIERDE - Immediately stopping adoptions of foreign children is a major step that is not necessary. Adoption is and will remain valuable for many children. This is the response of Inez Teurlings, chairman of the Stichting Interlandelijk Geadopterden, to the most important recommendation of the Joustra Committee, which investigated the Dutch adoption practice.

Teurlings, born in Bangladesh and raised in Hooge Mierde, is aware of abuses that are mentioned in the report of the Joustra committee revealed by this newspaper on Friday. Child trafficking, child theft and forging adoption documents, for example.

But such cases mainly took place in the 1970s and 1980s, according to Teurlings. “Then hundreds of children were adopted every year. With such numbers I can imagine that something will go wrong. Nowadays it is still about 125 children per year. ”

Prove

Teurlings emphasizes that she has not yet read the report of the Joustra committee. “I am curious about the evidence of wrongdoing. From our contacts with permit holders who mediate in adoptions, I do not get the impression that much goes wrong. Parties I know are doing well with adoption. ”

A temporary ban on the adoption of children from abroad is a step in the right direction. But it does not give Jyoti Weststrate (37) from Deventer a sense of justice. For Yanien Veenendaal (50) from Apeldoorn, it feels like a small victory.

They let this know in response to the decision by outgoing minister Sander Dekker (Legal Protection) to immediately suspend the adoption of children from abroad. That became known Monday morning.

In the opinion on the Dutch adoption culture and the role of the government in this, reference is made to 'serious abuses'. According to Dekker, the Dutch government has fallen short of looking away from abuses for years. The committee identified child theft, child trafficking, corruption, forgery and theft of documents, unethical acts of civil servants and the transfer of children to the Netherlands under false pretenses.

Presented to a priest

Weststrate was about 2 years old, although she does not rule out the fact that she was older, when she was taken away from her biological parents in India and 'given' to a priest . She ended up in Zutphen, where questions about her origins have been waiting for answers for a lifetime. Now she tries to expose abuses in international adoption.

NEW DELHI: A parliamentary committee in its report on the DNA

Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill on Wednesday

suggested the government to "pay very careful attention" to certain views

on very important issues on the proposed legislation, saying some

members have expressed their fears that the bill when it becomes a law

The Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) has a new advisory board. This now consists of Alexander Pechtold, Marleen Stikker, Eric Tjong Tjin Tai, Jeannine Peek and Tjibbe Joustra. Pechtold is the chairman of the new board.The new advisory board was appointed by Minister of Legal Protection Sander Dekker on the recommendation of the AP on 1 February 2021. Peek and Joustra were also members of the previous advisory board of the AP.The chairman and members are appointed for different periods. In this way, not everyone leaves at the same time and the advisory board can continue.The Advisory Council provides the AP - solicited and unsolicited - with advice on the supervisory authority's mission, vision, ambition and strategy.The members of the AP's advisory board have different backgrounds and positions:Alexander Pechtold (chairman, appointed for 4 years)

Alexander Pechtold has many years of political and administrative experience, including as a Member of Parliament and minister. Since November 2019 he has been general director of the Central Bureau for Driving Licenses (CBR).He is also chairman of the Steering Committee Renovation Binnenhof, member of the supervisory board of the Drents Museum and chairman of the National Purchasing Fund Vereniging Rembrandt.Marleen Stikker (member, appointed for 3 years)

Marleen Stikker is founder and director of Waag Future Lab for design and technology. In addition, she is currently professor of practice at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam, member of the Advisory Council for science, technology and innovation, member of the Amsterdam Economic Board, co-founder and board member of Public Spaces and chair of the Consultative Body for the Physical Environment.In 2019 Marleen Stikker wrote the book 'The internet is broken'.Eric Tjong Tjin Tai (member, appointed for 3 years)

Eric Tjong Tjin Tai is Professor of Private Law at Tilburg University. He is chairman of the Cassation Commission in the interests of the law. And deputy judge at the Netherlands Commercial Court.Jeannine Peek (member, appointed for 2 years)

Jeannine Peek (photo) is General Manager of Dell Technologies Netherlands. She is also a figurehead ICT for the Top Sector ICT, board member of the NL Digital sector association and the National Register Foundation (on behalf of VNO-NCW), member of the supervisory board of the Internet Domain Registration Foundation Netherlands and ambassador for the University of Twente.Tjibbe Joustra (member, appointed for 1 year)