A Dutch group that reunites children with their birth parents in Bangladesh is fighting to change the international adoption system

It was not long into a research trip to Bangladesh, on behalf of an organisation seeking to reunite children adopted abroad with their birth relatives, when Kana Verheul found herself huddled in a cafe toilet, comparing birthmarks with a stranger.

That trip seven years ago was one of many that Verheul, 47, had taken to the country of her birth since she was 16 years old, travelling back to Bangladesh for the first time as part of a “roots trip” organised by the Dutch government for children such as her, an orphan adopted to the Netherlands as a baby.

But this trip was different. After decades of trying in vain to find her siblings, Verheul joined forces with other people in her situation to set up an organisation called the Shapla Community, creating a network of hundreds of Bangladeshi adoptees raised in the Netherlands. If she could not find her own family, she could at least help others find theirs.

They were adopted as biological sisters but discovered that they share 0.0 per cent of their DNA. The discovery of the sisters Doriet and Mirjam Begemann was the start of their search for the truth. Shocking is that they are not alone. Some countries stop with intercountry adoption altogether. Read here why.

Their adoptive parents had no idea that they were being tricked into the adoption, the sisters tell the Dutch daily Reformatorisch Dagblad. In 1979, there had been an official adoption procedure in court and by the notary.

In addition, a Dutch lawyer looked at the case as well. "Who would have thought that something was wrong?" the sisters point out. "The Indonesians were so sneaky: our parents did not get the translation of our papers until the day they went back to the Netherlands. Just imagine you're in a hot country with two little children; then you want to go home as soon as possible. And how could they have compared the translation with the original documents?"

Later, they discover irregularities in their official documents. Signatures do not match, and birth dates seem to be falsified. Then, a DNA test confirms their fears: the alleged sisters are not biologically related at all.

Abuses

A WOMAN has shared how she discovered she was separated from her twin sister at birth and sold through an illegal adoption ring.

Ano Sartania, 21, was left stunned when she was reunited with her sister Amy thanks to a TikTok video but the real shock came when the pair found out they shared three more siblings.

Ano was reunited with Amy after 19 years after they were separated at birth

The twins born in June 2002, had been sold to an illegal adoption ring in Georgia

They reconnected thanks to a TikTok video after a friend noticed the resemblance

The Council of Europe called on Friday for the establishment of official reparation measures for the millions of children in care who are victims of violence in Europe

“I survived but many children died”: whether they attended Romanian orphanages or Portuguese Catholic schools, mistreated children in Europe must benefit from official reparation measures, the Council of Europe argued on Friday.

In a resolution, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) considers that the 46 member states of the institution - whose main mission is the defense of human rights - must shed light on the acts of child abuse, whether physical, psychological or sexual violence.

It recommends that each country take stock of this violence, recognize the suffering suffered, present an official apology and compensate the victims.

Press release of January 26, 2024

A first in the world of international adoption in France: a judicial investigation opens for adults born in Romania.

Subject : Opening of a preliminary judicial investigation for the following offenses:

• Arrests,
• Kidnappings,
• Sequestration or arbitrary detention of minors under 15 years of age,
• Assistance with the entry, movement or illegal stay of a foreign minor in the territory of a state other than that of origin
• Distance from the family environment

The Racine&dignité group officially announces the opening of a preliminary judicial investigation decided by the Paris Prosecutor concerning illicit trafficking in the context of international adoptions and the arrival on French territory of Romanian children with short-term visas for medical care.

Women living in camps for refugees of Bangladesh’s war of independence were told a local care home would look after their children. Decades on, many are still searching for them

More than four decades have passed, but Sayrun Nisa still cries for her son as if she lost him yesterday. In 1977, she had been taking care of her child and sick husband at home when there was a knock at the door. She opened it to find two people who claimed they were from Terres Des Hommes Netherlands (TDHn), an organisation that operated in the Dattapara camp for people displaced in the Bangladesh war of independence, where she lived.

“They started telling me about a children’s home they were running,” says Sayrun, now 80. “They said they could take care of my son for me and give him a good education. I had no reason to doubt them as they were from what I thought was a respectable organisation.”

Sayrun recalls feeling unsure as she watched her six-year-old playing in the corner. But when she discussed it with her husband, they felt it might not be a bad idea. “My husband had been sick for a while and was unemployed. If we put our son in the home, it would mean that I could find work,” she says.

A swathe of parties on both sides of the government are calling for a crackdown on the adoption field after a new report reveals identity fraud on South Korean adoptees.

The identity changes meant that South Korean children were on paper orphaned when they were sent from South Korea to their new families in Denmark.

The conclusions in the report, made by the Danish Appeals Board, arouse resentment.

- I think it is quite obvious that the Danish authorities have failed fatally, says Victoria Velasquez, social advisor for Enhedslisten.

The city police arrested a 31-year-old D. Vani, of NGGO’s colony, for allegedly cheating a woman by promising her to arrange the legal adoption of a newborn baby here on Thursday.

According to the police, on December 20 last year, a 35-year-old woman from Kakinada was heading to Vizag along with her aunt on a bus. The purpose of her visit was to get treatment, since she was not blessed with babies despite 10 years of marriage. During her journey, the accused had boarded the bus at Annavaram and sat beside them.

After coming to know about the complainant’s problem, Ms. Vani promised to give a baby after completing legal procedures from the parents concerned. Ms. Vani had asked the complainant to come to King George Hospital (KGH) on December 24. At the hospital, the woman collected ₹80,000 from the victims and asked them to wait at a place, informing them that she would visit the Children’s Ward and come back. However, she did not return. After realising that she was cheated, the woman lodged a police complaint.

Police start to interview witnesses following Guardian reports on adoptions to the Netherlands nearly 50 years ago

Police in Bangladesh have launched an investigation into historical allegations that children were adopted abroad without their parents’ consent, after a Guardian investigation into adoptions to the Netherlands in the 1970s.

Bangladesh special branch in Dhaka confirmed it had opened an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the adoption of a number of children between 1976 and 1979.

It is the first time police have investigated allegations that children were lured from mothers using a tactic known as the “boarding school scam”, where vulnerable families were offered temporary shelter for their children only to find they were adopted abroad without their consent.

Special Supt Tahsin Mashroof Hossain Mashfi told the Guardian: “Shedding light on the matter has ignited a deep sense of responsibility. We commit to conducting a fair and impartial investigation, striving to contribute meaningfully to the nation’s healing process.”

Changes to the identity of South Korean adopted children were clearly illegal, says legal expert.

It was common knowledge for Danish adoption agencies that their South Korean partners changed the identities of infants before they were sent to their new families in Denmark.

This is shown by a new report from the Danish Appeals Board, which uncovers adoptions from South Korea to Denmark in the period through the 1970s and 80s.

Klaus Josefsen, who is an external lecturer at Aarhus University and an expert in administrative law, calls the report's conclusions too serious.