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Victims of widespread adoption trafficking in Sri Lanka, seeking truth about their origins

Paris (AFP) - Over thirty years later, French victims of widespread adoption trafficking in Sri Lanka, and their adoptive parents, have embarked on a difficult quest to shed light on their origins.

"Many parents feel guilt or are still in denial," confide to AFP Jean-Noel and Veronique Piaser-Moyen, victims of this scandal recently revealed. "There are three victims: the biological mothers, the children, and we the adoptive parents, we need to hear that we are not guilty".

The couple who adopted a baby - Maria - in 1985 in Sri Lanka, discovered recently that he had unwittingly participated in a large international adoption trade. The latter could concern some 11,000 babies stolen or sold by various intermediaries to Western families, according to surveys conducted by several French and foreign media.

The existence of this traffic has been recognized by the Sri Lankan government in 2017.

Brussels, 25 June 2019

What is the Brussels IIa Regulation?

The Brussels IIa Regulation is the cornerstone of EU judicial cooperation in cross-border matrimonial matters (divorce, separation, marriage annulment) and matters of parental responsibility, including custody and access rights, and international child abduction. The Regulation has applied in all Member States, except Denmark, since 1 March 2005.

With the rising number of international families, now estimated at 16 million, cross-border disputes on family matters have increased in the EU. There are about 140,000 international divorces per year in the EU. There are around 1,800 cases of parental child abduction within the EU every year.

The Council adopted today improvements to the EU rules ("Brussels IIa Regulation") that protect children in the context of cross-border disputes relating to parental responsibility and child abduction. The new rules ("Brussels IIa Recast Regulation") make court proceedings clearer, faster and more efficient. They are based on the proposal made by the European Commission in 2016.

She looked to the stars for clues about her daughter’s life in her favourite newspaper

An Irish widow who gave up her daughter for adoption nearly 50 years ago has finally been reunited with her, after reading her horoscope every week.

Margaret Sweeney, 83, took comfort from reading her daughter Imelda's Sunday Mail horoscope every weekend and the pair have finally met face to face in an emotional episode of Long Lost Families on ITV1.

Margaret and her daughter were reunited in Australia on last Monday's show co-hosted by Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell.

Now a great-great grandmother, Margaret revealed she looked to the stars for clues about Imelda’s life in her favourite newspaper after she gave her up for adoption at just six weeks old, reports the Daily Record .

Herman Bolhaar (@NL Rapporteur) tweeted at 8:49 pm on Mon, Jun 24, 2019:

Minister @SigridKaag commissioned an investigation into orphanage tourism. The structure for the investigation was established in close consultation with my agency; we are on the advisory committee. It is important that this research comes to better protect vulnerable children. https://t.co/5RNu8YWPXx

(https://twitter.com/NLRapporteur/status/1143176729143459840?s=03)

Dutch:

Herman Bolhaar (@NLRapporteur) tweeted at 8:49 pm on Mon, Jun 24, 2019:

Ms Georgeta Nicolaie, a Romanian national, will become Director of the ‘Investigation and Disciplinary Office of the Commission’ (IDOC) in DG HR as of 1 August 2019. Ms Nicolaie joined the European Commission in 2007, after having worked as a judge in different areas of law, as well as and in several legal organisations promoting and applying the fundamental principles of law. She first became a head of unit in the Commission in 2009 and has been in charge of the unit ‘Investigation and Disciplinary Affairs of the Commission’ in DG HR since 2017.

COLLEGE MEETING: European Commission appoints Directors in its departments for budget, human resources and communications and climate action Principal Adviser

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Ireland left horrified by Ana Kriégel’s murder in a derelict farmhouse

This article is more than 1 month old

After two 14-year-olds were convicted of killing a vulnerable teenage girl who had been bullied online, the fallout from a harrowing case continues to haunt the country

Rory Carroll

@rorycarroll72

WHO ARE WE ?

The DCI World Service Foundation (DCI-WS) was established by the DCI International Movement in 2016 to strengthen its work and guide the implementation of the Movement’s Strategic Framework by supporting the development of projects, mainly by providing technical expertise and conceptual advice to DCI’s National Sections and Regional Desks.

DCI-WS is responsible for ensuring a systematic approach in the Movements’ relations with donors, public and private partners, who would like to actively contribute to the growing impact of DCI’s activities around the globe.

The DCI-WS is strategically located in Brussels, Belgium to connect the Movement with EU and international partners and access related project opportunities within that fora.

The Foundation, a legal entity under Belgian law, is supported and directed by its Board consisting of four members (from DCI Belgium, DCI Netherlands and the International Secretariat in Geneva, as well as the DCI President and the four Vice-Presidents of the International Executive Council elected by the DCI International General Assembly (IGA).

In most places in India, a girl is considered a burden even before she can decide her role in society. She’s seen as a heavy ‘responsibility’, restricted by society’s dogmatic thinking. But for 42-year-old Amita Marathe, her adopted daughter, Advaita, is the light of her life.

Amita did not want to be bound by marriage but always wanted a child of her own, which is why she decided to adopt a baby girl.

“My parents and sister stood like a rock throughout the process,” Amita told us.

Coming from a society where child adoption and being a single woman after a certain age was frowned upon, she was surprised when her parents supported and even respected her decision. They were initially worried about how Amita could balance a child along with her career, and to some extent, she echoed these concerns as well.

However, she took the plunge, and in 2012, registered with the Child Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) at Sofosh. It stands for Society of Friends of Sassoon Hospitals, a child care centre in Pune.

Finally together, 20 years after their adoption

They are biological sisters. Adopted in Sri Lanka in 1983, they grew up about thirty kilometers from each other between Vaud and Valais without ever meeting before adulthood. Today, they are trying to make up for lost time.

There was only 34 kilometers between their homes. A half hour drive (when traffic conditions are good) between Vaud and Valais. An insignificant distance, not enough to whip a cat, two sisters who would live at such a distance would have no problem to see each other regularly.

Melanie and Ludivine, 37 and 43, are sisters but have never met before adulthood. The youngest lived in Jongny, the eldest in Monthey, but they waited twenty-two years before meeting in Vevey.

Originally from Sri Lanka, the two women were adopted by two Swiss couples who did not know each other. Melanie did not know she had a sister living so close to her. Ludivine knew about it, she even tried to meet her youngest, in vain. Years of complicity, affection and sharing that are sorely lacking today in the counter of their lives.