Workshop on Adoption: Cross-border legal issues - Hoofdinhoud

Brussel, het Atomium

datum 1 december 2015

plaats Brussel, België

aanwezigen (Tadeusz) Zwiefka, (Cecilia) Wikström, (Mairead) McGUINNESS, (Pavel) Svoboda e.a.

Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of European Union Member States Endorse EU Enlargement and Opening of First Negotiation Chapters with Serbia

European Integration Committee Chairman Aleksandar Senic and Committee members Dusica Stojkovic and Katarina Susnjar took part in the 54th meeting of the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union (COSAC), in Luxembourg, 29 November – 1 December, organised in the context of the parliamentary dimension of the Luxembourg presidency of the EU Council.

One of the key topics of the meeting was the EU enlargement policy. The member states spoke about the historical success of EU enlargement which had united and ensured the stability and progress of the old continent. They commended the support the European Commission provides to the candidate countries to help them meet the membership criteria and the progress of the Western Balkan countries in the stabilisation and association process. Simon Mordue of the EC Directorate General for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, said that in the last year Serbia had achieved notable progress in its economic reform, rule of law and fight against corruption, and the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina and announced the opening of chapters 35 and 32 in December, at the international conference.

The Chair of the German Parliament’s Committee on the Affairs of the European Union, Gunther Krichbaum restated that the Western Balkan countries have a clear prospect of EU membership and informed the participants that the Bundestag green-lighted and recommended the opening of the first negotiation chapters with Serbia. He said that the reforms belong to the candidate country and that they are in the interest of the Serbian citizens. The quality of the negotiation is much more important than the number of opened chapters which is not in itself a measure of success. Speaking of Serbia he said that he agreed with the EC director and that chapters 35 and 32 would be opened in December, soon to be followed, in the first quarter of 2016, by chapters 23 and 24. Krichbaum said it is possible that Serbia’s membership talks will pick up speed after the opening of the first chapters, because a lot of time has passed and Serbia has in the meantime actively conducted reforms and prepared for the other negotiation chapters. He said he had a great deal of trust in Serbia, its institutions and the ongoing reform process.

European Integration Committee Chairman Aleksandar Senic emphasised the importance of support and encouragement for the European prospects of all the Western Balkan countries, adding that he was sure all the obstacles on Serbia’s path to opening the first chapters by the end of the year have been removed and that all the EU member states would support the efforts of the Serbian institutions by endorsing the opening of the negotiating chapters at the coming international conference. Senic opined that the enlargement process remains crucial for the momentum of the reforms and the future of the Western Balkan countries, well-being and stability in the region, and, he believes, the accession talks have the same kind of priority for the European Union as before: they continue in the same spirit with the same dedication, and the EU member states will continue to actively support Serbia and the countries of the region in their preparations for accession.

Adoption Advocate No. 90

Every adoptee has their own personal and unique adoption story. That history is a part of who they are, and remains a part of them as they move from childhood through adolescence and into adulthood.

As intercountry adoption has changed over the years, more international adoptees have become interested in searching for information and trying to learn more about their families, countries, and cultures of origin. An adoption search and/or reunion for an intercountry adoptee may look very different from one undertaken by a person adopted in the U.S. Typically an international adoption search will require working with officials in another country and dealing with complex legal issues, language translation, and cultural differences. To better understand the international search and reunion process, NCFA asked Susan Soonkeum Cox, Vice President of Policy and External Affairs at Holt International and a Korean adoptee, to share some of her own personal experiences.

NCFA: When did you search for your birth family, and why did you make that decision?

Susan Cox: I began my “official” search for my birth family in 1992. Looking back, it is clear that a variety of circumstances and moments brought me to that decision. In the late 1980s, I was leading a family tour to Korea, my daughter was with me, and I wanted her to see my records. I had seen them many times before, but part of the information was written in Chinese characters – which are often used in Korea as well – and on that trip the person reading the file was able to read Chinese and give me additional information that I had never known before — including that I was from Inchon, and the name of the director at the time I was there. She arranged for me to meet him, and that answered many questions, but also created more.

RDC adoption

26 November 2015 ·

Suite à la réunion MAE/MAI, il faut continuer à interpeller vos députés. Exprimez-vous, nous pouvons tous demander de l'aide en faisant part de notre parcours et notre souffrance mais surtout celui de nos enfants. On pense très fort à eux mais plus en silence!!!

1- Assemblée Nationale :

1.1 Philippe Baumel (Président du groupe amitié parlementaire franco-congolais) + Claude Bartolone : pour l'organisation d'une mission parlementaire en RDC

Police ignore judge’s order, to help Latvian family escape British social workers

Foreign authorities have little regard for our increasingly notorious 'child protection' system

Lord Justice Munby, the head of the family courts Photo: BRIAN SMITH

Christopher Booker By Christopher Booker 28 Nov

Over the past three years, mounting alarm has been expressed by the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and various eastern European governments at the readiness of Britain’s social workers to seize an ever-growing number of children from foreign parents working in the UK for what they consider to be wholly misguided reasons. Foreign government figures show, for instance, that these include 1,000 Polish children; and the number of Latvian families reporting the removal of their children has risen from seven in 2012 to 40 in 2013 and 89 in 2014.

Access refused

d

Exit from Adoption Sector

Posted on November 24, 2015 by arcadopt

24th November 2015

Arc Adoption decided on the 16th September 2015 not to seek a renewal of our accreditation under the Adoption Act 2010, when the current accreditation expires on 7th February 2016.

This decision was taken due to:

After searching for her birth father, Mariah Mills was shocked to learn his famous identity — and devastated to find out he'd died.

This article was originally published as "I Found My Dad...Too Late" in the December 2007 issue of Cosmopolitan.

I've always known I was adopted. My mom and dad explained that although my birth parents really loved me, they hadn't been ready to take care of a baby. I had a happy, "normal" childhood with a loving family, but a huge question mark remained.

In Saint Paul, Minnesota, where I grew up, adoptees don't have access to their birth parents' names until they turn 19. So I spent my childhood wondering what they were like. The social services agency provided some info about them at the time of my adoption, so I knew general details, like their ages (19 and 21) and hair color (both brown). The older I got, the more anxious I was to know where my ancestors came from and where I got my looks. Because I was raised as an only child, I especially wanted to find out if I had siblings.

I thought about my birth parents most on my birthday. I'd wonder if they were thinking Hey, whatever happened to our daughter? I had a recurring fantasy that when I finally found them, they'd invite me to dinner, and lots of family members would be thrilled to meet me. It sounds silly, but that's what I wanted to happen.

---------- Forwarded message ---------

From: Jin Vilsgaard

Date: Sat, 21 Nov 2015 at 13:58

Subject: documents reg. closing of Terres Des Hommes adoption agency in dk

To: arundohle@gmail.com

American families represent the 400 adoptive families of Congolese children express their happiness to live with their Congolese children and will celebrate in Kinshasa "the recent news of the 72 children who have been reunited with their adoptive families".

American families who have adopted Congolese children met on Tuesday, November 17 at his office with the Congolese Minister in charge of Relations with Parliament, Prof. Tryphon Kin-kiey Mulumba to whom they explained, on behalf of all the other adoptive families - a total of 400 families - the love they have for their little ones and the happiness they hope to be close to being grouped under the same roof in their country of origin, the United States. Some parents have mastered one of our four languages, Lingala, a sign of attachment to their children. They delivered a public letter to the minister.

These families, who are very active on social networks, represent the four hundred American families who have adopted one or more Congolese children. Parents have made the trip to the Congo and some have been staying there for several months, far from their spouses but alongside their adopted children according to the legislation in force. But they cannot cross the national border with these young Congolese, departures having been suspended by the Government which suspects cases of trafficking in human organs taken from adopted children or, starting from the precautionary principle, it wants to shed all the light around the allegations which report cases of children falling into networks of prostitution or pedophilia.

The Government is examining a new updated legal framework expected in Parliament. A preliminary social inquiry into the moral aspects of the candidate family in the candidate's country of origin would be required. Similarly, the question of nationality and the right of visit of biological parents appears to be at the center of the debates. Meanwhile, in the United States, families are mobilizing, President Barack Obama and the State Department are sensitized. Just like in the Congo. Friday, December 20, these families will give a dinner in Kinshasa at the house of one of them - Lee and Bercky Ward - in the presence of the ambassador for children, our compatriot Solange Ghonda. Members of Parliament, senators, ministers, diplomats, trade representatives, etc., will be present and will “interact with several adoptive families and their children”.

At the end of October, the government announced that 72 files of adopted children had been released and that the parents were now authorized to leave the country with them. It was the Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals Alexis Thambwe Mwamba - a sign that the file is eminently political and no longer falls within the family sector - who made the announcement to the ambassadors of the countries of origin.