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I BAMBINI DI PREET MANDIR (INDIA) - ADOZIONI IN PERICOLO
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The children of Preet Mandir are the innocent victims of a system that condemns adoptive parents and adoptees on paper. THEY HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG, neither one nor the other, but who cares. There are many tragedies in the world, many injustices perpetrated: that of Preet Mandir is just one among many and perhaps it is too small, too limited, to move people to action, to make bureaucracy wake up and allow humane justice its way. After all, only 18 children are affected! 

18 CHILDREN HAVE BECOME HOSTAGES OF THE SYSTEM!

Guilt, blame and punishment for what has happened should not fall equally on all involved but the wheels of the Law do not make any distinction between guilty and innocent but move inexorably ahead grinding up both the guilty and the innocent. This is what is happening at Preet Mandir, an institution for abandoned children, in Pune (India). What has happened is well known in India and outside India too by the adopting families involved. This is the tale:

· At the beginning of 2010 the India press and TV began to talk about a CBI investigation underway at the time concerning malpractices at a Children’s Home called Preet Mandir in Pune. Under investigation were: excessive demands for money from adopting parents made by the Director of the Home, appropriation of funds and illicit dealings with minors. 
· On 20 May 2010, CARA (the Indian Government Commission that oversees adoptions), without warning, suspended Preet Mandir’s license to organise international adoptions, backdating the effects of the suspension back to 15 February 2010. This suspension immediately affected all adoption procedures underway, even those started as early as June 2009. 
· In June 2010 the Mumbai High Court stopped any attempt to move the 170 Children currently in Preet Mandir thus blocking any possibility of adoption for the children and preventing the 18 adoptions already underway from being completed. 
· In August 2010 the Director of Preet Mandir was arrested by the Mumbai CBI and two weeks later a new director was appointed. The High Court also offered a gleam of hope that the 18 adoptions already agreed would be able to proceed. 
· In early September 2010, following an agreement between the parties involved, CARA sent a request to the Mumbai High Court that these 18 adoptions should be authorised to go ahead. 
· On 21 September 2010 the High Court sent the case to another Court which has effectively stopped any decision being made about these 18 children until December 2010. 
· CARA has said that if they move these 18 children to another institution it will be possible to continue with the adoption procedures but, they cannot legally be moved because of the June 2010 decision of the High Court itself. 

All the papers, the bureaucracy, the forms talk about businesses, institutions, Directors under investigation, and groups of children are only mentioned as faceless, abstract entities and not as individuals who have already been offered a hope of a better life, a future. In this flood of paper-work there has been no mention of the adopting families either, all of whom are waiting anxiously to welcome their Indian brothers and sisters, children who have already suffered, sometimes dramatically, and who are hoping to go to their new family whose love will surely help ease their pain. Who has listened to the voices of the children of Preet Mandir? Children who may now have to spend the rest of their childhood in an institution with no hope of succour of a better life? No-one has talked to them, or about them. So we want to do it because even though, given what is happening, they may yet be sentenced for a crime they did not commit, at least we want others to know what has been happening and to tell the tale of their and our pain. 

There are adopting parents like Sonia and Alessandro, who already have one Indian daughter. Their first child was at the time defined a “special case”: she had been found in a rubbish bin, thrown there immediately after birth and already attacked by rats who had eaten part of her face, causing neurological damage, and some of the muscles of her right arm. 
When they saw the detailed photos of the little girl, the couple felt that a child who had escaped such a cruel destiny deserved to have a family who could protect her and help her to grow in a loving atmosphere. Sonia and Alessandro are not rich, both work full time to maintain the family, and they knew helping their new daughter back to health would probably be expensive, but they took on the task gladly and have focussed all their efforts on giving her a “normal” life. 
Seeing that this, their first daughter was doing so well, healthy, happy, surrounded by friends of her own age and doing well at school, they decided to adopt a sister for her. But this second adoption is proving more and more difficult and although they have the name and details of their second child she cannot come to join them. All Sonia and Alessandro want is to give these two girls, who have lost their families - or never had one, a chance to grow up surrounded by caring adults, parents, a mother and a father, who want to bring them as their own even though they did not give physical birth to them but instead have chosen them as their daughters to love and care for every day. 
After waiting for 5 years, in October 2009, Sonia and Alessandro were given the name and details of their second daughter who lives in Preet Mandir, Pune: Sayali. They knew nothing about the Home, and the scandal of these past months has come like a bolt out of the blue. Their new daughter’s room is ready, her elder sister is waiting anxiously, but the little girl still is a long way off and they can only wait and hope that she will arrive. 

Paola and Massimo too already have an adopted Indian son, Vinod, who was classified as retarded with low motor and cognitive capacity. Paola and Massimo did not hesitate to adopt him and brought him back to Italy where they have given themselves over, body and soul, to helping him. Today Vinod is a happy child, he loves his school his friends and India, which he often thinks about. His desire to have a little brother or sister encouraged his mother and father to begin adoption procedures and, in May 2009, they too were allocated a child from Preet Mandir. The scandal that has hit Preet Mandir is causing all three them much pain and anguish. Every day Vinod asks for news of his little sister. 

For Silvia and Alessandro August came with the most horrible news: “We never lost hope but we started asking ourselves what did Aayesha and us do wrong to be trapped in this situation... why us? We always wanted to pursue justice and act according to law to be a good example for our children and now it was the law itself holding far away from us our child... We are only guilty of our own desire to build a family...One year has passed and our diary has over 100 pages, our baby’s third birthday has gone by, we had a small party with a cake but without her; we still did not have the chance to see her smiling. The regret is even more heartbreaking as our Aayesha will never be able to meet neither her grand-grandmother, who died last December, nor her grand-mother, Alfreda, who passed away on August 9th, 2010 and hoped up to her very last moment to finally see and hug her niece”.

Now we the parents have spoken, but the children of Preet Mandir will have no chance to do so. Thiers is a silent scream that goes unheard in busy, noisy Halls of Justice where people are just pieces of paper. We can only hope that this, their mute cry for help, will be heard in the small hours of the night by anyone and everyone with a conscience and a belief in humane, and human, justice. 
The children of Preet Mandir are innocent victims. Their names will mean nothing to you but they do exist and do hope and should be remembered, one by one: 

Jayshree, 11 years, girl – waiting to join her Italian family
Shivray, 8 years, boy - waiting to join his Italian family
Aaeysha, 3 years, girl - waiting to join her Italian family
Durga, 5 years, girl - waiting to join her Italian family
Sayali, 7 years, girl - waiting to join her Italian family
Geeta, 2 years, girl - waiting to join her Italian family 
Soni, 8 years, girl - waiting to join her Italian family 
Suryakant, 8 years, boy - waiting to join his Italian family
Chandrakant, 4 years, boy - waiting to join his Italian family
Kayal, 1 year, girl - waiting to join her South African family
Amrapaly, 1 year, girl - waiting to join her South African family
Varad, 1 year, boy - waiting to join his South African family
Heena, 1 year, girl - waiting to join her South African family
Aditya, 9 years, boy - waiting to join his Italian family 
Kanchan, 1 year, girl - waiting to join her Canadian family
Aarti, 9 years, girl - waiting to join her Italian family
Manasi, 2 years, boy - joining a Belgian family 
Nupoor, 4 years, boy - joining a German family 

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SI CERCAVA GIUSTIZIA, TROVAMMO LA LEGGE

I bambini del Preet Mandir sono vittime innocenti di un sistema che condanna sulla carta genitori e figli adottivi. NON HANNO ALCUNA COLPA, ma che importa… Nel mondo ci sono molte tragedie, molte ingiustizie: quella del Preet Mandir è solo una, certo, forse troppo piccola per scuotere gli animi, per smuovere la burocrazia e la giustizia umana. Dopo tutto, sono SOLO 18!

18 BAMBINI IN OSTAGGIO DELLE ISTITUZIONI!

Le colpe di chi sta più in alto non dovrebbero ricadere su tutti ma la legge degli uomini non fa distinzioni: stritola i colpevoli e gli innocenti facendo girare l’inesorabile ruota della giustizia. E così sta accadendo nella vicenda Preet Mandir, istituto di Pune che accoglie i bambini in stato di abbandono. La vicenda, in India e per le poche famiglie adottive coinvolte, è tristemente nota. 

· A inizio 2010 la stampa e la TV indiane riferiscono di indagini in corso del CBI (organo investigativo) su possibili malversazioni dell’istituto di Pune conosciuto come Preet Mandir. Si parla di indebite richieste di denaro da parte del direttore alle coppie adottanti, di appropriazione di fondi e di sottrazione di minori.
· Il 20 maggio 2010 il CARA (la commissione governativa indiana che si occupa delle adozioni) sospende la licenza alle adozioni internazionali a Preet Mandir senza alcun preavviso e postdatando l’effetto della sospensione al 15 febbraio 2010. L’effetto immediato è la sospensione anche delle procedure di adozioni iniziate in alcuni casi anche a giugno 2009.
· L’Alta Corte di Mumbay a giugno 2010 si pronuncia contro lo spostamento degli oltre 170 bambini ospiti di Preet Mandir ma al contempo blocca sia la possibilità di adottarli che di completare le 18 adozioni in corso.
· Ad agosto 2010 viene arrestato dal CBI di Mumbay il direttore di Preet Mandir e dopo 2 settimane viene nominato un nuovo direttore. L’Alta Corte di Mumbay fa trasparire uno spiraglio per sbloccare le pratiche di adozione dei 18 bambini.
· A inizio settembre 2010 il CARA emette all’Alta Corte di Mumbay una richiesta di autorizzazione per sbloccare i casi dei 18 bambini e lo fa a seguito di un accordo fra le parti.
· Il 21 settembre 2010 l’Alta Corte sposta il caso di Preet Mandir ad una nuova corte giudicante con l’effetto di rinviare a dicembre 2010 qualunque decisione sulla sorte dei 18 bambini.
· Il CARA dichiara che se si spostano i 18 bambini in corso di adozione in un altro istituto si potrebbero sbloccare le loro pratiche. Ma i bambini non si possono spostare per l’’ordine dell’Alta Corte di giugno 2010.


Le carte parlano di enti, istituzioni, di direttori incriminati, di gruppi di bimbi come se fossero entità astratte che sopprimono le singole identità. Ma chi ha mai parlato delle famiglie che attendono, dei bimbi già adottati che aspettano i loro “fratellini” o “sorelline” indiani, delle loro storie, alcune drammatiche, delle loro ferite che l’amore di una famiglia ha saputo lenire? Chi ha mai sentito la voce dei piccoli del Preet Mandir, destinati a vivere forse per sempre in istituto? Nessuno ne ha parlato. E allora lo facciamo noi perché, anche se condannati, visti gli ultimi sviluppi del caso, almeno vogliamo raccontare cosa sono stati questi mesi di attesa e quale dolore ci sta stritolando. 

Ci sono genitori, come Sonia e Alessandro, che hanno già una prima figlia indiana. La loro primogenita era definita “caso speciale”: era stata trovata subito dopo la nascita in un cassonetto dei rifiuti e i topi le avevano deturpato il viso, con danni neurologici, oltre ad asportare una buona parte dei muscoli del braccio destro. 
Davanti alle foto, drammaticamente dettagliate, che all’epoca erano state loro mostrate, hanno subito capito che quella bambina a cui era stato riservato un destino così crudele aveva diritto al calore di una famiglia che la proteggesse e la aiutasse a crescere in modo sereno. Pur non essendo ricchi e lavorando entrambi per sostenere la famiglia, l’impegno che il recupero della piccola avrebbe comportato non li ha spaventati: ridonarle ciò che le era stato tolto è stato il loro primo progetto di vita. 
Vedendo come la prima figlia cresceva in salute e serenità, amata dai suoi compagni di gioco e ben inserita nell’ambito scolastico, Sonia e Alessandro si sono messi al lavoro per una seconda adozione ma la strada è stata lunga e ora tutto sembra perduto. Il loro sogno? Far sì che due bimbe a cui era stata tolta la gioia dell’abbraccio materno e paterno potessero abbracciarsi tra di loro e trasformare due vuoti nella pienezza di una vita insieme, sotto lo sguardo amorevole di chi, pur non avendole messe al mondo, se ne è occupato giorno dopo giorno. 
Dopo 5 anni di attesa, ad ottobre 2009 hanno avuto un abbinamento con una bimba del Preet Mandir di Pune. Nulla sapevamo di tale istituto e lo scandalo scoppiato in questi mesi è giunto come un fulmine a ciel sereno mentre già avevano pronto il secondo lettino e il nome della piccola, ancor lontana, tornava ogni sera nella loro preghiere. 

Anche Paola e Massimo hanno già un primo figlio indiano. Vinod era considerato un bambino ritardato, con scarsissime abilità motorie e cognitive. Paola e Massimo lo hanno accolto subito nel loro cuore e una volta arrivato in Italia si sono dati anima e corpo nel recuperare il loro bambino. Vinod ora è un bambino felice che ama la scuola, i suoi amici e l'India che è sempre nei suoi pensieri. Il suo desiderio di avere un fratellino è stato accolto da mamma e papà che hanno avuto un abbinamento con una bambina di Preet Mandir a maggio del 2009. Lo scandalo di Preet Mandir sta generando un dolore profondo in Paola, Massimo e Vinod, che tutti i giorni chiede notizie della sorella.

Silvia e Alessandro non si danno pace: “Ci chiediamo che cosa abbiamo fatto di male Aayesha e noi per essere intrappolati in questa vicenda! Perché noi? Siamo sempre stati coerenti e rispettosi della legge per dare il buon esempio ai nostri figli e ora è la legge stessa che ci tiene separati dalla nostra piccola. Siamo colpevoli solo di volere una famiglia... E’ trascorso un anno e il diario conta ormai più di 100 pagine, il suo terzo compleanno è passato, festeggiato con una torta ma senza di lei; il suo sorriso non lo abbiamo ancora visto. Il dispiacere e’ ancora più acuto perché la nostra Aayesha non conoscerà mai né la sua bisnonna, morta lo scorso dicembre, né la sua nonna paterna, Alfreda, che ci ha lasciato il 9 Agosto 2010 e che fino all’ultimo si è aggrappata alla speranza di poter abbracciare almeno una volta la sua nipotina”.

Ora che anche noi abbiamo parlato, solo la voce dei piccoli del Preet Mandir è ancora inascoltata: un grido silenzioso al quale nessuno probabilmente presterà attenzione nelle aule affollate e rumorose dei tribunali, negli uffici dove ogni persona è un pezzo di carta, ma queste voci di notte dovrebbero giungere dentro le coscienze di tutti e impedirci di dormire.

I bambini del Preet Mandir sono vittime innocenti. I loro nomi forse non dicono nulla ma è sempre bene ricordarli:

Jayshree, 11 anni, femmina abbinata ad una famiglia italiana
Shivray, 8 anni, maschi, abbinato ad una famiglia italiana
Aaeysha, 3 anni, femmina abbinata ad una famiglia italiana
Durga, 5 anni, femmina abbinata ad una famiglia italiana
Sayali, 7 anni, femmina abbinata ad una famiglia italiana
Geeta, 2 anni, femmina abbinata ad una famiglia italiana
Soni, 8 anni, femmina abbinata ad una famiglia italiana
Suryakant, 8 anni, maschio abbinato ad una famiglia italiana
Chandrakant, 4 anni, maschio abbinato ad una famiglia italiana
Kayal, 1 anno, femmina abbinata ad una famiglia sudafricana
Amrapaly, 1 anno, femmina abbinata ad una famiglia sudafricana
Varad, 1 anno, maschio abbinato ad una famiglia sudafricana
Heena, 1 anno, femmina abbinata ad una famiglia sudafricana
Aditya, 9 anni, maschio abbinato ad una famiglia italiana
Kanchan, 1 anno, femmina abbinata ad una famiglia canadese
Aarti, 9 anni, femmina abbinata ad una famiglia italiana
Manasi, 2 anni, maschio abbinato ad una famiglia belga
Nupoor, 4 anni, maschio abbinato ad una famiglia tedesca
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ACT CASE Preet Mandir
Sonia Rossi

Foreign adoptions - History (Romanian adoptions not recognised)

Foreign Adoptions

Published on 27 Jul 10

Background pre 1991

Up to 1991 the number of foreign adoptions involving Irish residents was very small. In addition there was no structural framework in existence in Ireland under which foreign adoptions could be given full legal recognition. The Adoption Act of 1952 which dealt with domestic adoptions only did not cover foreign adoptions.

However during the 1980’s due to the change in social attitude and improvements in the welfare system the number of Irish born children being offered for adoption dwindled to such an extent that the needs of Irish couples seeking to adopt could no longer be satisfied from within the State. Accordingly despite the absence of a structural framework a large number of Irish couples began to look aboard for children that they might adopt. In 1989 Romania allowed foreign adoption and a large number of children were brought to Ireland. There was no official procedure in place for assessing the eligibility and suitability of persons intending to adopt abroad. Consequently Irish couples negotiated the terms of a child’s adoption with the local adoption agency in Romania following which they appeared before a local Court for the purposes of securing approval of the adoption and leave to remove the child from Romania. They then travelled back to Ireland with their child. These adoptions though apparently valid under Romanian law were not recognised under Irish law.

Present Day Situation

In 1991 the Adoption Act was passed to remedy this situation. This provided the necessary Statutory framework for all future foreign adoptions involving couples of Irish domicile or residence. The Act authorised the making of Adoption Orders in respect of foreign adoptions which also included adoptions made before the commencement of the Act provided such adoptions were deemed lawful under the law of the place in which the adoptions were effected or otherwise met certain criteria laid down by the Act.

The Act provided for the establishment of the Adoption Board and maintenance of a register of foreign adoptions. Registration rights were also extended to Irish couples either where domiciled or habitually resident in the country.

Eligibility and Suitability Test

Persons intending to adoption a child must be able to prove that they fall within one of the categories of persons eligible to be adopters and then undergo a rigorous assessment (the House Study Programme) to determine their suitability to be adopters. Such assessments are carried out by the appropriate Health Service Executive area or by a registered Adoptions Society. Eligibility is generally determined by reference of martial status and consanguinity or other relationship based on or arising from marriage. The intended adopters must be over 21 years of age and must be ordinarily resident in this state. Suitability is based on the intending adopters being able to satisfy by means of their assessment the criteria contained within Section 13 of the Adoption Act of 1952.

One very beneficial effect of the procedures is that persons now going abroad to adopt are much better prepared for what lies ahead and the risk of having a disappointing or traumatic experience is substantially reduced.

Document Dossier

Persons who have obtained from the Adoption Board a Declaration of Eligibility and Suitability and who are in a possession of an Immigration Certificate may commence the next stage of preparation which is to satisfy the regulations and procedures of the Authorities of the foreign country where the adoption is to be effected. This can be onerous and time consuming official requirements vary from country to country. Intending adopters are obliged to send a dossier containing a substantial amount of information and documentation. This is a very lengthy list and would require inter alia visits to An Garda Siochana, medical Doctors, birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc.

The proposed adopters are generally required to obtain a Notary Public for the purpose of having the adoption papers notarised.

The timeframe in processing a successful application is lengthy and would be applicants should allow for this when commencing the Adoption process.

If you require any further information please contact David Lavelle or Jennifer Ward.

Ireland, Romania

Together4change - 52 million subsidy

Publicatiedatum: 1 november 2010

Together4Change stimuleert zelfredzaamheid

Nieuwe kansen voor jongeren in ontwikkelingslanden

Nunspeet, 1 november 2010 -  De alliantie Together4Change werkt de komende vijf jaren aan het vergroten van zelfredzaamheid, veiligheid en zelfstandigheid van jongeren en gemeenschappen in kansarme gebieden in, met name, Afrika en Azië..  De vier organisaties in de alliantie, International Child Support (ICS), SOS Kinderdorpen, Wereldkinderen en Wilde Ganzen zien de samenwerking als de ultieme kans om hun krachten te bundelen en kennis te delen. Een zelfstandige toekomst voor alle mensen, dat is waar Together4Change voor staat. Centraal in de strategie van Together4Change staat dat ontwikkelingen worden gerealiseerd vanuit de mensen en maatschappij zelf, waarbij de ontwikkeling en veiligheid van jongeren en kinderen prioriteit heeft. Versterking van de lokale economie en het faciliteren van vakopleidingen voor jongeren zijn twee belangrijke uitgangspunten van het programma. Daarnaast is er speciale aandacht voor het verbeteren van de mechanismen voor kinderbescherming en van de lokale fondsenwervingcapaciteit in de programmalanden.

Geïntegreerde samenwerking

Netherlands
Wereldkinderen aka NICWO, International Child Support (ICS)

Two-Way Street (NL/US)

Two-Way Street

| 11/1/2010

[Map: Jeff Papa]

The flow of children adopted internationally goes both into and out of the U.S. Each year, families overseas adopt several dozen American children, with Florida the No. 1 source of children. Thirty-three out of the 51 American children — 65% — adopted by parents overseas in 2008-09 came from Florida, not counting adoptions of special-needs children.

Families in the Netherlands adopt the vast majority of the children. Hans van Hooff, a legal adviser for the International Social Service Netherlands, says the number of Dutch children available for adoption has decreased dramatically over the past several decades because there’s greater access to contraception, fewer single mothers are giving up their children for adoption, and abortion has become legal and more available. For many women in the Netherlands, international adoption is often the only option. With fewer children available for adoption from China, many Dutch couples have chosen to adopt American-born babies.

United States of America, Netherlands
FIOM/ISS
Hans van Hooff

Terre des Hommes loses subsidy

The aid organization Terre des Hommes will not receive a subsidy from the government for the next five years. State Secretary Knapen for Development Cooperation has decided.

The State Secretary says that the applications from aid organizations for subsidies have been assessed and that those of Terre des Hommes, an organization that combats child exploitation, does not meet the quality requirements.

Eight million

Terre des Hommes says that the decision means it has eight million euros less to spend. According to the organization, this is at the expense of small-scale projects in the Third World.

The organization is not only dependent on government subsidies. Seventy percent of the income is provided by donors.

Terre des Hommes Netherlands
Netherlands

Hole that swallows babies - hjow kids are spirited away

Hole that swallows babies
-how kids are spirited away
CHANDREYEE GHOSE AND SANJOY CHATTOPADHYAYA
When a child is born roughly every two seconds, some babies of unfortunate mothers will leak out of the system and go on the market for adoption at a price.
Manwara Seth, of Canning, has filed a petition in Calcutta High Court claiming her child was stolen from a government hospital in South 24-Parganas and sold to a childless couple. The couple insisted that they had paid Seth’s family for the child, who is now seven.
Public prosecutor Asimesh Goswami said: “A DNA test has been ordered to decide who his future guardian will be.”
The Telegraph exposé in Saturday’s paper had revealed how a baby-selling network operates with the connivance of nursing homes, mostly in Calcutta’s suburbs, and doctors, audaciously turning an illegal transaction legal.
Government hospitals are as leaky. A health officer at one revealed that in two cases over the past four-five months, he had received information about abandoned babies but they were gone before he could take them to a children’s home.
On a third occasion, he was informed about a baby being abandoned, but when he went to get it, the baby was missing, only to reappear miraculously when he raised a hue and cry.
Unwanted babies can be made to elude the official network at many points. The first is where the baby is found or rescued. Under the rules, a rescued baby has to be presented before the state government’s Child Welfare Committee — there is one in each district —within 24 hours of its being found. Only this committee has the authority to issue a fit-for-adoption certificate for a baby.
Whether a child is produced or not depends on the intentions of the finder. With nursing homes and hospitals not being too particular about sticking to the law, the committee has no way of sniffing out who is spiriting away babies where.
Abandoned babies are rescued by Childline, an NGO that has the government’s support, and by police, and produced before the committee. Mothers who want to surrender their babies have to go directly before the committee. This is on paper.
The Calcutta committee recently asked a hospital for an explanation why a four-month-old baby was handed over directly to a couple.
“The couple had approached the court, arguing that since the child was ill and needed special care, they could not go to the committee first and delay the whole process,” said Amita Sen, the chairperson of the Calcutta committee.
In Calcutta, there may not be full compliance with the rule of taking the baby before the welfare committee, but the situation is better than in the districts. Indrani Sinha, a member of the South 24-Parganas committee, said: “Abandoned babies are rarely presented before the committee. One or two a month, maybe.”
They are handed directly to parents wishing to adopt and, since the process takes place outside official supervision, a range of unwanted results for the baby becomes possible.
Till last year, the committee’s existence went unheeded by the system though its pivotal role as the custodian of abandoned and surrendered babies was worked into law in 2006. Sen said: “Most agencies would not bring the babies before the committee.”
The acronym-laden layers of the adoption structure, a creation of government guidelines and Supreme Court directions, worked the way they felt best until 2009. Neither the Central Adoption Resource Agency, which is the mother body for adoption in the country, nor the Bengal social welfare department, its state-level representative, did anything beyond the odd half-hearted attempt to straighten out the system.
One example of their reluctance to act relates to an adoption monopoly that grew under a lawyer named Anil Bhuniya, who was allowed for two decades till 2009 to approve, scrutinise as well as, allegedly, hand babies over to adoptive parents. Bhuniya denied that he was ever involved in the last activity.
Apart from once writing a letter objecting to Bhuniya’s role in approval as well as scrutiny, the central agency did nothing. The social welfare ministry even helped Bhuniya establish control over the system.
The Telegraph sent a questionnaire to the central agency seeking to clear doubts about how the adoption system works and about overlapping laws, of which there are three. After sitting on it for two weeks and several reminders, it sent this helpful reply: “You have asked so many questions. Please see CARA (the agency)’s website… for more details.”
It did reveal, though, that a probe is under way against one of Bhuniya’s two organisations. It does not reveal that for years it — and the state social welfare department — had failed to set up in Bengal a second approval mechanism, known as the adoption co-ordinating agency, to smash Bhuniya’s hold.
In another example of inaction, the government, in Delhi in this case, has increased the dependence of adoption agencies on donations from adoptive parents. The agencies are supposed to receive substantial budgetary support from the Centre but are not getting it.
If the old system had a dark hole through which babies disappeared as they were handed directly to adoptive parents without official supervision, either with court registration of the adoption or without, the recast network with welfare committees in every district may not be working any better.
There are complaints that the committees act the same way as the older system did, handing over babies directly to adoptive parents, though this is the job of the adoption agencies that maintain a list of hopeful couples. The committees also put babies in temporary foster family care, instead of children’s homes or adoption agencies, till the fit-for-adoption certificate is issued.
An official of the Calcutta committee admitted placing abandoned babies in foster care. “A newborn needs a mother’s lap rather than a children’s home,” she said. At its best, this is the do-gooder guiding spirit — without regard for law or system or the future well-being of the child — in giving babies away for adoption.
A former social welfare official said on condition of anonymity that there were no records of how many children had been placed in foster care by the committees. Nor is there any knowledge if these children are later given away by the foster parents or kept by them.
If babies falling through the system without a clue is the most frightening feature, another is the lack of data beyond basic adoption figures. How many children are brought before each district committee, how many are abandoned, how many surrendered — the system is clueless.
India

Vietnam adoption procedures treat children as 'commodities'

Vietnam adoption procedures treat children as 'commodities'
October 31, 2010 8:00 PM EDT
The disclosure emerged in internal US State Department documents which reveal a network of people, from adoption agency representatives, orphanage directors, hospital administrators right through to government officials and local police, were profiting by paying for children, as well as coercing and defrauding natural parents into giving up their children for adoption. 

The documents, from 2007 and 2008, show in some cases, children were simply stolen from their families to sell them to unsuspecting American couples. Throughout hundreds of pages of material, US officials – including the country's ambassador to Vietnam, Michael W Michalak, and Assistant Secretary of State Maura Harty – express their growing concerns over adoption practices in Vietnam. 

Following these concerns, which included evidence of "baby farming" and "baby selling", the USA eventually decided not to renew its bilateral agreement with Vietnam in September 2008. 

Ireland followed suit in May of 2009. 

It is understood the Irish Embassy in Vietnam had also expressed "serious concerns" as to adoption practices in the country. 

The US documents also show US adoption agencies' contracts with provincial authorities for "humanitarian donations" was putting pressure on the adoption system to meet the growing need to provide children for adoption. Ireland has adopted more than 600 children from the south-east Asian country between 2002 and 2008. 

The new Adoption Act, which comes into force today, will finally complete Ireland's ratification of the Hague Convention on inter-country adoption. 

Irish people approved to adopt from abroad will only be able to adopt children from a Hague Convention country or from a country with which Ireland has a bilateral agreement. However, anybody who has a declaration of suitability to adopt before the November 1 will be allowed to proceed with a non-Hague country.
Helping Hands, Ireland
Vietnam, Ireland

Adoption Act will provide more partner countries

The Irish Times - Saturday, October 30, 2010
Adoption Act will provide more partner countries
Pat and Nora Butler: "Vietnam is going to ratify the Hague Convention next year, so we are hopeful."

Micheál Martin's daughter dies in LondonGlut of housing is laid at door of local authoritiesProtestant women happier with church than Catholics'Grave concerns' expressed for health of deported childReorganisation of chronic illness treatment aims to save 450 livesFour-year plan to be tackled at Monday meetingJAMIE SMYTH, Social Affairs Correspondent

THE GOVERNMENT has moved to ease the concerns of people in the process of adopting children from abroad promising a new adoption regime will provide more partner countries for them to adopt from.

It has also been claimed that the long and stressful assessment process that couples must undergo before they are allowed to adopt children should also speed up under the new regime due to begin onMonday.

Minister for Children Barry Andrews said yesterday the Adoption Act 2010, which enters into force on Monday, would open the doors to a host of new countries for Irish couples hoping to adopt abroad.

By ratifying the Hague Convention on inter-country adoptions, Irish couples could theoretically adopt from 83 countries such as Britain, Mexico and the Philippines, he said.

The Hague Convention safeguards the fundamental rights of children in inter-country adoptions, in both their country of birth and the country of adoption. Further safeguards aim to prevent the abduction, sale and trafficking of children for adoption.

Many couples going through the assessment process with the Health Service Executive are concerned because the Authority will not authorise new Russian adoptions because it has not ratified the Hague Convention.

Russia currently supplies the largest number of adopted children to Irish couples. In 2008, 117 Irish couples adopted a child from Russia and 1,229 have been adopted from Russia since 1991.

Several parents of adopted children from Russia, or who are going through the adoption assessment process, told The Irish Times they fear there could be long delays to new countries coming on stream under the new adoption regime.

“I fear that people who get declarations to adopt after November 1st will face delays as the new adoption system beds down. The structures may take a few years to get into place,” said one parent

Mr Andrews said the Adoption Board had worked very hard to issue “declarations of eligibility and suitability to adopt” to ensure very few people would “get caught out” in the transition period.

Any couple who is provided with a declaration from the board is still allowed to proceed with an adoption from non-Haguecompliant countries such as Russia for a maximum period of three years.

Mr Andrews said the new Adoption Authority, which will be appointed on Monday, would also move very quickly to agree the necessary administrative agreements with Hague compliant states to facilitate adoptions for couples.

“These administrative agreements are different from the type of bilateral agreements we have negotiated between countries to facilitate adoptions. They are far less complex,” said Mr Andrews.

He said he was also willing to travel to Moscow to try to agree a new bilateral adoption agreement with Russia.

Mr Andrews said the Act provided for the appointment of accredited agencies to do assessments that were previously undertaken by the HSE. This would “speed things up” for couples, although it would take a while for the transfer to take place, he said.

Mr Andrews said he acknowledged the pain that the closure of certain countries – Vietnam, Guatemala and Ethiopia – to Irish couples seeking to adopt abroad had caused in the past. He said he was trying to resolve the situation for 20 couples seeking adoptions in Vietnam when all adoptions to Ireland were halted in June 2009.

The Adoption Board will be formally dissolved on Monday and replaced with a new Adoption Authority. Child law expert Geoffrey Shannon will remain on as chairman of the authority. The authority will see the appointment of a psychologist, a social worker and a GP to its board as decreed under the Adoption Act.

COUPLE STUCK IN LIMBO


Pat and Nora Butler have been trying to adopt a child from Vietnam for the past 5½ years. A decision by the Government to suspend adoptions from Vietnam last year has left them, and 19 other Irish couples, stuck in limbo. Here Nora tells their story

I was 38 years old when we started on the adoption process with the authorities. I am 42 years old now, but I still have no family, says Nora Butler.

It is the length of time that it is taking that is the biggest problem, and your age does catch up with you. Our lives have been on hold during this whole stressful adoption process. We kept putting holidays off, thinking that we’d be travelling to Vietnam to pick up our baby. But it just hasn’t happened.

We had an unhappy experience with several IVF programmes, which turned out to be unsuccessful. This took five years, so all-in-all we’ve been trying to start a family for a decade. Time is our biggest enemy, because the likelihood of being allowed to adopt a second child reduces as you get older.

It took about two years before the process properly began after our application. Our social worker started our assessment and we took our pre-adoption course.

The country that you choose to adopt from is a very personal issue for each couple. We undertook research and chose Vietnam because we thought it would be safer, as the guidelines were well established.

Adopting from Vietnam costs about €7,000, while other countries can be much more expensive than that.

We got our “declarations of eligibility and suitability to adopt” after about three years. We then went to Helping Hands Adoption Mediation Agency, which mediates with the Vietnamese government.

However, the bilateral agreement between Ireland and Vietnam lapsed in June 2009. A few months later, a report came out on Vietnamese adoptions, which was negative towards adoptions from abroad.

About 79 Irish couples already had referrals of Vietnamese children and they were able to proceed with the adoptions.

But 20 couples who were still awaiting referrals of children, including us, were not allowed by the Government to proceed due to the findings of the report.

We are just waiting now. The Minister for Children has told us he is trying to get the adoptions through and is awaiting a response from the Vietnamese government.

Our biggest problem is the lack of communication from the Government. We know a lot of people who are finding it very difficult to keep going. It is a very personal issue for the couples involved. We know there isn’t a hope in hell of our adoption going forward this year, but I think next year it will come through for us. Vietnam is going to ratify the Hague Convention next year, so we are hopeful.

Our hearts are set on Vietnam now. If we had switched country we may have had a child by now but we see a good happy culture and a good attitude to Irish people adopting from the country.

Helping Hands, Ireland
Ireland

Babies for sale

Saturday , October 30 , 2010 |

Babies for sale

The Telegraph exposé: Newborn and legal papers, all for Rs 2.5 lakh

CHANDREYEE GHOSE AND SANJOY CHATTOPADHYAYA

A baby can be bought for Rs 2.5 lakh in Calcutta for adoption through an illegal process that in the end yields legal papers, two Telegraph journalists have found.

India

„Da muss man die Notbremse ziehen“

"You have to pull the emergency brake"

Youth offices are pushing 11 to 17-year-olds off to foreign projects. Education is promised to children in the most remote regions of the world, but some problem kids end up being cheap labor. Hard-to-control organizations benefit from it.

The promise sounds really good: "Living without consumption - just but warm". Thus, the prospectus of the Protestant Martinswerk Dorlar for its "measure in Transylvania".

In "suitable Romanian family circumstances," German problem children could "go back in time" with a "fully functional interpersonal network."

The 14-year-old Marcel from the Ruhr area is now at the behest of his youth office since last year in that "wholesome world", which will allow him later "in Germany a new start". The office had sent the divorce child with stress symptoms in school and family in a Romanian village.

Romania, Germany
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