Time for a human gesture towards adopted children

No fewer than 61 meters of thousands of adoption files have been destroyed by the Ministry of Justice. That should not have been allowed, the Inspectorate for Government Information and Heritage recently ruled. For adopted children who are searching for their roots, it is yet another proof that they have little to expect from this government. That really needs to change.

The destroyed files contain information about couples who wanted to adopt a child and about how adopted children eventually ended up in the Netherlands. It is yet another mistake in the scandal-ridden adoption practice, about which the Joustra committee already cracked down on two years ago. The committee painted a shocking picture of a derailed sector in which the wishes of adoptive parents outweighed the interests of the child to be adopted. Financial incentives open the door to child trafficking, theft and corruption. In other words, abuses that the Dutch government knew about, but did not take action against.

So far, The Hague's response to that report has been twofold. The previous government generously acknowledged that there had been decades of failure in monitoring adoption practices. That is why foreign adoption is further limited and supervision is tightened.

After the judge, the matter is not over yet

You would think: anyone who sees their own failure so clearly would do everything they can to pick up the pieces. But that is not the reality in The Hague: it is mainly characterized by an often very painful jurisprudence and stinginess for the adopted children. One adoption lawsuit follows another, in which the government is regularly held liable for damage suffered. And even then, after the judge the matter is usually not over. For example, outgoing Minister Weerwind (adoption) has appealed against the court ruling that orders the state to pay compensation for an illegal adoption from Brazil. In another adoption case, which had already ended up in court, the government appealed - because there too the state was ordered to pay compensation.

That is why the deep frustration that a group of adopted children harbors against the government is palpable. They have never asked for adoption, but they do experience the problems. This group has no use for the Inea knowledge and expertise center, their needs are so specific. They especially want financial support to pay for the search for their family, for DNA testing or for something as simple as the official restoration of their surname. These desires are understandable. Especially since it has been shown time and time again how great government failure is, it is logical that The Hague will also give substance to this in one way or another. A human gesture, that would be a nice start.