Two adopted Congolese children arrive in the Netherlands

Two adopted Congolese children arrive in the Netherlands

News item | 26-02-2015

Two adopted Congolese children arrived in the Netherlands yesterday to join their adoptive parents. They are a two-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl. The children form part of a group of thirty adopted by Dutch couples, with some of them already waiting almost three years to depart from Congo. These two children required specialist medical assistance which they are to receive in the Netherlands.

In September 2013, the Congolese government decided to suspend all international adoptions, even if the procedure had already been completed. The reason for this were signs of child trafficking and so-called 'proxy adoption', where a child is adopted in the new country by different parents. Congo has explicitly stated that the Netherlands was not involved in this in any way.

Secretary of State Teeven from the Ministry of Security and Justice traveled to Kinshasa last December to discuss this matter with the Congolese authorities. There Teeven was given an assurance that the government would look into the files of the two children needing additional medical assistance as a priority. This eventually led to the two children arriving in the Netherlands.

The Secretary of State remains committed to also uniting the other 28 children with their adoptive parents as quickly as possible. The Congolese government has indicated that it is reviewing all the adoption files, though it is not possible to say at the moment how long this will take. Teeven will continue to monitor this closely and, if necessary, intervene in the issue personally.