The Ministry must make black lacquered documents from the adoption file public - Zembla - BNNVARA
Franc Weerwind, the Minister for Legal Protection, must disclose more information about adoptions from Sri Lanka in the period between 1984 and 1994, the Council of State has decided. It concerns a file of Dilani Butink.
Dilani Butink was adopted from Sri Lanka in 1992 and still does not know who her biological parents are due to abuses. According to her, the Dutch government has done too little to prevent fraudulent adoptions.
Passages painted black
Butink had requested access to a file in which certain passages had been painted black via an appeal to the Government Information (Public Access) Act (Wob). Weerwind must now make these illegible passages public from the highest administrative court.
In addition to making it public, the minister must forward the woman's request to the National Archives, because there are also documents that fall under Butink's Wob request. These are documents referred to in the report of the Joustra Committee.
This is our file on adoption fraud
ogImage
This is our file on adoption fraud - Zembla - BNNVARA
The state archivist of the National Archives will now first have to make a decision on the woman's Wob request.
Documents at the IND
Finally, the State Secretary for Justice and Security, Eric van der Burg, should better search for the documents about Butink that are kept at the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND). So far, 18 documents have been found that have been partially made public. But according to the RvS, the search for the documents has been incomplete. Van der Burg must also better motivate his decision to paint away some passages in the documents.
Legal battle
Dilani Butink has been involved in a legal battle with the government for some time. She wants the government to admit guilt for the abuses surrounding adoptions, to compensate her and to set up a DNA database for adoptees from Sri Lanka.
She won the appeal. The State then apologized for the wrongful action of the government in intercountry adoption. Not much later, Minister Weerwind announced that he would not accept the verdict and that the State would appeal in cassation .
Is in cassation in wrongful adoption case: 'It feels like I am the criminal'
ogImage
Is in cassation in wrongful adoption case: 'It feels like I am the criminal' - Zembla - BNNVARA
According to the minister, it was "not an easy decision" and he "realizes that it will be bitter" for Butink. But Dilani says she can't do much with that. “The minister says he finds it harsh, but in the meantime he will continue. It's about me and my life. I don't really understand how you can continue," she says to Zembla. “It's another slap in the face. It feels like I'm the criminal, even though I didn't do anything wrong."
"