The scandal of forced adoptions

The historical study on the illicit practices of international adoption in France, made public by two historians from the University of Angers, could well mark a turning point in this policy which is similar to human trafficking. This report, which identifies “systematic illicit practices, source of immense profits” is in every respect frightening. The two researchers Fabio Macedo and Yves Denéchèrewho have gone through some 9,600 pages of archives from the State's diplomatic archives, shed light on a bewildering system of trafficking in bought children, the creation of false orphans, even kidnappings when the biological mothers refuse to abandon their offspring. In the microcosm, this state of affairs is not really a surprise. Already in 2000, the United Nations and UNICEF published a damning report on the subject. There was then the highly publicized scandal of the association l'Arche de Zoéwho had tried to exfiltrate a hundred children from Darfur to France. The novelty that this new study highlights is that these facts have been repeatedly denounced by the French diplomatic corps, without their supervisory administration being concerned about it. In fact, five associations seriously questioned in the report are still approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs! These shortcomings tinged with a culpable laxity demonstrate the gross dysfunctions of the State in terms of control, but also in the feedback of information to the decision-making centres. France would be well advised to distance itself from this policy of scribbling which could end up playing tricks on it. Since last September, the UN has allowed illegal adoptions to be recognized as crimes against humanity. France, the fourth host country in the world, has allowed the arrival on its soil of 120,000 children since 1970. How many are affected by these excesses? The report does not say so. The grenade of illicit adoption is however unpinned. It remains to be seen where and when it will explode.