Orphelins roumains, prêt à l'exportation vers l'Union Européenne.

La Commission Européenne et l’Office Roumain pour les Adoptions force tranquillement pour rouvrir les adoptions internationales.

De notre correspondant à BRUXELLES – Depuis près de 3 mois, l’Office Roumain pour les Adoptions (ORA) travaille à modifier la loi 273 de l'année 2004, loi qui avait arrêté la traite des enfants en provenance de Roumanie vers d'autres pays, sous le couvert des adoptions internationales.
Les fonctionnaires de l'ORA n'ont pas agi de leur propre chef, mais avec le soutien de groupes d'intérêt aux Etats-Unis, en Italie, en France et d'autres pays.

Voci la traduction intégrale en anglais de l'article "Orfanii români, pregătiţi de export în UE" publié le 20 octobre 2009 dans le journal roumain Jurnalul National.

 

European Commission and Romanian Office for Adoptions quietly force to reopen international adoptions.

REPORTING FROM BRUSSELS - Romanian Office for Adoptions prepares since almost 3 months to modify law 273 of 2004, the law that stopped the trafficking of children from Romania to other countries, under the guise of international adoptions.

ORA officials have not acted on their own, but with the support of interest groups in the U.S., Italy, France and other countries.

By  Mircea Opris. 20/10/2009

 

These groups were used by a Directorate of the European Commission, which will hold a conference for the reopening of international adoptions from Romania, on 31 November and 1 December in Strasbourg.

 

The European Commission requires changing of the law, imposed by itself as a condition of our entry in the EU. Jurnalul National was able to look into the corridors of these international operations, with the help of a source inside the European Commission, whose identity we will protect for understandable reasons.

 

ROMANIANS WAITED FOR THE RESIGNATION OF THE GOVERNMENT

The Romanian Office for Adoptions paved the way for amendments to the law prohibiting international adoptions since the summer, when they organised two conferences, both held in Timisoara. The first took place in early September and referred to the rights of the adopted child. Here were assembled all the directors of the child protection directorates in the country for a central database for the adoption process, data about the number of adoptable children and of adoptions in process. A second conference was also held in Timisoara, away from the eyes of the EU mission in Bucharest.

In the period 27-30 September 2009, UNICEF Romania and the National Authority for Child Protection (ANPDC) organised the National Conference which opens the series of events dedicated to celebrating the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Attending were representatives ANPDC, DGASPC sites, UN agencies in Romania and other government institutions and NGOs.

 

Here, Romanian and international institutions, together with NGOs involved in adoptions have finalized, in order to promote later, by legislation the Integrated National Action Plan on Preventing and Combating Violence against children. Coordinators were Ileana Savu, Secretary of State at the ANPDC, and Edmond McLoughney, UNICEF Representative in Romania.

With only one day before the predictable failure of the Boc 2 Government, ORA proposes, through a Memorandum sent to the Government, to reopen international adoptions. The document prepared by ORA shows that during the four years of implementation of Law 273/2004, concerning the legal status of adoption, it was found that there are some categories of children who are "hard to adopt" because the regulatory framework in force does not identify appropriate solutions with a permanent character. The initiators of the document state that such a measure should be taken, having regard to provide equal opportunities for all children separated from their natural families, who can not be reintegrated and can not be adopted in Romania.

 

The role of "soldier of sacrifice" was for Secretary of State of the Romanian Office for Adoptions, Bogdan Panait, who said the reopening of international adoption will be done only in cooperation with accredited authorities of the respective States, in order to avoid corruption. He fails to convince why this memorandum was submitted to the government at a time when Romania has no government.

"I submitted the memorandum Monday morning before the vote of the motion (the fall of the government - sic). I do not know what will happen to it. I am in a hurry, it's one thing we wanted to submit for political debate and decision, and I think that this Government could discuss this Memorandum, "said Bogdan Panait. Clearly, ORA took advantage of political turmoil in Bucharest to demand a change of the law, to negotiate it with the next government to be appointed.

 

Approval of this Memorandum means practically the amendment of Law 273 on the rules of adoption. Some of negotiations with representatives of U.S. and EU countries, interested in adoptions from Romania could be possible to adopt the memorandum and adoption law. "When I came here, I had a discussion with the Prime Minister (Emil Boc - Sic). Of course, there were many complaints from families and international fury, but the discussion was to value and change the law.

 

Sure, he was not clear if it was about international adoption. I have taken up this mission. The modification was made. The law is ready for 99 percent, in the coming weeks it will be subjected to public debate and will be posted on the website. But from the context in which we made the changes to the law, I have concluded - and because of international protocols - that we can go ahead with the idea and start procedures for international adoption.

 

Sure, this is not a decision which I can make. And that’s why I made this Memorandum, a memorandum which is very neutral. It is up to the Government to decide to what extent it is the political moment, we have statistics, I mentioned the commitment of Romania in the field and the decision will be entirely to the government," said Bogdan Panait a few days ago. Interestingly, in early September, in an exclusive interview to Jurnalul National, the same Secretary of State said that "As long as I am the director of  ORA, if the government will ask me to find a solution to the international adoptions, for the moment at least, such thing is excluded".

Once more it will create the image that again we will trade, traffic and other dealings with children. In three or four years perhaps, but it is the responsibility the Romanian State must bear." Powered by internal and external pressure or not, Bogdan Panait had no patience for three or four years and urged the reopening of international adoptions as soon as possible.

 

 

SLAP FROM THE GOVERNMENT

 

Subtle movement to amend the Law 273, which became a mandatory condition of Romania’s accession to the EU, was dismantled by the Government that gave its last breath. On October 16, the Romanian Executive announced officially that it does not support the memorandum initiated by the Romanian Office for Adoptions, which proposes reopening the international adoptions. The Memorandum represents the point of view of the institution and is not endorsed by the Emil Boc Cabinet Emil, still in office. The Government had no discussion about this Memorandum and therefore has not taken any decision on this document.

Prime Minister still in office, Emil Boc, believes that current legislation in the field of international adoptions is in accordance with international law and European standards. The same view was exposed by former PSD Foreign Minister, Cristian Diaconescu.

 

ADOPTION MAFIA WORKS THROUGH THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

 

The European Commission and the Council of Europe have prepared the international conference "Challenges of the procedures for adoption in Europe", which originally was to be held on 26 and 27 November in Strasbourg. Beyond discussions of principle, the ultimate aim of the conference is to develop a joint recommendation that Romania should follow the Bulgarian model, which is to reopen international adoptions. Those of the European Commission and NGOs who oppose this idea immediately came into conflict with the organizers.

 

The website announcing the conference and where one could register was suspended and amended several times, and those interested to participate could not register. Subsequently, only NGOs approved by the organizers were informed by e-mail, and not at the official site of the conference, that the dates had changed and the conference would be held between November 30 and December 1. The worst thing is that the team of the European Commission in charge of organising the conference is not legally allowed to do so.

Specifically, the Directorate General for Justice, Freedom and Security of the European Commission, the unit E2 - Civil Justice, headed by the Finnish Salla Saastamoinen organises the conference. The coordinator of the organisational team is the Italian Patrizia De Luca, working in that directorate. According to the organigram of the European Commission, the Rights of the Child are part of the D1 of Directorate D of the European Commission, led by the Romanian Aurel Ciobanu-Dordea. Sources in the EC Directorate D told National Journal that this structure has no involvement in organising the conference in Strasbourg, although it is the only unit that has competence in children's rights in the European Commission.

 

The same source says that Directorate E2 violates the official regulations of the EU, more precisely the European Union anti-corruption policy, which states that a Directorate can not organise actions on issues that do not fall within their powers, conform the Communication on Anti-Corruption Policy, number 317 of 2003, addressed to the European Council and the European Parliament.

 

HOW TO SUBSTITUTE THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

 

The organisational team E2 of the Directorate of Justice has hired a private firm that bought an Internet domain, www.adoptionprocedure.net, announcing the upcoming conference. Normally, the conference should have been officially announced on the Internet pages of the European Commission and the Council of Europe. Subsequently, the team only had contact with organisations and NGOs who are in favour of reopening international adoptions and ignore all others and international media interested in this subject. Many last-minute changes were only announced on the website of the conference at the last minute, or not announced at all.

Jurnalul National managed exclusively to unveil the secrecy around this so important conference, even at the European Commission in Brussels, from a source working in the Directorate of Justice caught offside, ie unit E2. This source claims that postponing the conference has nothing to do with the submission of the Government memorandum of ORA in Bucharest, but that the new government which will be installed until the conference, November 30, could give a favourable opinion of the proposed change of Romanian Office for Adoptions.

 

To the conference no nongovernmental organization from Romania or from another country that is hostile to reopen international adoptions was invited, the ultimate goal of the meeting in Strasbourg.

"We invited to the conference those organizations that have a closer connection (they coincide with those that oversaw international adoptions in Romania until 2004 and continued lobbying for the reopening them – Sic.) and we can not invite everyone who registered or the press because the conference hall has only 150 seats. The website does not work all the time, because it is under construction, because the conference agenda and guest list is not yet complete.

 

From Romania only three guests will participate from State institutions. One of them, Bogdan Panait, director of ORA. I do not remember the name of the other two. We pay to participate, just travel and accommodation, for participants approved by us, with whom we worked, a total of 10 NGOs. Among them the Nordic Adoption, an umbrella association of 15 adoption agencies, very important in northern Europe and other organizations from France, and SERA, SERA whose leadership has moved to Geneva, International Social Service, and Amici dei Bambini in Italy.

So, from Romania will come only three guests from the State and Edmond McLoughney, UNICEF representative in Romania, who will speak on behalf of Romania, told us the source of the European Commission. Interestingly, the last topic of the conference will be "Towards a European policy on adoption ", where the case and experiences of Romania and Bulgaria will be analysed, and Frenchman Jean-Marie Cavada, Member of the European Parliament and a close associate of French pro-adoption lobby in Romania, will talk about a common adoption policy, because other countries have opened adoptions, only Romania has not done this, though is part of the European Union.

 

We will have a Hungarian adoptive parent who lives in Britain, who will speak about the problems he had when he adopted a child in Hungary. This conference is a sequel, a follow-up to the conference in 2006, when it was tried also to make Romania to understand how necessary it is to reopen international adoptions, as well as other EU countries. We will not solve the problem immediately, but the conference has to convince Romania that international adoption can be resumed, like in other EU countries, such as for example Bulgaria, which has responded positively to this request for international adoptions.

 

The fact that Romania has a law against international adoption is the fault of former European rapporteur for Romania, Baroness Emma Nicholson, who said that international adoption means trafficking in children. She used his influence to halt all adoptions and make the entry of Romania into the EU to stop adoptions. Now we try to convince Romania to re-open adoptions, like other countries in Europe,” our source in Brussels told us.

 

Via : All Children Have Rights - Brian Douglas.

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Les commentaires sur le site du journal roumain sont très violents. jurnalul.ro a fermé le forum : le journaliste et le rédacteur-en-chef ont reçu des menaces de mort.

 

Pays-Bas. "Enfants du Monde" arrête immédiatement les adoptions de l'Ethiopie, suite à un nouveau scandale.

L'organisme d'adoption le plus important aux Pays-Bas, Enfants du Monde, arrête immédiatement l'adoption d'enfants de l'Ethiopie à la suite d'un nouveau scandale.

 

Des recherches menées par l'organisation montre que les données sur les origines des enfants adoptés ne correspondent pas avec les données reprises dans les dossiers.

 

Ainsi dans plusieurs cas, il est apparut que les mères des enfants étaient vivantes alors qu'elles ont été déclarées mortes dans le dossier.

 

Ceci est encore un scandale de plus dans le monde de l'adoption. Récemment, Ina Hut, l'ancienne directrice d'Enfants du Monde avait démissionné après des intimidations du Ministre de la Justice suite aux enquêtes concernant les abus d'adoption en Chine.

Source : Wereldkinderen stopt per direct met adoptie vanuit Ethiopië. Netwerk.

 

Two Dutch Adoption Agencies Stop with Adoptions from Ethiopia

Adoption Agency, WERELDKINDEREN and STICHTING AFRIKA cancel adoptions from Ethiopia.

Newspaper TROUW published this weekend that the biggest Adoption Agency WERELDKINDEREN (Children of the World) and a small one will (temporarily) stops adoptions from Ethiopia.

Field research and analysis of relinquishment and adoption files in Ethiopia and in the Netherlands did show great concern about the practices of adoption and the legitimacy of adoptions from this country.

It has taken several years in the Netherlands since the closing of the Austrian Adoption Agency Family for You (an Euradopt member) was summoned by the Austrian government to close their doors due childtrafficking and childtrade for adoption from Ethiopia to Austria.

Euradopt partner Wereldkinderen was alert since this news and started their own investigation. An task which the Dutch government should have done as member of the Hague Treaty for Adoption. Now another adoption agency closed since the news of Wereldkinderen also their adoption channel from Ethiopia.

The Dutch government said not to do anything against this situation. At least not before Wereldkinderen finalised their investigation regarding the adoptions from Ethiopia. A remarkable comment from the Dutch Authorities since they prohibited the proposal for investigation in China recently. One of the reasons why former director of this agency decided to resign. It might be, that the interest for trade and diplomatic relationships with Ethiopia is less important for the Dutch government as with China.

This weekend 3-5 couples where preparing to depart to Ethiopia but have been informed not to go.

Source : UAI NEWS.

 

Repères

 

- La vraie face de l'adoption éthiopienne
Fly Away Children, un documentaire d'Andrew Geogheganqui, que tout le monde devrait regarder, particulièrement les personnes qui envisagent d'adopter un enfant de l'Éthiopie ou de tout autre pays en voie de développement.
Lire la suite

- L'Autriche arrête les adoptions provenant de...

au système de l'adoption aujourd'hui, l'Ethiopie semble rencontrer le même [...] Traduction non officielle, l'article original peut être lu sur TT.com En savoir plus - Adoption agency in child kidnap probe The Vienna-based organisation, [...]

Lire la suite

- Des éthiopiens condamnent la vente d'enfants...

2009-03-23 Ethiopians condemn the sale of children for adoption [...] La semaine dernière la CBC canadienne a donné la parole à des parents adoptifs [...]

Lire la suite

- L'association ”Family for you” à Vienne est...

2008-01-14 Adoption illégale: enquête du parquet L'association Family [...] dont la mère naturelle affirme qu'un collaborateur de Family for you est venu en Ethiopie et l'a persuadée de lui remettre sa fille moyennant de l'argent.

Lire la suite

- Adoption in Ethiopia

Capsule overview of adoption issues

News reports of adoption irregularities

The Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism

Trois articles en anglais sur le business mondial florissant de l'adoption internationale

Ecrits par des adoptés coréens, publiés dans le magazine Conducive de août/septembre 2009.

1. Transnational Adoption and the “Financialization of Everything”


L'adoption internationale est souvent considérée comme une relation mutuellement bénéfique entre les enfants ayant besoin d'un foyer et les adultes financièrement stables qui veulent élever un enfant. Mais c'est aussi une entreprise qui rapporte beaucoup d'argent. En accord avec le néolibéralisme, ou le vide des services gouvernementaux, de nombreux enfants adoptés sont nés de mères célibataires qui se voient proposer peu ou pas de ressources pour s'occuper de leurs enfants. Les agences d'adoption internationale ont comblé cette lacune en offrant des logements, et en faisant des profits dans le processus. La transformation de l'adoption en un business mondial crée une incitation supplémentaire à ne pas aider les mères, qui pourraient recourir à l'adoption en désespoir de cause, non par le désir. Les adoptés activistes travaillent à faire comprendre ce problème. En s'intéressant particulièrement à la Corée du Sud, l'auteur et co-fondateur de Truth and Reconciliation for the Adoption Community of Korea (TRACK), Jane Jeong Trenka soutient le processus devrait être réaménagé de manière à remettre l'argent et les décisions fatidiques là où ils devraient: avec les mères et leurs enfants. TRACK travaille actuellement avec le gouvernement coréen pour que les voix des parents biologiques et des adoptés coréens soient entendus dans les révisions des lois d'adoption de la Corée du Sud.

2. EDITORIAL Trading in Babies

 

L'adoption transnationale est une entreprise mondiale florissante. Son succès et le manque de réglementation ont créé un mobile lucratif pour le trafic d'enfants. Écrivaine, activiste et cinéaste, So Yung Kim recommande de réorganiser l'industrie de l'adoption transnationale afin de protéger les droits des enfants. Les adoptés nationaux et internationaux se réunissent déjà pour discuter des options et pour s'associer sur les questions politiques. Kim propose également plus de coalitions entre les groupes des adoptés et d'autres groupes d'action luttant pour les droits fondamentaux de tous les peuples.

3. EDITORIAL International Adoption and the Fight for Human Rights



L'adoption internationale est devenue tranquillement un business lucratif. Alors que les agences d'adoption internationale voudraient sans doute la maintenir telle quelle, les adoptés adultes internationaux posent aujourd'hui des questions. Ils participent au débat sur à qui la pratique sert en fait de meilleurs intérêts, ou à qui elle devrait servir: l'adoptant ou l'adopté? Jetant un coup d'œil critique à la pratique de l'adoption internationale, président de United Adoptees International http://uai-news.blogspot.com/, Hilbrand Westra explore les chevauchements inquiétants des pratiques du marché libre et des justifications religieuses, et énonce des solutions pour une réforme juridique pratique. Westra montre la puissance d'un groupe naissant de voix des adoptés qui façonne ce qui était autrefois considéré comme une inégalité inévitable.

Publié par Kim Myung-Sook sur Fabriquée en Corée.

"En Occident, le désir d'enfants et les intérêts économiques l'emportent lourdement sur l'intérêt de l'enfant."

Ina HUT, directrice de Wereldkinderen, la plus importante agence pour l'adoption internationale aux Pays-Bas.

 

Source : Trouw. 19 août 2009.

 

 

L'argent joue un rôle trop important dans l'adoption internationale.


Ina Hut, la directrice d'Enfants du Monde la plus grande agence d'adoption aux Pays-Bas, dit qu'elle est lasse de la bataille et très désillusionnée par tous les méfaits qu'elle a trouvé par hasard au cours des dernières années sur la façon dont les choses sont gérées dans le monde de l'adoption internationale des enfants.

Source : Money plays too big a role in adoption.
Ina Hut says she is battle-weary and very disillusioned by all the wrongs she has come across over the past years.
Radio Netherlands / Expatica. 6 septembre 2009.

Pays-Bas. La directrice de l'organisme d'adoption "Wereldkinderen" démissionne après des intimidations.

La directrice de la plus importante agence d'adoption aux Pays-Bas démissionne après des pressions du gouvernement néerlandais de se tenir à l'écart des scandales de l'adoption en Chine.

 

[Via United Adoptees International - News]

Ina Hut, la directrice d'Enfants du Monde, dit que l'Autorité Centrale des Pays Bas l'a forcée à renoncer à toute enquête concernant les scandales de l'adoption en Chine car cela pourrait endommager les relations avec les Pays-Bas.

 

En raison de la relation difficile entre Mme Hut et le gouvernement hollandais, pour garder une vue d'ensemble transparente du processus d'adoption, dans une interview à la télévision, elle a déclaré qu'elle ne pouvait plus continuer son travail avec une conscience claire, et particulièrement concernant les adoptions chinoises.

 

... ...

The final push for Hut to resign was 'Black Thursday', 11 of June this year. The day, when it became clear, that the parliament choose for the interest of would be-parents and the homo-lobby in the Netherlands. After the intimidation of Hut by employees of Ministry of Justice last year to stop 'nosing around' regarding the Chinese adoptions and Black Thursday, Hut's patience was over and she decided to step down and resigned.


With Huts resignation, The Netherlands, and the international adoption community, will loose an important 'whistleblower', says dr. Pien Bos from University Nijmegen this morning in Trouw. Not everybody is regretting that Hut leaves Wereldkinderen. Adoptive parents already responded this morning, to be happy, to see Hut go. Some responded harsh and said that her resign is a relief for would be- and adoptive parents and that Hut was bad for the adoption world.


United Adoptees International finds Huts resignation more as pity, while "Wereldkinderen", under management of Hut, changed views from a pure adoption agency (deliverer) to an organisation with heart and mind for adoptees and children. But this stance and view was not welcomed by many organisation and adoption agencies in the Netherlands and abroad. With Hut's statement and resignation, Ina Hut is the first director of an adoption agency in the world, who resigned due the opposition of would be-parents, the homo-lobby and the pressure of governmental bodies to keep the truth behind.


That Ms. Hut decided, more or less was forced, to go, is a very bad signal about the present adoption culture in the Netherlands and abroad. American tactics in all levels of the adoption world has been penetrated in the Netherlands and this is not only worrying but should raise a red flag. It is clear, with Huts resignation, that it is not longer about the interest of children but about the power of the right to get a child. The days of helping children with a clear consciousness is over. Adoption became an industry and no one is willing to fight this practice says Joan Hansink, spokeswoman of United Adoptees International.

Adoption boss says ministry puts trade before children

The head of the Netherlands' largest adoption agency has announced her resignation in response to what she describes as intimidation by the Justice Ministry.

Speaking in Tuesday's edition of the current affairs television programme Netwerk, adoption agency director Ina Hut said the Justice Ministry had threatened to withdraw the agency's licence if it continued its investigations into allegedly corrupt adoption practices in China.

Homes for orphans
Wereldkinderen works to provide homes for orphans from Africa, Asia and Latin America. In Tuesday's Netwerk, Ms Hut said that when she joined the agency in 2003 she was under the impression that adoptions were carried out in the interests of children. However, she was shocked at what she discovered. Her concerns at the practices in international adoption were enough for her to stop an adoption procedure of her own.

In 2005 a series of adoption scandals began to emerge in the Netherlands. The demand in Western countries was reported to be fuelling a trade in adoption children in countries like India, Colombia and Romania. There were claims that children were being kidnapped and sold for adoption. When Ina Huts heard that money had also been changing hands for adoption children in Hunan, China, she called on the Justice ministry to investigate the matter.

Corrupt practices
The Justice Ministry contacted the Chinese government and was given assurances that none of the children involved in the scandal had been adopted in the Netherlands, and all were genuine orphans. Those responsible for the corrupt practices had been prosecuted and measures had been put in place to prevent such things happening in future.

However, in 2008 Netwerk again featured a report claiming that local authorities in China were taking children away from their parents to sell them on for adoption.  A Chinese orphanage director confirmed that children were sold to the orphanage willing to pay the highest price.

Ministerial pressure
In response, Wereldkinderen proposed to carry out its own undercover investigation in China. But Ina Huts says she was approached by Justice Ministry officials who pressurised her to put a stop to the inquiry in the interests of relations with the country. Wereldkinderen falls under Justice Ministry supervision, and the officials allegedly threatened to withdraw the agency's licence if it refused to comply.

Ms Huts says she concludes that the Justice Ministry consistently puts trade considerations before the interests of children. In a statement she says, "Particularly in recent years I observed that [...] both in the Netherlands and at international level, economic and diplomatic considerations often prevail above the interests of children."

The Justice Ministry denies that any pressure was put on Ms Huts. The ministry says its objections to Wereldkinderen's investigations were that they were to be carried out under cover. It says this is unacceptable given the agency has an official relationship with the ministry.

"It could have unintentional consequences for cooperation with China," runs the ministry statement, "in the first place in the field of adoption, but also concerning other relations."

Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Repères

- Bébés de la Chine vendus pour l'adoption
Des dizaines de bébés-filles dans le sud de la Chine auraient été enlevés de leurs parents qui avaient enfreint les lois de la [...] Un orphelinat au sud-ouest de la Chine a été accusé de retirer des enfants de leurs [...]
Lire la suite

- Au moins un enfant chinois volé adopté réside...
qu'un cas d'adoption illégale est jusqu'à présent avéré et que des enquêtes sont en cours tant en Belgique qu'en Chine. Le numéro de téléphone du service adoption de la Communauté française est accessible pour les parents qui souhaitent [...]
Lire la suite

- Chine: L'industrie de l'abandon des nourrissons
qui décrit la façon dont le programme d'adoption internationale est détourné par les autorités locales qui arrachent à leurs parents des nouveaux-nés à la [...] Research-China.Org translated an article, Manufacturing abandon infants, [...]
Lire la suite

- Adoptions en Chine. Les autorités enlèveraient...
ChristenUnie veut un débat urgent avec le ministre Hirsch Ballin de la Justice au sujet de cette affaire et estime que les adoptions venant de la Chine [...] Les organisations d'adoptions aux Pays-Bas sont préoccupées depuis plusieurs années [...]
Lire la suite

 

Haut niveau de pression externe sur la Roumanie. Les États-Unis et l'Union Européenne forcent pour la réouverture des adoptions internationales.

Ceci est la traduction intégrale en anglais de l'article "PRESIUNI EXTERNE LA NIVEL ÎNALT - SUA şi UE forţează redeschiderea adopţiilor internaţionale" publié le 23 juillet 2009 dans le journal roumain "Jurnalul National".

L'article a aussi été traduit en français par Kim Myung-Sook et publié sur son blog Fabriquée en Corée.

 

High Level External Pressure.
USA and EU force reopening international adoptions.

 

Jurnalul National came into possession of an official document of the U.S. Congress, in which 8 senators and 13 members of the American Congress ask the Romanian Government, since May, to reopen international adoptions. In parallel, the Committee on the Rights of the Child has given the same "advice" following the presentation of the country report of Romania in Geneva on June 5.


American lobby by the hands of Ms. Hilary Clinton

Romania has become the target of pressure from some interest groups and some foreign NGOs that fight for more than about 5 years to re-open international adoptions from Romania.

In fact, foreigners require the changing of Law 273 of 2004, which brought the regulations necessary to resume international adoptions after a suspension of over three years by the moratorium since 2001. The new law, however, accepts that  children can only be adopted by foreigners who are relatives of the children.

Trafficking in children, unable to stop

Last week has come to light a new scandal concerning the illegal adoption of two Romanian minors in Italy, which has reopened the issue of international adoptions, a real battleground between the National Authority for Protection of Child Rights and several members of the European Commission, on the sidelines, and several private groups in the U.S. and EU which require reopening pressure through adoptions made at the highest level, from Western governments to the Romanian authorities. Exclusively Jurnalul National shows you an incredible document, bearing the letterhead U.S. Congress and signed by 20 U.S. senators and congressmen.

The letter, non published until, has been given to the Foreign Minister, Cristian Diaconescu, by U.S. Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, in May, when Diaconescu was at an official visit overseas. On top of that, although the document bears the heading U.S. Congress, the signatories declare to be members of a NGO, "The Congressional Coalition on Adoption".

Although the 21 signatories state functions congressmen and senators, they claim to be a simple group of American citizens who require a change to Law 273, which forbids international adoptions of Romanian children. The letter contains two misinformations: the number of children "adoptable" in the U.S. is not 60 thousand, but 129 thousand, according to international statistics, as regards the fate of 84 thousands of Romanian children, the figure is exaggerated, it includes all children who are included in the system of child protection, reintegration into their families or are in family care in Romania.

It has to be said that the Coalition, a private body whose members are senior U.S. politicians, is an initiative of Mary Landrieu, a signatory of the letter, the U.S. senator who has strongly demanded in recent years to resume adoptions from Romania.

In July 2006, when President Traian B?sescu visited the United States Senator Mary Landrieu introduced successfully, to vote in the U.S. Senate Resolution 359, which relates only to the ban on international adoptions by the Romanian authorities. And Hilary Clinton was involved in the issue of adoption of children from Romania and Croatia. In 1995, when she was the American First Lady, she spoke in favour of the adoption of 28 children, through the foundation of a Californian pastor, Wayne Coombs, whose organization, Adams Children's Fund, had no license for international adoptions.

ROMANIA FACES INTERNATIONAL OFFENSIVE

The same pressures have resulted in recommendations for the Child Protection Committee of the UN, made following the submission of the country in Geneva from June 5, which was submitted by the Romanian delegation headed by State Secretary Ileana Savu, director of the National Authority for Child Protection. It recognized that external attempts to change legislation forcing Romanian.

Despite bans in force, Ileana Savu leans towards a compromise with countries wishing to adopt children from Romania. "There were and there is pressure. The issue concerns us, but especially to the Romanian Adoptions Office. We have found a new system for national and international adoptions. If we claim we are an EU member state, then we must find mechanisms to control what happens to our children, even if it be adopted in other countries and is not abused. It is okay to forbid a law, that of adoption, so just because we want us. have been pressure from the 90s and are still pressures, especially for children who are already in other countries that can legally remain there, " he said Ileana Savu.

Foreign Minister Cristian Diaconescu, said, exclusively for the National Official, that Romania will keep its position on the issue of international adoptions under current law. He admitted meeting and veracity of the document received from Hilary Clinton in May, meeting with the foreign ministers of Hungary and Serbia, the last Saturday, from Timisoara. "Both in terms of regulations and how they have implemented and the international relations of Romania has not anything new, so it is clear that this view does not intend to make any change we" he said.


CHILDREN, INSTRUMENT OF POLITICAL BLACKMAIL

International adoptions have become a hot topic immediately after Romania suspended this procedure in 2001. Since then, several Western governments have pressed Romanian politicians for the reopening of such adoptions, particularly through non-governmental organizations, through American congressmen and French, Italian, Spaniard and Germans Euro-parliamentarians, but also by other EU Member States . For example, reopening the international adoptions was "2" on the agenda of talks between Romanian officials and former state secretary of the U.S., Colin Powell, before the acceptance of Romania into political NATO.

Another demonstration of force was made by Silvio Berlusconi, in 2003, when he forced the hand of then Prime Minister, Adrian Nastase, for adoption by Italy of 105 children, although the moratorium signed by Romania forbade this. Interest groups have used the accession to the European Union, to ask repeatedly, to agree with the adoption of children by families in other countries.

The European Commission did a tough battle to halt international adoptions, after it emerged many cases where children were abused or have become victims of trafficking in children. The corridors of these pressures and the European Commission’s fight with the "black market of international adoptions" by foreign NGOs and politicians have been disclosed by Roelie Post, who coordinated the work for child protection in Romania, for the European Commission between 1999 and 2006. The details of this fierce lobbying and blackmail to which Romania has been subject to re-open international adoptions are presented in her book, "Romania - For Export Only, the untold story of the Romanian orphans", a book that got no attention whatsoever in our country.

 

Sources : Romanian Jurnalul National, The Sofia Echo, Terre des Hommes.

 

Les États-Unis demande à nouveau à la Roumanie la libre circulation (commerce) de ses enfants.

Le Congrès des États-Unis, c'est maintenant connu, a donné une lettre officielle au Ministre des Affaires Etrangères de la Roumanie alors qu'il était en visite de travail aux États-Unis en mai dernier, demandant la réouverture des adoptions intercontinentales en Roumanie.


Le fait que cette lettre officielle remise au Ministre Cristian Diaconescu par la Secrétaire d'État américaine Hillary Clinton a été signée par des personnes qui se déclarent membres d'une ONG, sous le nom de "Coalition du Congrès sur l'adoption", montre que même aujourd'hui, au plus haut niveau, le commerce des enfants masqué comme adoptions intercontinentales est admis aux États-Unis.


Source : Brian Douglas. Director RCHF. All Children Have Rights. 26 juillet 2009.

 

La Russie bannit 113 agences d'adoption américaines.

Le ministère russe de l'Enseignement et de la Science a interdit aux organes compétents des régions russes d'accepter les demandes d'adoption transmises par 113 organisations américaines non accréditées en Russie, a annoncé la porte-parole du ministère Alina Levistkaïa.

 

Selon le ministère, 16 enfants russes sont morts au cours des 17 dernières années dans le cadre d'adoptions par des étrangers.

 

"Aujourd'hui nous n'avons pas reçu les rapports concernant 376 enfants russes. Dans la liste (des parents ne satisfaisant par les engagements), on en trouve pas une seule organisation américaine accréditée en Russie. Il ressort que celles qui sont accréditées respectent leurs engagements, les autres 113 restantes, non", a-t-elle fait savoir.

 

Les personnes ayant adopté un enfant en Russie doivent envoyer des rapports cinq, 11, 23 et 26 mois après l'adoption, avec des informations concernant son développement, sa santé, ses conditions de vie et ses contacts avec son entourage.

 

Suite à une récente rencontre entre des représentants du ministère et la secrétaire d'Etat américaine adjointe Michele Bond, la partie américaine se serait engagée à lever les questions en suspens concernant ces organisations.

 

Les parties ont en outre convenu de signer un accord russo-américain sur l'adoption d'enfants russes, permettant de réglementer les obligations des parents adoptifs américains.

 

"Il serait bon qu'un tel document soit signé par l'Espagne, la France, la Finlande et l'Irlande", a déclaré la porte-parole du ministère.

 

Source: RIA Novosti. 15 juillet 2009.

 

Repères

 

- Les sénateurs de Russie appellent à suspendre les adoptions d'enfants russes par des Américains.
Source : Ria Novosti. 18.12.2008

 

- L'adoption internationale se plie de plus en plus aux lois du « marché ». Cela peut mener à de nombreuses dérives. Des associations dénoncent l’emprise de l’argent sur l’adoption.
...
En Russie par exemple, il existe des « facilitateurs » qui font payer des honoraires parfois exorbitants pour mettre en relation une famille avec un orphelinat. Très souvent aussi, il faut verser une somme supplémentaire destinée à financer des projets humanitaires ou de protection de l'enfance dans le pays d'origine. Celle-ci peut être directement versée à l'autorité centrale du pays ou à l'organisme officiel qui a servi d'intermédiaire, une pratique qu'EFA (Enfance et familles d’adoption) considère comme « normale ».
...
Source: La Croix. 28.09.2008.

Confier les enfants éthiopiens aux Occidentaux ou tout faire pour les laisser grandir chez eux ?

Mariama, la nouvelle volontaire pour l’adoption internationale, le "Peace Corps à la française" créé par Rama Yade, est arrivée en Ethiopie, le deuxième pays où les Français adoptent.

Au consulat d’Addis-Abeba, les fonctionnaires ravis se sont un peu emmêlés les pinceaux en accueillant cette grande jeune fille aux cheveux en pétards. « Ah voilà, notre VIA ! » (Volontariat International en Administration). Mariama sourit, très pro, serre les mains, imagine déjà où elle va installer son bureau. En réalité, elle est une VAI, un sigle encore tout neuf pour les employés des ambassades : Volontaire pour l’Adoption Internationale.

 

Embarquée dans les valises de Rama Yade pour un voyage officiel en Ethiopie durant ce week-end de Pâques 2009, cette jeune métisse de 31 ans papa guinéen, maman hollandaise n’allait pas se formaliser pour un sigle écorché : elle est la seule (La journaliste a oublié Elodie Chemarin qui est déjà en Ethiopie depuis février 2009), parmi les dix premiers volontaires missionnés dans les pays où les Français adoptent, à avoir la chance de faire un voyage de repérage avec la secrétaire d’Etat aux Droits de l’homme.

« Je vais avoir du boulot »

Il faut dire que l’Ethiopie est un « gros morceau » du programme si cher à Rama Yade, pour ce réseau de volontaires comparables à des Peace Corps américains, chargés de tendre la main aux associations sur le terrain, très en amont de l’adoption. Cet Etat mythique de la corne de l’Afrique est devenu, sans bruit, le deuxième pays où les Français adoptent, derrière Haïti. Et à voir les dossiers dans des cartons alignés dans le bureau du consul, le nombre de visas accordés enfle tous les ans… Ce qui soulève beaucoup d’espoir chez les 30 000 candidats à l’adoption en France et inquiète ceux qui pensent aussitôt « dérives » .

 

« Je ne suis pas là pour augmenter ou faire baisser ce chiffre, précise d’emblée Mariama. Ma mission sera d’harmoniser, d’être une sorte de pont pour que tout le monde soit rassuré. » Dans les orphelinats, les associations et les ONG, « sister Mariama » est accueillie avec espoir, sympathie et un peu de circonspection par des messieurs fiers de montrer les cases en parpaings fraîchement balayées où les enfants jouent avec des Barbie démantibulées, les salles de classes sommaires remplies de bouilles sombres mangées par des grands yeux craquants.

 

«Il y a du chauffage ? » s’inquiète la jeune volontaire en visitant le dortoir d’un orphelinat pour les 5-12 ans où vingt lits superposés sont alignés sous le regard de la Vierge Marie. « Je découvre. Trente-deux filles dans une même pièce, c’est beaucoup… ».
Au final, 5 % seulement seront adoptées. « Les Américains, les Français, les Espagnols, ils veulent tous des petits », soupire le directeur. Mariama sait que ce sera compliqué. Penser aux enfants, à ce qui est le mieux pour eux. En Ethiopie, le taux de fécondité des femmes tourne autour de six enfants. Et leur espérance de vie plafonne à 43 ans.

 

Des milliers, peut-être des millions d’enfants sont orphelins. Mais il y a aussi des enfants des rues qui pourraient, moyennant un soutien à des associations, réintégrer leur famille d’origine. Même les Ethiopiens ne sont pas d’accord sur le bon choix : confier leurs enfants aux Occidentaux ou tout faire pour les laisser grandir chez eux ?
« Je vais avoir du boulot », concède Mariama, qui entrera en fonction dans un mois.

Source: Le Parisien. 14.04.2009

 

Repères

- Adoption in Ethiopia
Capsule overview of adoption issues
News reports of adoption irregularities
The Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism

129.000 enfants américains sont actuellement en attente d'adoption.

Is international adoption about passion or trend ?

Just last week Madonna was denied the option to adopt a Malawi child, and as a result, blogs and commentary boards are abuzz on whether celebrities should adopt from overseas.

 

There's nothing wrong with giving a child a home, stable environment and loving parents. Does Madonna really have to adopt internationally to help a child become a productive adult? My first thought goes to all the children in the U.S. who are without mothers and fathers and are awaiting someone like a Madonna or Angelina Jolie to come in and sweep them out of the system.

 

According to the Dave Thomas Foundation, 129,000 American children are currently awaiting adoption. And while 79,000 children were approved for adoption last year, only 51,000 found homes through the foster care system, leaving 28,000 American children without adoptive families last year alone.

 

I'm not knocking the process and the intention, but why not seek a domestic adoption before heading overseas?

 

The Adoption Guide Web site breaks the financial costs:

- The majority of domestic newborn adoptions cost less than $25,000, while more than 75 percent of international adoptions cost more than $20,000.

- The majority of adoptions from Ethiopia and China cost between $15,000 and $25,000.

- The majority of adoptions from Russian and Guatemala cost more than $30,000.

 

Money may not be an object for Madonna, but what if she adopted locally and used whatever money she would have spent on adopting the Malawian girl on a charity?

 

I don't know what the time frame is on domestic adoptions versus international adoptions, but I recall one blog post stating some countries are tightening the laws making it difficult to adopt if the prospective parents are from another country. Is it really worth the hassle if you have children at home in dire needs as well?

 

What's the old saying? Oh, yeah. "Charity starts at home."

 

E-mail: [e-mail].

Source : Hattiesburg american.

 

En Ukraine, le Département de l'Adoption subit des pressions énorme. Liudmila Volynets.

"Adoption Department is under terrific pressure” – says Liudmila Volynets

 
Head of the Ukraine’s State Department for Adoption informs about progress and problems of this government agency.
Ministry of Ukraine for Family, Youth and Sport is currently summing up the results of National Adoption Support Year. The Minister in charge Yuri Pavlenko is proud to state that the number of adopted children has finally exceeded the number of bereaved ones

 

According to the year results, 19,554 of orphaned children and children devoid of parental care have found families. It was in the year 2008, that the number of children adopted by citizens of Ukraine climbed above two thousand; fourteen of them were HIV-positive. "These children have finally implemented their right to be upbrought in Ukrainian families” – observed Pavlenko. “The ministry staff feel hopeful that the positive trend remains unchanged, and they have a good reason for that: nearly a thousand and five hundred applications have lately been filed by the Ukrainians, intending to adopt.”

 

Besides, it would be instructive to recall that last year the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine voted in favour of the amendments to the law “On the State Aid to Families with Children” and “On the Introduction of Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts”. This law provides a lump-sum benefit of 12, 240 hryvnias for the adopting family; the same amount of money is usually paid as a first child maternity grant. The Cabinet of Ministers has also established a work procedure to be followed by guardianship and custody bodies as they promote and safeguard the rights of children; as well as the procedure for adoption and the subsequent monitoring of the adopted children’s rights implementation. As a result, on and after the 1st of December the adoption procedure substantially changed. Among the most welcome changes is the access to information on children who are available for adoption. The law stipulates that the information has to be disseminated through mass media in order to make it accessible for the public. The categories of children available for adoption have also been clearly determined, the legal basis and relevant documents have been specified. And furthermore, officials at all levels are now personally liable for every particular child’s destiny.

 

Sure enough, the Department staff speak not only of the accomplishments, but also of problems. For instance, some officials and public figures extensively criticize the measures taken by the government as well as the state policy in the field of children’s rights protection. But most of the trouble has been caused by middlemen, who allegedly help foreign families to adopt Ukrainian children and charge $30,000-$50,000 for their services. This is precisely what gives rise to talk of public officers’ supposedly corrupt practice. “They come to the Department and make impudent demands. The system that appears to have been formed in the early nineties has penetrated deep into the country and affected boarding schools, orphanages and maternity hospitals”- says Yuri Pavlenko. But international adoption can by no means be prohibited! There have been numerous examples of foreign families giving no less than a new life and new opportunities to special needs children with severe disabilities. “However, we clearly give a higher priority to the national adoption”- goes on the minister. “If a foreign family and a Ukrainian one are willing to adopt one and the same child, the preference will decidedly be given to the citizens of Ukraine. This is what a moratorium year is meant for. Therefore, according to statistics we have no children less than three years old available for adoption. Foreign families adopt either children over 7 years old or severely disabled ones.”

 

Liudmila Volynets, the head of the State Department for Adoption and Protection of Children’s Rights, tells that the Hague Convention would be a great benefit in the matter of a full-fledged protection for children adopted by foreign families, and counteraction to corrupt middlemen. Unfortunately, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has already three times failed to ratify the Hague Convention.

Liudmila Semenovna, the National Adoption Support Year has already elapsed. What kind of a year was it for you?

The year results are habitually evaluated in figures, and we have positively succeeded in making these figures grow; yet I here would like to mention something entirely different. My primary objective is to make changes in mass consciousness of Ukrainian society; that is to alter people’s attitude about children who got into trouble and to develop their willingness to help. I am sure that all Ukrainians have become changed people in the course of past three years. Incidentally, “The All-Ukrainian Forum of Adoptive Parents" was there to persuade the public that there are people who are prepared to voluntarily commit themselves to giving orphans care and upbringing, and they are not scarce. It may be said that we are not the kind of people we sometimes seem to be. There are so many good people among us! We do have something to be proud about. Hence that is the major result of the year for me. Actually, as we held an opinion poll, it has been found that 14% of Ukrainians think themselves ready to adopt orphans into their families. Many of them are friends and acquaintances of people who have already made this important move. And it means that the more children are adopted and fostered, the more families are willing to adopt. It could be compared to a stone dropped into a pool of water generating many circular waves. Yet I regret to say that we have not exactly been successful in inspiring people to openly speak about the adoption of a child and the other people to look with favour on this fact. Meanwhile, we are unable to escape the absurd known as adoption secrecy.

 

This is exactly what I wanted to ask: does the adoption secrecy still exist? Are the guardianship authorities obliged to monitor the life of adopted children in their new families?

Adoption secrecy law is still in place. Adoptive parents have the right to preserve adoption secrecy, yet they may decide for themselves whether to keep it or not. Unlike parents, the officials are obliged to keep the information secret. Meanwhile, it makes families’ monitoring easier. For instance, a District Education Department representative can come and see a demonstration lesson. While sitting in class, the child will have no notion that it's him or her who this person has come to look at. Therefore, one needs to understand the way monitoring is performed. And we teach this understanding to public employees.

Minister Yuri Pavlenko spoke lately about pressure that is being put on you personally by people who deem the state’s adoption policy inadequate.
I can not discuss the matter at this very moment. Yet I have already filed a lawsuit to defend my hohour, dignity and professional reputation.

 

That means the pressure does exist, am I right?

 

Yes, you are. There is terrific pressure. Nevertheless, I would rather not give actual examples as long as each of the parties should be able to speak their respective minds, but I would like to highlight that the pressure is appalling. To begin with, the pressure is being exerted by foreign citizens that come to Ukraine to adopt a child. Their infertility has caused them a lot of suffering, so they are desperate to take action; they have travelled a long way to Ukraine and they must needs adopt. Still, they are often not very well prepared for the adoption and set forth fanciful conditions. And the children who have been orphaned and need to be adopted are not able to comply with their demands. For example, last week we received a family from Netherlands; they came to Ukraine to adopt twin boys less than three years old. According to their ideas, we were obliged to find them by any means. This example is the most telling one, it reveals that the prospective adoptive parents do not very well comprehend that we are not to be subject to their whims. Our Department’s primary objective is to find a family for the child, not a child for the family. Unfortunately, we have to spend most of our working hours on these wishes-to-be-met rather than work.

Another source of pressure comes from the family members that stay at home; they understand that in Ukraine young and healthy children are not available for adoption by foreigners, so they make the situation more difficult by encouraging the prospective parents to put forward demands, file complaints and brawl in order to attain their aim. All this continual instigation is downright unpleasant.

 

Officials are also putting pressure on the Department, aren't they?

 

I can show you a letter from the USA Ambassador in Ukraine; I received it through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I take it only as being pressed. Call it what you will, but when one receives a complaint being him- or herself the object of that complaint and being asked to take adequate measures – I call it pressure. The fact of the matter is that a voter turned to Senator M. MacConnell (the name of the voter being not specified) complaining of the Department administration’s prejudiced position towards the USA citizens. “According to his opinion, the present administration has set unfair limits so as not to let American citizens adopt Ukrainian children deprived of parental care,” – says the letter. The mentioned limits, though, have been established by law; specifically the law that limits the maximum age gap between the adopted child and the adoptive parent. The Ambassador goes on to say that against this background and inasmuch as repeated complaints have been filed by American citizens about inefficiency of the international adoption procedure, it should be mentioned that the represented facts do not contribute to the Ukraine’s positive image abroad. Mr. Ambassador has apparently failed to understand that debating current laws of Ukraine is beyond his scope of jurisdiction; we are to obey the law and not to discuss it. It is also not correct to write a letter of this kind omitting the name of the complaining person, since I am not given the opportunity to verify the made statements as to their correspondence to facts. How can I consider the problem and inform the Embassy of the obtained results?

 

Hence follows another important question: why do you think the Verkhovna Rada repeatedly fails to ratify the Hague Convention?

 

Ukraine lived through times (in the years 1994-1996)when it was found out that many children had been taken away from the country and no further information as to their whereabouts was available. As a result, moratorium was imposed on international adoption; some members of Ukrainian Parliament remember those times. I think this is the reason they are afraid of making changes, so as not to, God forbid, make matters worse. Sure enough, avoiding changes we shall aggravate the situation and make it even nastier than it was in mid-nineties. It must be understood that there is a procedure accepted by the global community! The Convention opponents keep assuring that pressure from the adopting countries will immediately follow. Aren’t we experiencing it now? Of course we are. We will feel pressure as long as the international adoption exists; any country unable to take care of its children will put them up for international adoption.

It should also be remembered that consideration of a draft law may be initiated only once over the Parliament convocation period. It failed to secure the necessary vote in 2006, but the Convention still has a chance since a new Parliament was elected in 2007.

 

So when will the Hague Convention be ratified after all?

 

The President has already introduced the law in draft for consideration of the Parliament. If the lawmakers get their work properly done, the law will be passed by the parliament in two or three months; Order of the Cabinet of Ministers will then be issued in another six months. And we would most like to make our way into the new decade with the new adoption procedure.

 

Is the middlemen’s access to the Department limited now?

 

Unfortunately, it is not. This kind of activity is permitted by article 243 of the Civil Code; as long as the article remains in its place, there’s no restraining them.

 

Have any middlemen been punished for their malpractice?

Everything is just on the contrary, they file complaints against us. Middlemen are individual persons and are therefore better protected than public officers.

 

Have any public officials been punished for bribetaking?

There was an episode of this kind in Kherson region. The judge of the Kherson Dneprovsky Court took a bribe and was caught red-handed by officers of the Security Service of Ukraine. Previously we received a claim from adoptive parents that money was being squeezed from them. It happened so that she was acquitted. Nevertheless, the public prosecutor who took part in that court session has already filed a cassation petition to the Supreme Court in order to falsify the judgement.

Do adoptive parents often report bribe demands?

 

There are more complaints against middlemen, than against public officers; most of the complaints are filed by foreign citizens. Consequently, if any case of corrupt practice becomes known to someone, this person should not hesitate to address his or her complaints to our Department. Yet foreigners often speak neither Ukrainian nor Russian language, so they cannot file a complaint. It usually happens like this: the Department employees say one thing; the middlemen translate for the foreigners something entirely different. The middlemen sometimes do not inform the adoptive parents of the child’s disabilities, or vice versa – present the child as a disabled one. In such a manner they present a diseased or disabled child as a healthy one, or hold the child for some other family.

 

Do you know these middlemen by sight?

They are always there at the Department door! They have become a part of our employees’ everyday life. Whereas the Hague Convention ratification would give us the basis for amending the legislation of Ukraine. We need adequate laws and time so as to establish order and eliminate the abnormal profits drawn by middlemen. They assure the foreigners that the money is needed for “communication" with public officers, but I am certain that no corrupt practice can ever be exercised in the State Department for Adoption and Protection of Children’s Rights.

 

Source : Orphanages of Zaporozhye, Ukraine