12 February 2014
ACT welcomes the indictment of four Employees of Adoption Agency ‘International Adoption Guide’. They were charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States in Connection with Ethiopian adoptions.
Already in 2009, ACT at the request of the Dutch adoption agency Wereldkinderen (N.I.C.W.O./aka World Children) did extensive research and came the similar conclusions as the US Justice Department’s Criminal Division:
The defendants are accused of obtaining adoption decrees and U.S. visas by submitting fraudulent adoption contracts signed by orphanages that never cared for or housed the children, thus undermining the very laws that are designed to protect the children and families involved,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman.
As today’s indictments show, the Justice Department, alongside its partners both here and abroad, will respond vigorously to these criminal schemes and will act to protect the many families and children who rely on the integrity of the adoption process.
The Bureau of Diplomatic Security uses its global presence to vigorously investigate any fraud related to the acquisition of U.S. visas,” said Assistant Secretary Starr. “The Department of State’s Bureaus of Consular Affairs and Diplomatic Security are firmly committed to working with the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and bring to justice people who victimize children and families by abusing inter-country adoption system and bribe officials to facilitate their actions.”
SEE FULL TEXT HERE: US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
ACT’s decided to make public the report FRUITS OF ETHIOPIA because of the lack of serious reaction of the Dutch Department of Justice.
Here the main finding of the research, strikingly similar to those of the US Department of Justice:
Overall, the current adoption system actively creates an unwarrantedly high number ofchildren available for adoption.
Intercountry adoption is in reality privileged to any other in-country suitable manner of care.Local child protection policies, while existing, are not implemented, while the intercountry adoption market is more and more taking control of the local childprotection, as well as the social and health sector.The adoption process is riddled by fraud and other criminal activities.
Parents are stated dead, whereas they are not, dates of birth are falsified, false information is provided to the Courts.
But most important: The demand-driven intercountry adoption process is breaking upfamilies, who could be helped in building up their lives with a fraction of the money involved in intercountry adoption.
Providing false information to the Courts is part of visa fraud. ACT is of the opinion that this should be considered child trafficking, but as we all know, it has as yet not been acknowledged as such.
But, we do congratulate the US Justice Department, and are looking forward to see more agencies charged.
Many other agencies were involved in similar criminal conspiracy. And not only in the US and the Netherlands. Who doesn’t remember the movie Mercy Mercy, see ACT’s OPERATION MERCY MERCY (and yes, we urgently need more funding, because the incredible resistance we face, costs time, resources & money).
Any authority interested in more details, feel free to contact us. We gladly cooperate, so that together,
YES WE CAN,
ACT Against Child Trafficking.
