Netherlands suspends adoptions from abroad after evidence of abuses uncovered

The Dutch government has suspended all adoptions from foreign countries after a committee investigating intercountry adoptions found evidence of abuses and deliberate disregard of rules by some officials. According to a report released by the committee, which was investigating abuses that took place in the period from 1967 to 1998, abuses occurred mostly in five countries - Brazil, Bangladesh, Colombia, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. The abuses that have been established include coercion, corruption, child trafficking, kidnapping, baby farming, and concealing a child's identity.  

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'Government neglected abuses'

The committee said that the government neglected to interfere even though it had good reason to do so. The committee said that during the period under investigation there were serious abuses that took place and the government and intermediaries did not handle the abuses effectively. The report said that the government and intermediaries prioritised the interests of adoptive parents and therefore failed to protect the interests of either adoptees or their biological parents. 

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"Dutch intermediaries had been aware of abuses related to intercountry adoption. Intermediaries’ involvement in abuses varies. Although much of the intermediaries’ documentation has been destroyed, it has been demonstrated that they were aware of abuses and that some of them were involved in those abuses, either directly or through their staff on the ground. The abuses in question included self-enrichment, bypassing regulations such as for provisional residence permits in the Netherlands (MVV), altering information, and using fraudulent lawyers and other individuals who were known to have a dubious reputation," the report said. 

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The investigation in the matter was opened after reports of possible abuses concerning the adoption of children in the 1970s and 1980s, in which Dutch government officials might have been involved, emerged. The investigation was carried out by a committee headed by the Minister of Legal Protection Sander Dekker. The Minister on Monday tweeted, "It is painful that the government has not done what was expected of it. Adoptees deserve apologies, recognition for past mistakes, and our help in the present."

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