Monday, April 16, 2012

Colombia: Government Accused of 'Kidnapping' Children for International Adoption

So says Colombia Reports:
Colombia's Family Welfare Institute "kidnaps" Colombian children by giving them up for adoption to foreign families against the will of their biological parents, several reports said.

In a program aired Sunday, television station Caracol told the story of a young boy named Steven who was born in Colombia but adopted by a Dutch family.

Steven's biological parents said he was taken from them against their will by the ICBF. The agency said Steven's original parents were unfit to care for him and that the state put the child up for adoption for his own safety. Colombia is one of the few countries where children can be placed with foreign families without the consent of their biological parents.

This is not the first time the ICBF has been accused of unjustifiably taking children from parents and sending them abroad. Colombian channel RCN TV and Colombian newspaper El Tiempo have run similar stories in the past.
So is there something corrupt happening in international adoption from Colombia? Sometimes we look at statistics to figure that out.  Is there a sudden spike in numbers, for instance?  Nope, not recently at least.  According to the State Department statistics, here are the adoptions from Colombia to the U.S. since 1999:
2011       216
2010       235
2009       238
2008       306
2007       309
2006       344
2005       287
2004       285
2003       272
2002       335
2001       265
2000       245
1999       231
So adoptions from Colombia seem to be on the same decline that the rest of international adoption is experiencing, no suspicious spike since one in 2002 and one in 2006.  So is there anything else in the statistics that are enlightening?

In terms of raw numbers, there are not that many adoptions from Colombia to the U.S. -- 216 in 2011, 235 in 2010.  But when compared to the rest of South & Central America?  Colombia is the only country with adoption to the U.S. in the hundreds. Last year, there were 32 adoptions from Guatemala, 30 from Nicaragua, 22 from Mexico, 13 from Peru, and 11 from Honduras.  No one else is even in double digits.  And Colombia is in the HUNDREDS.

Certainly seems suggestive. . . .

1 comment:

Antinette said...

Hi Malinda,

This is unrelated to this post, however, I really wanted your thoughts on this. This thread has been very active on the SN forum at the Rumor Queen site and has me reeling. I can't imagine what these families are going through and I'm wondering about what can be done legallly? Is the adoption final even if biological parents are found? I've copied the post here, which I hope is ok since the original poster put in out on a public forum. My heart goes out to all involved! I look forward to your comments, I regularly read your blog and appreciate your perspective.
Best,
Antinette

I wish......
« on: April 13, 2012, 12:01:56 AM »




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that China would try a little harder to reunite children with their birthparents before submitting paperwork for their adoptions.


When our son first came home he conveyed through a chinese friend of ours that he was not from Shanghai at all. He was on vacation with his family and got lost. My heart broke for him. He blamed himself for sneaking out to play. He was sad that he caused his family the heartache of losing him. A year ago, I sent a letter to a lawyer in Beijing asking if this scenario would be possible. He passed my letter on to his volunteers, the letter was syndicated in newspapers all over china and 3 months ago.... My sons birthparents found us. They have supplied us with his missing persons report which mentions the fact that they submitted DNA 3 months after he went missing. They were looking for him.. How could they not have found him?

How could this happen....How could he have ended up in an orphanage. How could they have really tried to find his birthparents,.. how are missing person reports and found child reports not cross referenced.... IN SHANGHAI?????? We are not talking about a remote village here.....

We are reeling












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Judy