Children abducted from Congo adopted in Belgium UPDATED
“At least three Congolese children, declared to be orphans and adopted in Belgium, in fact still have biological parents in their country of origin.
After abduction, they were taken away to an orphanage in Kinshasa. Upon arrival they were given false names.
This is reported today (Friday) in Het Laatste Nieuws.
Their adoptive parents in Belgium knew nothing of this.
The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office discovered that the children, who arrived in Belgium in 2015, had been taken.
They were given other identities and dates of birth. However it transpires that the children were not all intended for adoption.
Reporters from the publication Het Laatste Nieuws left in search of the biological parents and found them. The parents explained that they were given the chance to send their offspring to a campsite, via a youth organisation.
The children never returned from this “campsite”. Desperately cheated, the parents had no money to pay a lawyer.
The parents were no longer able to count on support from local authorities. The journalists say it appears that high-level civil servants are either involved in the child trafficking, or at the very least have decided to turn a blind eye.
When the authorities learned that reporters were abreast of events, these reporters were interrogated for three days.
After that they were freed when the Belgian Embassy intervened.
The children abducted came from an orphanage with which Julienne Mpemba is involved. She is a Begian-Congolese lawyer, originally from Namur.
In the past, Ms Mpemba has featured on a Socialist Party list during elections.
She was arrested last year in Belgium. She was set free by the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal, after six weeks in custody pending trial.
It turns out that, since 2013, Ms Mpemba and the orphanage have been liaising through Congolese human rights organisations. She is seeking to protect the interests of small children who are abducted.”
Children abducted from Congo adopted in Belgium
[The Brussels Times 5/5/17 by Lars Andersen]
Umm… Are they giving the children back to the biological parents??
REFORM Puzzle Piece
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Update: “Several adoptive parents who adopted from the Congolese orphanage, Tumaini, have decided to take civil action within the ambit of the criminal case.
As The Brussels Times has recently reported, this revolves around kidnapping children and human trafficking. These parents wish to collaborate with investigators and the Belgian authorities.This was indicated yesterday (Monday) by the barrister Georges-Henri Beauthier, who represents two of the families. This confirmed information which had already appeared in Le Soir.
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation into all of the adoptions from the Tumaini orphanage in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In November 2015, 11 Congolese children, declared to be orphans, arrived in Belgium.
However, at least three of them had a false identity and still had biological parents in their country of origin.
Mr Beauthier indicated, “The adoptive Belgian parents are devastated and wish to shed light on the sequence of events.”
The barrister went on, “The Belgian parents did not participate in this abduction, and have every wish to collaborate with the Belgian authorities in this matter.”
The families have therefore decided to bring a civil action as part of the criminal trial.
Moreover, the lawyer adds that the parents have proof of the production of false civil documents. He elaborates, “One of my clients received five different photographs in respect of the same adoption.”
The adoptive parents also point the finger at the Belgian organisations Sourires d’Enfants and Larisa, which have in fact merged in the meantime. These adoptive parents also blame the Central Community Authority responsible for the adoptions taking place.
The Belgian parents are accusing these parties of having invited them to yield to the financial and time demands of the Congolese orphanage.
Mr Beauthier goes on, “Complaints had, however, been voiced during previous adoption waves, and during such waves the Congolese press were then reporting cases of child abduction.”
He concludes, “We fail to understand how the given public services were able to vouch for the integrity of the system, and to force parents to make payments, whilst they [the authorities] knew of these problems.””
Suspect Congolese child adoptions: Belgian parents bring civil claims [The Brussels Times 5/16/17 by Lars Andersen]
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