Exclusive – Congolese Ban on Overseas Adoptions Fuels Smuggling of Children

 

Reuters, 28/10 15:48 CET

By Tom Esslemont and Kenny Katombe

LONDON/LUBUMBASHI, Democratic Republic of Congo (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – A crackdown on international adoptions by the Democratic Republic of Congo has spurred a black market in child smuggling, with Americans paying to get dozens of infants out across its jungle borders, the Thomson Reuters Foundation has found.

More than 80 Congolese children have been taken illegally out of the country in the past two years, testimony shows, with adoptive parents paying networks of local brokers.

Concerns over child smuggling emerged after President Joseph Kabila suspended exit permits for adopted children from the central African nation in September 2013, causing uncertainty for hundreds of children assigned to foreign families.

The Congolese authorities said the decision was taken due to concerns and investigations over child abuse in U.S. households, but campaigners say the move has created a lucrative trade in which children are smuggled across borders for a price.

Earlier this month, the U.S. State Department issued its most strongly worded public comment on the subject, warning U.S. adoptive families that “attempting to circumvent the exit permit suspension could have severe implications”.

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Source: Euronews