BRATISLAVA, October 4, (WEBNOVINY) — Members of the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee say that the time has come to draw criminal-prosecution responsibility in cases of international and forced adoptions of children from Slovakia. They said so in relation to the deputy inquiry in the Center for International Legal Protection of Children and Youth. According to the opposition SaS MP Lucia Nicholsonova, more than 100 cross-border adoptions of children from Slovak children’s homes took place without supervision of the commission responsible for pairing children with suitable parents. Today’s meeting of members of the committee was also participated by director of the center Andrea Cisarova, who said that at the instruction of the minister of labor, social affairs and family, an audit has started at the center with a goal to inquire into international adoptions.
Since more and more parents contact Nicholsonova, she decided to look into information from 357 files of international children adoptions. As she said the biggest number of children adopted from Slovakia end in Italy, which is the only country that is represented by a private company in international adoptions of children from Slovakia. According to the SaS MP, the disproportionate transfer of children to Italy has been carried out for at least ten years. For example, Austria has been claiming our children for a longer time but “we have not been able” to sign a contract with them for three years despite the fact that closeness to the mother country plays a significant role in this case. In this relation Nicholsonova has filed a criminal motion for children trafficking, and plans to turn to the Interpol and Italian police.
According to Nicholsonova, there are several reasons to inquire into international adoptions from Slovakia. One of them is concern that children from Slovak children’s homes do not end up in countries to which they have been sent. The second one is the suspicion that authorities sent them to foreign countries based on questionable criteria and eventually the fact that the center has not been monitoring the situation of children sent abroad as the law requires. The standard procedure is that they first try to find parents for orphans in Slovakia. If the state is unable to provide them with sufficient conditions to ensure their specific needs, they are sent to a foreign country. This process is supervised by an official commission. Nicholsonova says there have been 106 cases when children got abroad outside this commission and without documenting their problematic health conditions. She learnt about cases in which children were sent abroad without knowing the language, without being prepared for the new situation and in which siblings or even twins were divided.
Another serious problem is the archive of the center which is lacking files related to international adoptions before 2002. This means that it is not currently possible to get an overview of transfers of children and youth from 1993 to 2002. Vice-chairman for the parliamentary committee Vladimir Janos (SMER-SD) also said that some information is shocking. “Based on this information I can say right know that a change to legislation will be necessary,” he stated. Cisarova was not able to comment on the missing files.
SITA