"Decades of Forgery, Abduction, and Trafficking Alleged"
Victims Identified Among Children Adopted from Korea, China, and Other Countries
The Swedish government special committee released investigation results revealing that fraud and abuse had occurred over decades in the process of international adoption, and officially recommended the gradual suspension of international adoption.
The Swedish government special committee has officially recommended the gradual suspension of international adoption.
According to the Associated Press on June 2 (local time), the Swedish Adoption Committee submitted a report containing these findings to the Minister of Social Affairs. The committee stated that, after investigating cases of children adopted from Sri Lanka, Colombia, China, Poland, and other countries from the 1970s to the 2000s, evidence of human trafficking and illegal adoption had been confirmed.
At a press conference, committee chair Anna Singer pointed out, "There were structural irregularities in the process of international adoption to Sweden," and emphasized, "By today's standards, we can no longer tolerate this level of risk." The committee urged the government not only to suspend international adoption, but also to introduce long-term support policies for affected adoptees and their families, and to issue an official apology.
Sweden is one of the leading countries that has adopted a large number of children from Asian countries, including Korea. The adoption committee was established in 2021 following an expos? by the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter (DN). The newspaper reported that thousands of international adoptees had been brought to Sweden with falsified background information and forged documents, and highlighted numerous cases?particularly from Korea, China, and Sri Lanka?where children were adopted without the consent of their biological parents.
The Associated Press reported, "Sweden is the most recent country to begin a review of its international adoption policies, especially after suspicions were raised about unethical adoption practices in Korea." In fact, Sweden's only Korean adoption agency, the Adoption Center, announced in November last year that it would suspend adoptions due to suspicions of forged birth documents for adoptees of Korean origin.
Previously, the Associated Press and the US public broadcaster PBS reported in-depth and documentary coverage last year, revealing evidence that children targeted for adoption in Korea's international adoption program were 'suspiciously' gathered and that documents were fabricated. Korean international adoption reached its peak in the 1970s and 1980s, when demand for infants in Western countries surged.
Over the past 60 years, Korea has sent more than 200,000 children overseas for adoption. Of these, more than half went to the United States, while the rest were adopted to France, Denmark, Sweden, and other European countries. The Netherlands completely banned the adoption of foreign children last year, and Denmark and Switzerland have also closed adoption agencies and issued official apologies. France is also investigating related irregularities.
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