13 Feb 2021
The Netherlands has halted all international adoptions after a study revealed that many children brought to the country had been stolen from their parents.
A study by a government commission looked into adoptions from several countries including Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka between 1967 and 1998 and found that children had been taken from their parents. In some cases, the children were bought from their parents, who were facing pressure while suffering under poverty.
The commission also noted that the Dutch government knew about the abuses as early as the 1960s. Some officials were even involved in the adoption abuses, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reports.