25 jaar geleden, toen geadopteerden begonnen te strijden voor onze rechten, hadden we nooit kunnen voorspellen in welke situatie we ons vandaag zouden bevinden. De erkenning van dubbele nationaliteit, de bevindingen van de Waarheids- en Verzoeningscommissie (TRC2), en helaas ook de ratificatie van het Haags Adoptieverdrag.
Veel ontvangende landen hebben inmiddels de conclusies uit het verleden en heden erkend: internationale adoptie is geen methode van kinderbescherming, maar een vraaggestuurd model. Daarom hebben zij de adoptie-industrie stopgezet.
Wij eisen met respect de volgende maatregelen:
* Een officiële ceremonie waarin excuses worden aangeboden en plannen worden ondertekend om slachtoffers op waardige wijze te compenseren
* Het terugvorderen van onrechtmatig verkregen rijkdom van personen die financieel hebben geprofiteerd van interlandelijke adoptie
* Volledige ondersteuning voor geadopteerden bij het herstellen van hun identiteit en familiebanden
* Een volledige stopzetting van internationale adoptie vanuit Zuid-Korea
Het is tijd dat de overheid verantwoordelijkheid neemt en werkelijk luistert naar de stemmen van geadopteerden.
“<We will protect the lives of adoptees with the international society>
From October 1st of this year, the Republic of Korea will lower the official status of the ‘The Hague International Convention for Adoption of Children’. Together with over 100 countries around the world that have signed the agreement ahead, I have promised the international society that I will put the protection of children’s rights as a priority, and run the adoption process transparently and responsibly.
Our past has never been proud of until this promise of course. The Republic of Korea once wrote the shameful stigma of ‘child exporting countries’. The official record alone, the number of children adopted abroad has reached 170,000 children since the 6·25 war.
Even in the 2020s, more than 100 children on average had to leave foreign countries abroad. Some people have met warm adoptive families, but many have spent their whole lives in pain due to the irresponsibility and assistance of some adoption agencies.
My heart is very heavy when I think about the anxiety, pain, and confusion of the overseas adoptees who were thrown alone in a foreign land in a foreign country at a young age.
Recent investigation by the court ruling and the Past Affairs Committee for Truth and Reconciliation, some cases of unfair human rights violations have been found during the overseas adoption process. In the process there will be no parts that the country didn’t do my part.
On behalf of the Republic of Korea, I would like to express my sincere apologies and condolences to the overseas adoptees, their families, and the original families.
Last July, with the 「Special Law on Domestic Adoption and Law on International Adoption , a system for the state and local authorities to take responsibility for the adoption process was established. I will now be your reliable fence, adopted by the state.
I hope the Ministry of Relations will work hard to protect the rights of adoptees and establish a human rights centered adoption system through close cooperation. We hope that we will also find an effective support system to help the overseas adoptees find their roots.
We will do our best to make sure that adoptees, adoptive families, and original families can live with greater happiness by staying together.”