Children Wrongly Placed in Adoption System

2024-06-18

AMSTERDAM/BRUSSELS/SOFIA - Adoption is often linked to poor countries in the global South. Yet Flanders and the Netherlands adopt children from other European countries, such as Bulgaria and Hungary. This cross-border research shows that Roma children in these countries face discrimination and fall into the adoption system due to stigma, poverty and lack of support for families.

Both Flanders and the Netherlands commissioned a screening of sending countries to decide from which countries adoption would be possible in the future. The issues with discrimination, poverty and lack of support for families in Bulgaria and Hungary were raised several times in those screenings. Yet both countries decided not to cut off collaborations.

The research was conducted by the weekly Knack, the platform Investico, the TV program Zembla, the Bulgarian newspaper 24chasa and the Hungarian medium Atlatszo.

Human rights organisation: stop adoptions immediately (Investico, 24/06/2024)

Team members

Lotte Debrauwer

Lotte Debrauwer is a Belgian freelance investigative journalist.

Machteld Veen

Machteld Veen is a Dutch investigative journalist who works for Investico.

Stanimir Vaglenov

Stanimir Vaglenov is the online projects manager at Media Group Bulgaria.

Zita Szopkó

Zita Szopkó is a Hungarian journalist who works at Atlatszo.

Supported

€6,720 allocated on 11/03/2024

LOCAL/2024/023

Grant

Pascal Decroos Fund

need resources for your own investigative story?

Journalismfund Europe's flexible grants programmes enable journalists to produce relevant public interest stories with a European mind-set from international, national, and regional perspectives.

Apply