ROSEAU, Dominica — Illegal adoption has become a “big business” between Dominica and the neighboring French islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique.
Francis Joseph, advocate for the protection and welfare of children, youth, women and the family, touched on the issue at a film viewing and discussion on “Voices of Abused Children,” held last Thursday at the University of the West Indies Open Campus.
He related to the gathering his first encounter with the situation.
Joseph said he pursued a case and after a long struggle that gained much attention from the press, the baby was found in Martinique by the French Embassy in St. Lucia and returned to its birth mother.
According to Joseph, the true core of the problem is not the adoption but the illegal means that the children enter the foreign countries.
Joseph said that Dominican cases of illegal adoption are most dominant among the country’s indigenous people. However, it is not an issue that is confined solely to Dominica, as he has witnessed it in many other countries of the world.
According to Joseph, there are many more unresolved cases of illegal adoption in Dominica. However, he is not authorized to reveal names and thus has left the investigations in the hands of the French Embassy.
Source: caribbeannewsnow.com
