State To Review Adoptions Tainted Agency Arranged
The Age
Tuesday August 26, 2008
VICTORIA is reviewing the adoptions of two children arranged through an Indian agency accused of stealing "pretty" children from slums and trafficking them internationally.
A spokesman for Community Services Minister Lisa Neville said two children were adopted through the Chennai-based agency, Malaysian Social Services, in September 1992.The agency was at the centre of a Time magazine investigation alleging up to 30 children may have been wrongfully adopted from India through the agency over 15 years, including 13 to Australia. Indian officials are reportedly investigating the case of a girl taken from her parents in 2000 and adopted by a family in Queensland. The agency's owners were arrested in 2005 after an investigation discovered they had bought children from traffickers for $280 each. There is no suggestion the Australian parents were aware of the circumstances of their children's adoption.But despite the Victorian connection, Ms Neville's spokesman said Victoria's Department of Human Services had not been contacted by Indian authorities.A spokesman for Attorney-General Robert McClelland said the Federal Government was gathering information on the claims through the Indian Government's Central Adoption Resource Authority, Indian police and the Australian Federal Police.
© 2008 The Age