South Korea is being accused of "mass exporting" children for adoption for decades, in a clear violation of human rights, several international media outlets report.
According to the BBC, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which investigated the case, revealed on Wednesday that adoption agencies in South Korea sent children to other countries as if they were "baggage".
The researchers concluded that some children were registered as orphans by agencies but had parents, and that some babies died before the trips and were replaced by others.
The conclusions of the investigation, which lasted two years, are shocking. There were human rights violations in at least 56 of the 367 cases, involving children sent for adoption to other countries between 1964 and 1999. The children in question were adopted by families in 11 countries, including the US, France, Denmark and Sweden.
"Children sent abroad as baggage" The commission's report includes several images of the victims, including a photo of babies wrapped in blankets and strapped to airplane seats, which dates back to 1984. The caption reads: "Children sent abroad as baggage."
The same document also reveals that South Korean adoption agencies met "monthly child sending targets" set by foreign institutions.
According to the commission, created by an act of the country's parliament in 2020, "for almost 50 years, after the Korean War, the government prioritized international adoption as a low-cost alternative to strengthening national child welfare policies."
South Korean authorities failed to oversee the process or prevent irregularities.
The commission, made up of eight people appointed by the government and opposition parties, is now asking the South Korean executive to make an official apology to the country, conduct a survey on the citizenship status of all those who were adopted under these circumstances and compensate the victims who were targets of identity fraud.
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