UN Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, has called for an inquiry into forced and illegal adoptions in Ireland, after a report she produced raised serious concerns around the sale and exploitation of children inside the country.

There is a very good summary of this development over on The Irish Examiner, but here are a few key thoughts from Boer-Buquicchio about why this inquiry is so important and what it should focus on:

• Her report highlighted failures to provide information, accountability and redress to survivors of institutional abuse, and to individuals adopted in a manner that would amount to the “sale of children under international law”;
• Commercial ties to forced and illegal adoptions were also highlighted;
• The UN Rapporteur said the inquiry should focus on illegal activity around forced adoptions
• Rather than focusing on individual institutions, she would like the State to focus on investigating “the gamut of human rights abuses identified in these and similar settings”

A Twitter survey carried out by this site in May found that 86% of those polled also wanted to see a full scale inquiry into adoption practices in England and Wales.

Further Reading:

• Ireland: UN human rights expert calls for national strategy to protect children from sexual violence
• UN Page on Ireland which includes Child Welfare Reports
• Politicians Call For State Inquiry Into Forced and Illegal Adoptions
• Adoption Agency Caught Illegally Registering Births Goes Into Voluntary Liquidation