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The Ministry of Women and Child Affairs has taken necessary action with regard to the recent reports of Sri Lankan children being trafficked overseas, State Minister of Women and Child Affairs Geetha Kumarasinghe said today.
Addressing the Parliament, State Minister Geetha Kumarasinghe said that it has been found that 13 children have been trafficked to Malaysia to be sold to European countries.
She further said that instructions have been issued to the Department of Immigration and Emigration and the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) to immediately conduct an…
"Thousands of Sri Lankan babies were put up for adoption between the 1960s and 1980s - some of them sold by "baby farms" to prospective parents across Europe," according to this article from BBC News. "The Netherlands, which accepted many of those infants, has recently suspended international adoptions following historical allegations of coercion and bribery. As that investigation unfolds, families who never stopped thinking about the children who vanished hope they will be reunited."
Findings from a Dutch television program have inspired the Government of Netherlands to call for an investigation into the irregularities in adoptions from Sri Lanka. Investigative journalists claim that at least 11,000 babies from Sri Lanka adopted by foreign couples were either bought or stolen from their parents.
The Government of Sri Lanka has announced an inquiry into adoption fraud following claims that thousands of babies were taken from their mothers and sold to foreign nationals in the 1980s.
Although Sri Lanka's common law does not allow underage marriages, the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA) allows community leaders to determine the marriage age. Muslim women activists are now coming forward to open up a discussion about reform, including the young girl featured in this article.