The scandal of Bangladesh’s missing children – part three

1 year ago 25
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Two years ago, Thaslima Begum and Rosie Swash began investigating what happened to babies given up for adoption in Bangladesh in the 1970s. A new law allowed families around the world to adopt Bangladeshi children for the first time. But as Thaslima and Rosie dug deeper, they found a system ripe for exploitation.

In this episode, Thaslima finally meets a man who was involved in Bangladesh’s international adoptions in the 1970s. She asks him about the allegations of forced adoptions. And she joins Suma de Heij, a Dutch adoptee, as she searches for her birth family.

Read more of Rosie and Thaslima’s reporting on this story here

Portrait of Bibi Hasenaar, holding a photo of herself and her brother. Bibi was adopted by Dutch parents at the age of four. Her mother in Bangladesh never agreed to the adoption and was looking for her daughter  for years, but never found her. By chance, Bibi found out that her mother was looking for her when it was already too late. Then in her mid-forties, she realised the adoption had never been voluntary and sued the Dutch government and adoption companies. Muiderberg, The Netherlands. Photography by Judith Jockel. Birangona women of Bangladesh
Photograph: Judith Jockel/The Guardian

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