Ulf Kristersson ducks interview about the adoptions

Ulf Kristersson (M) has long been involved in children’s rights issues, both as a social citizen council in Stockholm and as chairman of the world’s second largest adoption association, the Adoption Center.

Sweden’s current prime minister received the assignment in 2003, and left two years later, in 2005. It was an important time for the international adoption agency to Sweden: The interest in adopting was high, especially from China where the process was known to go fast. The children were often healthy and the adoption fee relatively low.

The adoptions from China doubled during these years. Ulf Kristersson himself became an adoptive dad to a twin couple from the country over the years as chairman.

When the Adoption Commission was published this week, facts were revealed about serious misconduct such as child trafficking and adoptions that have been done without the consent of the parents. It put Ulf Kristersson’s involvement in flash lighting.

– The information that is now there was not then, it has arrived afterwards, and that is why we wanted a review that went through all this systematically, says the Prime Minister to TT on the question of his own role.

That’s not true.

During Kristersson’s chairmanship In the adoption center, a large child trading harvest was revealed in China. In July 2004, DN reported that at least 76 newborn children had been purchased from hospitals and then sold on to the childless. 95 people had been arrested on suspicion of human trafficking. Ulf Kristersson found out, according to employees at the Adoption Center.

When DN, autumn 2022, examined the adoptions From China under Ulf Kristersson’s chairmanship, it emerged that the adoption center had mediated children from 11 orphanages who were included in children’s trading.

And there were more warnings about maladministration linked to the adoptions. The year before, in 2003, two Chilean journalist students revealed that poor families in Chile had been stolen to their children, who were then adopted to Sweden with counterfeit stories that they were « found » and « abandoned ». The adoption center’s own employees on site had been involved, according to the students’ information.

That time added Ulf Kristersson An internal investigation – Who concluded that the employees had not committed any errors. A conclusion that received sharp criticism, especially from adopted. In Chile, for several years, a criminal investigation of the adoption agency, which comprises over 600 Swedish cases, has been ongoing.

In the same year – 2003 – a Swedish state investigation presented proposals for a number of tightening in the adoption field. These included, among other things, the donations that adoptive parents were expected to pay on site in the country of origin.

The risk was, according to the investigation, that the orphanages would become dependent on the fees and that « the children became a commodity ». Legal security needed to be sharpened.

Ulf Kristersson argued against the proposals. Partly in a referral response and partly in DN Debate: « The consequence of the investigation’s proposal is that a few children be put in golden beds while others may lie on the floor, » he wrote.

If the proposals went through, only 37 of the association’s 700 would go through, Ulf Kristersson announced.

The adoption agency to Sweden continued.

When the government’s own Investigator Anna Singer This week presented her nearly 1,600 -page investigation into the adoption business, she found that human rights adopted.

Anna Singer also proposes that the state apologies for the human rights violations that the state has exposed the adopted.

To TT, the Prime Minister says:

– The government does not exclude anything.

What responsibility has Ulf Kristersson because the rules regarding the adoption brokerage were not tightened before? How does he view his own role, as one of the strongest advocates and debaters in the adoption issue? Did he get any indications of irregularities during his travels in China?

And how could he, as chairman, accept a system of large donations to orphanages in the world’s largest dictatorship – money that could not be traced?

DN has for a long time been trying to get an interview with Ulf Kristersson. His press manager Siri Steijer announced – before the investigation – that they would first read it and return. Since Anna Singer outlined her conclusions, the press manager has neither answered on the phone nor on text messages.

Read more: JK about adoptions: apology from the government no stupid idea