Adoption fight as 4 couples arrested over ‘fake papers’ in African nation amid trafficking claims

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JOHANNESBURG – An adoption nightmare, or human trafficking? In Zambia in Southern Africa, eight Croatians have been arrested twice on the same human trafficking charge. The eight are accused of child trafficking in general, and in particular of having forged adoption papers for four children from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who they wanted to take to Croatia. 

Charges against the Croatians were dropped earlier this month, but they were re-arrested on the same charge at the airport as they tried to leave the country 48 hours later. 

Croatia’s Justice Minister Ivan Malenica has condemned the re-arrest as “strange”, saying at a press conference reported by Croatian news site N1 that he is concerned about this “very serious situation,” as he claims adoption papers for the children are not forged.

“Those documents were issued in Croatia according to a valid procedure,” he told reporters in Zagreb, Croatia. “In addition to the adult Croatian citizens, naturally, we are continuing to care for the children as well.”

Seven of the eight Croatian nationals charged with attempting to traffic children, outside the magistrates court in Ndola, Zambia, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. The eight have pleaded not guilty to the charge of child trafficking before a magistrate. (AP Photo/Salim Dawood)

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The eight Croatians – four couples – have all pleaded not guilty. The seemingly regular couples are also professionals with jobs including an administrator, an electrical technician, a medical doctor, a program director and a professional musician who is a guitarist in a popular music band. 

Analysts say families in both the U.S. and Europe are frustrated by their home countries’ complex, lengthy and strict adoption procedures. Therefore, many couples reach out to Africa, believing it is easier to adopt here. However, sometimes they are perhaps guilty of trying to speed things along a bit. Zambia is definitely proud of the work it has done to cut down on child trafficking often covered up as adoption. With a high number of children being trafficked out of the country using forged documents, any suspected forgery would raise a red flag with Zambian officials. 

Human trafficking is dramatically rising across the Africa. The State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons has given Uganda a Tier 2 designation.

“The Government of Uganda does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so,” the State Department declared in a 2022 statement.

Kenya also has a Tier 2 designation from the State Department, who in a 2022 statement hit out at the East African nation, “The government did not report any efforts to hold fraudulent recruitment agencies criminally accountable for facilitating trafficking crimes.” 

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Seven of the eight Croatian nationals charged with attempting to traffic children, outside the magistrates court in Ndola, Zambia, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. The eight have pleaded not guilty to the charge of child trafficking before a magistrate. (AP Photo/Salim Dawood)

Such agencies promise women jobs with good pay in other countries, notably in the Arabian Gulf, instead sending them into situations in those countries where they are sexually exploitation, often forced into prostitution.

Kenya’s National Council on Children’s Services (NCCS) reported last year that trafficking is on the rise, and that around 17,500 Kenyans are trafficked annually for domestic work, forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Children make up half this number, according to the NCCS.

“Only 2% of trafficked Kenyan children ever make it back home”, reported the Borgen Project in a recent report. Respected sources state that across Africa, children make up around 75% of all those being trafficked. 

Pedestrians watch a train traveling from Johannesburg to Naledi in Soweto, South Africa, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

Today, it is estimated over 3 million Africans have been trafficked. The situation is worst, analysts say, in West Africa, but increasingly, there are real concerns about trafficking in the so-called first-world cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town.

“Between December 2007 and January 2022, an estimated 11,077 human trafficking cases were reported to the South African Police Service”, according to a report just released by the United States Agency for International Development. The agency said prosecutions were “disproportionately low” when compared to available data. In other words, many cases of human trafficking are being missed.

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Meanwhile, in Uganda, two Americans, Nicholas Spencer and his wife Mackenzie Spencer are in the country’s top security jail awaiting trial for human trafficking and torturing a 10-year-old boy.

THE Associated Press contributed to this article.

Paul Tilsley covers Africa for Fox News Digital. He has experience in 87 countries in producing, reporting, editing, direction, and live, business news feature producing, reporting, and writing for Fox Business, Fox News Channel, CNN, Sky News, BBC and ITN among others. He can be found on Twitter @paultilsley