History

Chilean Adoptees Worldwide (CAW) is an organization which only recently (2018) came active but has some important targets to pursue. 

First of all, we strive to be a platform for all Chilean Adoptees, all over the world and anyone else who is or feels connected to them or wants to know more about our history. Eliminating the country borders where Chilean adoptees went to live due to their adoption. The scope is to unite in a single platform which so far did not exist. 

The reason to have set up this platform is due to recent developments in our birth-country. Since February 2018, there is an investigation led by “Ministro en Visita Extraordinario; Mario Carroza” of the Appeal Court of Santiago. A judge with a significant amount of experience in regards to Human Rights cases, appointed by the Supreme Court of Chile to handle this investigation. It is referred to as the investigation of Illegal Adoptions and Child Trafficking and seeks to identify those involved in these illegal practices. 

Mr. Carroza, today accompanied by a colleague judge Mr Jaime Balmaceda, are investigating the flow of children that have been send to other countries to be adopted abroad. In Chile there is a history of babies being taken away from their mothers right after birth. However, it is not limited to babies or newborns only. We have come across cases of children being as old as 9 years when subtracted from their families. In Chile, this phenomenon is referred to as Illegal Adoptions and Child Trafficking and today the results of the official investigation have confirmed that the complete public system of Chile was involved. 

Doctors, nurses, midwives, hospitals, social workers, lawyers, judges, the child protecting authority and the civil registry, all have been having their involvement as per the findings of investigation team. But also nuns, priests, and even ambassadors and consuls have been identified of being involved. 

CAW is following the actualities very closely and is connected with important official teams throughout the country. We are working closely with the team of Mario Carroza. Since 2018 the Chamber of Deputies have set up an investigation commission that looks at the administrative irregularities where the Chilean State has failed to protect their most vulnerable citizens. Why are files and archives not available anymore and how is it possible that registrations of birth do not exist so that adopted children, even within Chile, are unable to find their biological parents which in the basis is a standard Human Right… 

CAW speaks with birth-mothers and adoptees who have been victimized by these child-trafficking-practices as well as with people in politics from deputies to senators to hear their stories and comments. We have been invited by the Investigation Police (PDI) to play an important role in their investigations. The department of the PDI which investigates the irregular adoptions work directly at the orders from the office of Mario Carroza.

CAW is included within the realisation of a new law that will give an answer and solutions to our double identity which 99% of all Chilean Adoptees have today (which is completely different to a double nationality). We are raising awareness by speaking with radio stations on a national and international level towards the history of our birth-country. 

The Investigation team of Ministro Carroza is looking at the operations behind the child-trafficking-practices and looks to identify those involved in order to have them stand trial. The amount of official claims received in 2018 has already surpassed the amount of 10.000 individual cases.

Unofficial numbers are going as far as 20.000 cases, however, this is not a confirmed number.