Greek adoptees are historically one of the oldest cohorts of foreign-adopted children, yet their story has remained buried in obscurity for decades. Thousands of Greek children were sent abroad for adoption, primarily to the United States, in the 1950s and 1960s. Many of these adoptions were illicit and illegal, yet many Greeks and most Americans know nothing of this dark page in Greece’s past.
Thanks to the invitation of Lynelle Long, President of Intercountry Adoptee Voices (ICAV), an organization that brings together intercountry adoptees from across the globe, Greek adoptees were given a voice for the first time at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland on September 20. Linda Carol Trotter, a Greek adoptee and President of The Eftychia Project, a nonprofit that assists Greek adoptees searching for their roots and Greek families searching for their children lost to adoption, was invited by Ms. Long to give her testimony before the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances on the first anniversary of the Joint Statement on Illegal Intercountry Adoption.
Greek adoptees and families will discuss the Joint Statement and its impact on intercountry adoption when they gather in Greece October 14-19 for the Second Annual Greek Adoptee Reunion, the first international event of its kind for Greek-born adoptees and biological families.
Video of the UN meeting in its entirety is available online on UN TV: https://media.un.org/en/asset/k16/k16z33p1uc. Trotter’s powerful speech begins at the 1:38:14 mark. The text of her speech is also available online: https://shorturl.at/iGMV2.
For more information, contact The Eftychia Project via email: theeftychiaproject@gmail.com.
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Source: tornosnews.gr/en/
