Dutch tightens foreign adoption rules after probes

AMSTERDAM ( Reuters) - The Netherlands said on Wednesday it was tightening rules on child adoption from abroad after possible irregularities related to children brought from India.

The Justice Ministry launched three investigations after a Dutch TV show said it was possible some families might not have voluntarily given their children up for adoption from 1995 to 2002, the ministry said in a statement.

It said it would improve adoption rules, tighten supervision over adoption agencies and increase checks over money spent abroad.

The Meiling Foundation, the Dutch adoption agency named in the TV programme and investigated by the Dutch childcare service, said a report by the service backed its position that it had acted correctly over its Indian adoptions.

Adoption has become an explosive issue in Europe since Chadian authorities charged a group of Europeans with abduction and fraud after they tried to fly 103 children out of the central African country last month.

Six of that group belong to an organisation called Zoe's Ark, which has said it intended to place orphans from Darfur with European families for foster care and that it had the right to do so under international law.