Belgian Adoption Practices in Morocco Raise Ethical Concerns, Official Reports

During his visit, Bachrouri went to an orphanage and discovered that a large part of the children placed in this center are not orphans, but rather children in extreme poverty or conceived out of wedlock, he writes in his biweekly column in Knack.

The director of the orphanage confides that he regularly receives Belgian couples looking for a child to adopt. "They come here, observe the children and express their preferences. They generally choose blond children, preferably thin with long hair, blue eyes, straight teeth... They prefer girls, because they can serve as domestic servants later. Here, the children are sorted like sheep, like during the Eid al-Adha festival. Here too, the iron law applies: the whiter the coat, the greater the interest," he explains.

Bachrouri noted that the children, like any child of their age, have an open mind and want to be able to laugh and play, despite the harsh demands of teachers or adoptive parents. To be adopted in Europe, these children must be perfect and multilingual. This is why, in addition to the usual courses, they receive French and English music lessons.