Sending Countries

In late 2023, Bangladesh’s Special Branch, the prime intelligence agency of Bangladesh police, initiated an investigation into intercountry adoptions that took place in Dhaka between 1976 and 1979. The resurfacing of allegations of children being adopted abroad without their parents’ consent is what led to the start of the investigation. The issue was denounced by a lot of media reports in what became known as “the boarding school scam”. In this practice temporary accommodation was offered to children from vulnerable families who were then sent for adoption abroad without the knowledge of their parents. These allegations were made by Bangladeshi mothers from the Tongi area of Dhaka regarding children taken between 1976 and 1977, many of whom were later found adopted in the Netherlands.[1]

This investigation is the first of its kind in Bangladesh’s history of intercountry adoption, which began after the 1971 Liberation War, when the government introduced emergency legislation allowing “war babies” to be adopted internationally.[2] While many of these children were born to survivors of genocidal rape committed by the Pakistani military, it later became evident that other children had also been included in these adoption schemes without the consent of their families.[3]

Special Superintendent Mashroof Hossain reported that his team identified twenty-five adoptees, with four reunifications already completed. According to investigators, parents were frequently misled and signed blank papers. The Superintendent acknowledged that it is Bangladesh’s responsibility to solve these cases, noting a “heinous crime” had been committed.[4]

Bangladesh formally banned intercountry adoption in 1982, after earlier abuses of the system were uncovered, though these findings have not been made public by the government.[5] Despite the renewed attention to past scandals, the country is not currently expanding its investigation into historical adoptions and has not launched a formal investigation into its past practices.

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[1] Paul Caruana Galizia, ‘Bangladesh launches an investigation into children “wrongly” adopted overseas’ (The Guardian, 25 January 2024) <https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/jan/25/bangladesh-investigation-children-adopted-overseas-adoptions-netherlands> accessed 16 November 2025.

[2] ibid

[3] Shehab Sumon, ’50 years on, Bangladesh searches for children illegally adopted abroad’ (Arab News, 11 February 2024) <https://www.arabnews.com/node/2458016/%7B%7B> accessed 16 November 2025.

[4] ibid

[5] Nurul Haque, ‘CRC and Bangladesh: Turning dreams into reality’ (The Daily Star) <https://archive.thedailystar.net/law/2007/09/02/index.htm> accessed 16 November 2025.