Blocked for months in Congo, children flown to Italy for joyful reunion with adoptive parents

ROME – Thirty-one children who had been blocked from leaving Congo months with their adoptive parents have arrived in Rome for a joyful reunion with their new families.

The children ran excitedly into their parents’ arms at Ciampino airport Wednesday after an overnight flight from Congo. The Italian government had worked since late last year to allow them to reach Italy.

Congo had suspended all international adoptions citing fears some adopted children might later have been trafficked. None of the allegations involved adoptions by Italians.

Maria Elena Boschi, an Italian minister who flew with the children from Congo, said “they went crazy when, from the plane’s windows, they spotted their parents” waiting on the tarmac.

The parents were forced to leave Congo without their adopted children after their visas expired.