A video circulating on social media has reignited serious concerns about the treatment of Samoan children adopted overseas, following longstanding warnings from child welfare advocates.

The video, widely shared on Facebook, shows a man scolding a young girl for locking her bedroom door, insisting it is “his house.” While the relationship between the two is unclear, the footage has sparked public outrage and drawn attention to deeper issues surrounding child protection.

The incident echoes findings which highlighted the plight of nearly 1,000 Samoan children adopted abroad each year. According to the report, some of these children have been subjected to forced labour, physical violence, and sexual abuse in the very homes meant to care for them.

Kris Teikamata, a frontline social worker with Oranga Tamariki in New Zealand, said she worked with multiple survivors between 2019 and 2024. Many described years of abuse and control.

“They were threatened, coerced and had no freedom,” Teikamata told the media in New Zealand. “By the time I met them at 17 or 18, they appeared emotionally withdrawn, as if they had lived decades of trauma.”

In some cases, children were promised education and better opportunities, but were instead forced into domestic labour from an early age. As teenagers, some were sent to work in factories, with wages withheld and limited contact with their families in Samoa.

Teikamata said her team assisted 10 teenagers who escaped abusive homes, providing them with housing, health services, and counselling. However, she warned these cases may represent only a fraction of those affected.

Advocates say gaps in adoption laws have enabled the exploitation. New Zealand authorities have acknowledged that individuals with criminal or child welfare histories have been able to adopt children through overseas processes with limited scrutiny.

Adoption Action member Anne Else has called for urgent reform of New Zealand’s decades-old adoption laws, saying stronger safeguards are needed to protect vulnerable children.

Officials from Samoa and New Zealand have held discussions aimed at improving oversight, information sharing, and child protection frameworks, but concerns remain that systemic issues persist.

As public attention grows, advocates are urging both governments to take stronger action to ensure the safety and well-being of Samoan children placed in overseas care.