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US suspends Nepal child adoption
KATHMANDU, AUG 07 -
The United States, following suit of some European countries, has decided to suspend child adoption from Nepal.
“In order to protect the rights and interests of certain Nepali children and their families, and of US adoptive parents, the Department of State and US Citizenship and Immigration Services have jointly decided to suspend adjudication of new adoption petitions and related visa issuance for children who are described as having been abandoned in Nepal,” a statement issued by the US embassy here said.
The Department of State’s recent interactions with the Government of Nepal and its efforts to review and investigate numerous abandonment cases, including field visits to orphanages and police departments, have demonstrated that documents presented to describe and “prove” the abandonment of children in Nepal are unreliable, the embassy stated. “Civil documents often include data that has been changed or fabricated. Investigations of children reported to be found abandoned are routinely hindered by the unavailability of officials named in reports of abandonment,” it was stated.
“Police and orphanage officials often refuse to cooperate with consular officers’ efforts to confirm information by comparing it with official police and orphanage records. In one case, the birth parents were searching for a child who had been matched with an American family for adoption. Because the Department of State has concluded that, the documentation presented for children reported abandoned in Nepal is unreliable and the general situation of non-cooperation with and even active hindrance of investigations, the US Government can no longer reasonably determine whether a child documented as abandoned qualifies as an orphan,” it was stated.
Posted on: 2010-08-08 07:32
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