US BAN ON ADOPTION: Senator seeks Clinton intervention
Posted on: 2010-09-28 09:15
KATHMANDU, SEP 28 –
As the US ban on inter-country adoption from Nepal continues, a group of U.S. Senators and members of the House last week sent a letter to the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, calling on the department to expedite the approval of cases that are close to being decided.
“These families are enduring extreme emotional and financial burdens while their children’s cases are investigated further,” American newspaper Chicago Tribune quoted the lawmakers’ letter as saying.
The United States had banned inter-country adoptions from Nepal in August citing malpractices in the process. The U.S. has the highest number of adoptive parents vying to adopt Nepali kids.
At least 82 American adoptive parents have already been affected following the U.S. ban. Despite getting approval from the ministry, some 12 adoptive parents are stranded in Kathmandu after the U.S. Embassy here refused to move the adoption petition files.
Spokesperson of the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW), Tilak Ram Sharma, said the ministry is doing homework to mak the inter-country adoption process more reliable with the formation of a high-level committee under the secretary of the ministry.
“The government will act in accordance with the recommendation of the committee to make the adoption process more transparent,” Sharma said.
Officials admitted that overhauling the whole adoption process was a Herculean task. “But the ministry will do its best to comply with the Hague Convention on adoption,” Sharma added.
Asked what the Nepali government can do to lessen the pain of adoptive parents, Sharma said the government has done its part, and that the final decision is not in Nepal’s hands.
“Decision on whether to allow their citizens to adopt Nepali children must be taken by the respective countries,” Sharma said.
According to ministry officials, at least 106 new applications from American parents have already been rejected following the ban.
Not only Americans, many other prospective parents from other countries have also been affected as the U.S. ban follows similar restrictions declared by Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Britain.
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