Govt Amends Inter-country Adoption Process (Republica)

Govt Amends Inter-country Adoption Process (Republica):

http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=26672

KATHMANDU, Dec 31

Amidst serious concern in the international community that inter-country adoption from Nepal was subject to widespread abuse, the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW) has amended the conditions and procedures relating to inter-country adoption.

The amendment that came into effect recently adopts new measures to ensure that children being approved for inter-country adoption are genuinely 'orphan' or 'destitute'.

The amendment published in the Nepal Gazette makes it mandatory for any children's home, orphanage or children's organization facilitating inter-country adoption to submit details of each orphan child to a Probe and Recommendation Committee (PRC) within seven days and to a Family Selection Committee (FSC) under the ministry within 14 days after the concerned District Administration Office (DAO) verifies that the child in question is an 'orphan' or a 'destitute' seeking foster parents.

The ministry has made it mandatory for the children's home, orphanage or children's organization to have been engaged for a minimum of six years in the field of child welfare to be eligible for facilitating inter-country adoptions. Such organizations should be duly registered with the government agencies concerned and should apply to the ministry for 'listing' as an eligible organization for inter-country adoption.

The amendment also has a provision to 'delist' a children's organization found involved in fraudulent practices from its roaster of organizations eligible for inter-country adoption. Once 'delisted', such organizations will be barred from facilitating inter-country adoption for the next five years.

The move comes in the wake of many countries including the US, UK, Germany and France raising questions about the 'reliability' of inter-country adoption. Many Western countries have already suspended inter-country adoption from Nepal after the Hague Conference on Private International Law reported that inter-country adoption from Nepal was subject to widespread abuse.

"We believe these new measures will ensure that children sent for inter-country adoption are genuinely orphan," said Hari Poudel, the ministry's spokesperson.

The amendment has included a joint secretary-level officer from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as one of the members of the Probe and Recommendation Committee for coordination with the line ministry and prospective foster parents abroad and also for checking possible abuse in inter-country adoption from Nepal.

Likewise, the amendment makes it mandatory for foreign children's organizations or agencies facilitating inter-country adoption from Nepal to set up a liaison office duly registered here with the government authorities concerned. Such foreign organizations should pay the government an amount specified by the ministry on annual basis to work for the cause of orphan and destitute children in Nepal.

Among other things, the new changes have made special provisions to send children with a need for special care and protection for inter-country adoption after selecting appropriate families for such children. The Family Selection Committee under the ministry will select appropriate families on priority basis from among applications received from prospective foster parents for such parents.

The amendment in the conditions and procedures relating to inter-country adoption has made a separate arrangement in case internationally renowned personalities choose to adopt children from Nepal.

A head of state, head of government or foreign minister of another country, a Nobel laureate, an international celebrity or a person or business entrepreneur with over $300,000 annual income can apply directly to the government body concerned in Nepal along with an official recommendation letter from the head of state, head of government or foreign minister of their country if they wish to adopt children from Nepal.

Int'l Community cautiously welcomes govt move

Terre des hommes Foundation, a Swiss-based organization working in the area of child protection, welcomed the improvements but noted that the new legal framework focused only on inter-country adoption. Issuing a press statement, the foundation said it is required to develop local solutions as a priority to be in line with international commitments (e.g. Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption signed on April 2009 as well as the Convention on the Rights of the Child).

Terre des hommes, which is also an observer for the Adoption Working Group composed of various Diplomatic Missions from recipient countries, indicated that the first task should be to help children stay with their parents and the identification of local solutions for children without parental care. "These solutions include kinship, foster care and domestic adoption," Joseph Agtettant, country representative of Terre des hommes said in a statement to Republica.

The foundation said it supports drafting a comprehensive legislation on children's rights, in line with international standards, in which inter-country adoption would be part of a comprehensive alternative care policy. But it would not be the most favored or, in the present situation, the only option for a child without parental care.

krkoirala@gmail.com

Republica

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Government amends adoption procedures (The Himalayan Times)

Government amends adoption procedures

2010-12-20

The Himalayan Times

KATHMANDU: Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW) has amended some provisions in the inter-country adoption Act-2008 in an effort to regulate child adoptions.

The decision comes after countries that regularly adopted orphans from Nepal halted inter-country child adoption indefinitely citing irregularities, especially use of falsified documents.

Germany and Canada had banned adoption of Nepali children citing cases of abuse, fraudulent documents and false statements about children’s origin and other related information.

Sher Jung Karki, under secretary at the ministry said direct intervention had become necessary to make orphanages accountable. After the amendment, only those homes or orphanages operating for more than six years will be eligible to provide children for adoption. Besides, the amendment aims to control child trafficking.

The amendment has made it mandatory for adoptions to be attested by a notary public. He said this was in keeping with the international standard recommended by the Hague Convention. With the amendment, the ministry will give priority to adoptive parents willing to adopt children in need of special attention. European nations, particularly Italy, France, Spain and the US are major recipients of adopted children from Nepal.

Although the ministry has plans to set up an independent body to handle adoption, it lacks budget. Children’s homes collect US$ 5,000 from each child being adopted, whereas prospective parents pay US$ 3,000 as revenue to the government of Nepal.

http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Government+amends+adoption+procedures&NewsID=270209

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USCIS Updates Nepal Pipeline Q & A Page

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has posted new Questions & Answers regarding Form I-600A approvals, significant change requests, the validity of fingerprint clearances, and requesting extension of an I-600A approval for Nepal pipeline cases. The new information can be found at the link below:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=b170992b8144a210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=68439c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

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USDOS: Response to Petition2Congress Nepal Adoption

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Office of Children’s Issues
Response to Petition2Congress on Behalf of the American Families Pursuing Adoptions from Nepal

November 5, 2010

---

The Department of State appreciates the interest of the American public and Members of Congress in the status of intercountry adoptions in Nepal and the concerns of U.S. citizens who are pursuing the adoption of a Nepali child.

The decision to suspend adoptions in Nepal of children “found abandoned" was taken jointly with the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) after extensive investigations in which U.S. Embassy staff observed pervasive problems with the reliability of documentation in Nepal’s adoption system. The level of these problems has made it difficult, if not impossible, to determine whether the children being placed for adoption have, in fact, been abandoned and could be considered orphans under U.S. law. The United States was the last country to suspend adoptions in Nepal.

Starting in February 2010, the Office of Children’s Issues began to warn prospective adoptive parents about potential problems they might encounter when attempting to complete an intercountry adoption in Nepal.

The publication of an independent technical analysis of Nepal’s adoption procedures by the Hague Conference on Private International Law’s Intercountry Technical Assistance Program (ICATAP) in February 2010 solidified our concerns. This report detailed a number of weaknesses in Nepal’s adoption system, including ongoing concern about the falsification of documents, improper financial gain, and lack of a child protection system.

In early August 2010, a joint assessment team from the Department of State and USCIS travelled to Nepal and performed a detailed analysis of the evidence being presented to document the abandonment of children in Nepal. The team found that information presented in support of orphan petitions included vague and self-contradictory testimony and documents. Local officials were often uncooperative or appeared to be attempting to purposefully mislead or deter investigations.

Embassy Kathmandu is working as quickly as possible to investigate the pending adoption cases. Embassy Kathmandu and USCIS are mindful of the effects that any delay might have on children. However, the unreliable documentation, vague information provided in the documents, and lack of cooperation by some parts of the Government of Nepal is slowing down investigations. Most of the pending cases for which the Embassy has completed investigations have been referred to USCIS New Delhi as “not clearly approvable.” USCIS conducts a review of the cases referred to it in order to make a final determination as to whether a petition is approvable or not. In many cases, USCIS asks for additional information from the petitioner before making a determination.

The U.S. government, in cooperation with other countries that are active in intercountry adoptions, has consistently over the past several years encouraged the Government of Nepal to ratify and implement the Hague Adoption Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (the Convention), to which Nepal is a signatory. We have also urged the Government of Nepal to implement the recommendations made by ICATAP. The Convention incorporates the best practices in intercountry adoption, which are intended to protect the rights of children and families.

U.S. Embassy officials first met with Nepali officials in early August to request an extension of the 60-day completion requirement when we announced the suspension of new adoption cases for children found abandoned. At that time, the Ministry gave the Embassy a verbal commitment to extend the deadline. After many meetings and official requests going up to the highest levels of the Government of Nepal, the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare agreed in writing to extend the 60-day timeline by an additional 60 days, for a total of 120 days. The Ministry also indicated that it would favorably consider additional requests for extensions.

The Department has been engaged with Congress. On October 5, 2010, U.S. Ambassador to Nepal Scott DeLisi personally briefed staffers from both Houses. Ambassador Susan Jacobs provided a similar update a week earlier to interested Senate staff. We will continue to work closely with Congress and with interested offices whose constituents are affected by the decision to suspend adoptions in Nepal.

Our Office of Children’s Issues is engaged in daily outreach to prospective adopting parents, adoption service providers, Congressional staffers, and adoption advocacy and stakeholder groups. The U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu is in frequent and direct contact with many of the prospective adopting parents and has made itself readily available to all of the prospective adoptive parents. This outreach includes conference calls, briefings, group emails, and updates on individual cases. Our officers respond promptly to letters, calls, and emails from staffers, Members of Congress, prospective adoptive parents and their advocates. We also post regular updates on adoptions in Nepal through our website, http://adoption.state.gov/.

http://adoption.state.gov/news/nepal_upcoming_embassy_closure.html

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Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/

Minister Sarwadev Prasad Ojha's Opening Speech at Euradopt

The following transcript of Minister Sarwadev Prasad Ojha's speech at the Euradopt meeting in Oslo on October 30, 2010 was provided to PEAR by an interested party in Nepal:

Distinguished Participants,

Ladies and Gentlemen!

Namaste,

First of all, on behalf of the Government of Nepal and myself, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the President of EurAdopt Madam Pia Brandsnes for providing me this opportunity to express our views and concern on Inter-country adoption of Nepal in front of you.

As you all know that the history of inter-country adoption in Nepal has been started 3 decades back. A lot of changes have been made during these period regarding the policies, laws and practices. We are always concerned with the children of Nepal and our policies and laws have always directed towards the path of the child first. We are also aware that children should grow up in the family environment and should receive all the rights guided by the national and international standards.

At present the new law - Terms and Conditions and Process for Granting Approval for Adoption of Nepali Child by Alien 2008 is prevailed for processing inter-country adoption of Nepal. We all know that development is a continue process and there is always room for improvement in every aspects. However, the new Terms and Conditions 2008 is also flexible in this matter.

After the report in regard to inter-country adoption of Nepal prepared by Hague Secretariat on 4 February 2010 and the following meeting of Hague Secretariat on June 2010, some negative messages and misunderstandings have been spread out in international community which affected the process of inter-county adoption in Nepal. We do honor the sensitivity and seriousness of the report. We are always sincere to improve the weaknesses and gaps existed in our inter country adoption process.

We know international community is watching keenly the further steps to be taken by Nepal, as some of the countries have suspended inter-country adoption from Nepal at the moment. We are observing the international trend of inter-country adoption system. In this regard, I would like to assure you that the Ministry has started to reform the existing process and policies and for this we need your technical support and valuable suggestions.

To improve the existing Terms and Conditions we have already started necessary steps. A High Level Committee has been formed consisting government and non-government stakeholders. This Committee is working for providing suggestions to the Ministry for reviewing existing law to make it compatible with Hague Convention.

Nepal has already signed the Hague Convention in 28 April 2009 and now we are in a process to ratify it. The High Level Committee as I mentioned above is working in this guide line.

At present, malfunctioning children homes/orphanages have been penalized and they are banned for working on inter-country adoption. We are strictly monitoring the activities and process of documentation of the children homes/orphanages involved in Inter-country adoption.

We know there are more corrective steps yet to be initiated by the Government of Nepal for which we need valuable suggestions and technical support from the international community.

We are here today once again to show our commitments towards the welfare of children and willingness to work together with all of you.

Thank you very much for your warm welcome and the hospitality provided to us during our stay in OSLO.

Ethics, Transparency, Support
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MEDIA: 4,000 children await rescue from inferior orphanages

REPUBLICA:

KATHMANDU, Nov 2: Two and half years ago, the government itself pointed the need to rescue children living in group "D" category orphanages. But more than 4,000 children living in such orphanages are yet to be rescued.

In June 2008, the Central Child Welfare Committee (CCWC) had conducted a survey on the conditions of the orphanages across the country. After the survey we have rescued more then twelve hundred children living in various children´s homes, but we are unable to rescue more in the lack of budget,” Dharmaraj Shrestha, executive director of CCWC, said.

According to Shrestha, the survey categorized orphanages under four groups on the basis of their conditions and facilities they provided. “The children living in group "D" category orphanages were in pitiable condition and in dire need of rescue,” he said, adding. There are 198 orphanages under group "D" category. CCWC had warned orphanages under category "C" improve the conditions to graduate to category "B".

The CCWC has put 192 orphanages under category "C", 56 under category "B”, and only six orphanage meeting all requirements are under categroy "A".

“Most of the orphanages have to work a lot to upgrade their standard,” Umakanta Chaudhary, monitoring officer at CCWC, said . After the survey ten orphanage were shut. Due to the lack of sufficient budget and transit home CCWC cannot rescue the children living in the vulnerable condition, he said. The CCWC doesn´t see rescue as ultimate solution. “They should be rehabilitated back in their homes. This is the only solution,” Chaudhary said.

Most of the children rescued before were sent back to their homes and few were sent to better orphanages.

The survey also showed that only 27.51 percent children living in orphanages were real orphans while 72.49 percent children had father or mother or both. Some children were found admitted to orphanages because their parents were too poor to provide for their children, the survey found.

There are 11,969 children living in 434 orphanages across the country, according to the survey.

Published on 2010-11-02 http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=24848

Ethics, Transparency, Support
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MEDIA: Chicago woman gets OK to bring Nepali daughter home

Chicago woman gets OK to bring Nepali daughter home

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/10/candice-warltier-nepal-chicago-kathmandu-adoption.html

October 28, 2010

Excerpt:

When Candice Warltier landed in Katmandu almost three months ago, she only expected to be there a short time as she tied up loose ends on the process to adopt a chubby-cheeked 1-year-old named Antara.

As it turned out, the Chicago woman stayed much longer, held up by an investigation by the U.S. State Department, which had recently changed its policy toward adoptions from Nepal.

But today U.S. embassy officials in Katmandu gave her the happy news. The investigation was done, and they could return home to Chicago.

"My daughter and I are coming home," she said in an interview from her apartment in Katmandu.

Ethics, Transparency, Support
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MOWCSW Grants Additional 60 Days to Pipeline Families

On October 21, 2010, Secretary Shrestha of the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MOWCSW) provided Ambassador Scott DeLisi with written confirmation that the Ministry is granting 60 day extensions (for a total of 120 days) to prospective adoptive parents in the Nepal pipeline for whom the Embassy had sent a letter requesting an extension. The Embassy will provide each family affected by this decision with both a copy of the Nepali version of the Secretary’s letter and an English translation. Additionally, the Ministry has agreed to consider further extensions, and the Embassy will request further extensions as needed.

This announcement was forwarded to waiting families by email from the US DOS Office of Children's Issues on October 22, 2010 and announced by Senator Amy Klobuchar on October 21, 2010.

http://klobuchar.senate.gov/newsreleases_detail.cfm?id=328364&


Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
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Govt to form body to regulate adoption (The Himalayan Times)

Govt to form body to regulate adoption

Move comes after irregularity charges

Santosh Pokharel

2010-10-23

KATHMANDU: As an effort to regulate the inter-country child adoption, the government is going to set up an independent body to handle the adoption related issues by amending the existing law in Nepal.

The decision comes at a time when the countries regularly adopting orphans from Nepal halted inter-country child adoption indefinitely citing irregularities, especially use of falsified documents. Amid growing allegations of child trafficking and falsification of documents, the USA, on August 6, had indefinitely suspended child adoption programme also from Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Britain.

“We have forwarded a proposal to this effect to the Cabinet for the approval seeking an independent body,” said Mahendra Shrestha, secretary at the Ministry of Women Children and Social Welfare. “In line with the Hague Convention on Adoption, an independent regulating body is mandatory to deal with the issues related to child adoption.”

With a new amendment in the law, the government will strictly rein in the Children Homes that provide children for adoption. After the amendment, only those homes or orphanages operating for more than five years will be eligible to provide children for adoption. “The amendment to the existing law is to control the possibility of the child trafficking in the name of protection,” added Shrestha.

According to a ministry source, the new body will have the authority to probe the documents.

In the meantime, American Ambassador to Nepal Scott H DeLisi, in a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sujata Koirala, today urged the government to ratify the law and implement the Hague Convention on Adoption, which was meant to protect the rights of the children and the families involved in inter-country adoption.

Following the report by the Hague Conference on Private International Law in February, which had accused Nepal’s adoption system of widespread abuse, many western countries have been pointing finger at the adoption scene in Nepal.

After finding some fraud cases of fake civil documents — such as the children’s birth certificates were changed or fabricated — the US embassy in Kathmandu is learnt to have conducted investigations on its own.

Children homes reportedly collect US$ 5,000 from each child on the completion of the adoption, whereas the prospective parents should pay US$ 3,000 as revenue to the government of Nepal. “We will leave no stone unturned to send the genuine orphans for adoption,” said Shrestha.

The Himalayan Times:

http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Govt+to+form+body+to+regulate+adoption+&NewsID=262779


Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
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DOS Notice Concerning Upcoming Embassy Holiday Closures

Notice Concerning Upcoming Embassy Closures
Wednesday, October 6, 2010 9:59 PM
From:"Lincoln, Ruth A"
To: "Lincoln, Ruth A"

Dear Prospective adoptive parents and adoption service providers with Nepal programs,

The following notice is sent as a reminder about the upcoming holidays in Nepal, and the dates on which the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu will be closed. This notice will also be posted on our website, at http://adoption.state.gov .

Upcoming Embassy Closures

October 6, 2010

The U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu will be closed on the following days:

October 8 - Ghatasthapana
October 11 - Columbus Day
October 14-18 - Dashain
November 5 - Tihar

The Embassy’s Consular Section will be open on October 12 and 13 and will continue to work on pending adoption cases and respond to public inquiries. The Consular Section will make every effort to investigate cases, to the extent possible, during the festival period, but Government of Nepal offices and business will be closed for many days between October 8 and November 7, as Nepalis typically travel home to their villages. The actual days off will vary, so it is difficult to predict when individual Government of Nepal offices will be open.

In case of an emergency, American citizens in Nepal may contact the Embassys after-hours hotline at: 977-1-400-7266 and 977-1-400-7269.

Inquiries concerning adoptions cases may be directed to AdoptionsNepal@state.gov (for cases being processed by the U.S. Embassy) or to cis.ndi@dhs.gov (for cases that have been sent to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in New Delhi). Inquiries may also be directed to the Office of Children’s Issues at AskCI@state.gov or to USCIS’s National Benefits Center at NBC.adoptions@dhs.gov .

Please continue to monitor http://adoption.state.gov for updated information on adoptions in Nepal.


Ruth Lincoln
Adoption Division
Office of Children's Issues
U.S. Department o f State
Washington D.C.
Tel: (202) 736-4995

Ethics, Transparency, Support
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MEDIA: Senator Seeks Clinton Intervention in US Ban on Adoption

US BAN ON ADOPTION: Senator seeks Clinton intervention

EKANTIPUR REPORT

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.

http://www.ekantipur.com/2010/09/28/top-story/us-ban-on-adoption-senator-seeks-clinton-intervention/322899/

Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/

Recent Communications from DOS concerning in process adoptions

The US DOS has released a series of emails directed to prospective parents, adoption service providers and interested stakeholder NGOs. PEAR has decided to post the communications on our blog for the benefit of prospective parents who did not register with DOS, families in independent process, and organizations and individuals following adoptions from Nepal and/or assisting families adopting from Nepal. The communications are printed here in the order of most recent to oldest:
__________________________________________________________________
Friday, September 17, 2010 7:15 AM
From:"Lincoln, Ruth A"
To:"Lincoln, Ruth A"
RE: Update Concerning 60 Day Extension Requests

Dear Prospective Adoptive Parents,

We would like to share some information with you regarding the 60-day travel authorization and the extension requests that have been made on behalf of many families.

The Government of Nepal is currently in “caretaker” status, and is working with no constitution and no elected leader. They continue to work to resolve a host of issues that are critical to maintaining peace and stability. The Prime Minister has resigned and he and all of the ministers that head the various government offices, including the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare, remain in office only until a new government can be installed. It is difficult for officials to make decisions or new policies under these conditions.

Several weeks ago, Government of Nepal officials issued a verbal promise that they would consider all extension requests filed by the U.S. Embassy on behalf of prospective parents. They were never willing to commit to these extensions in writing. It is impossible at this point to provide more definitive information on the extension requests. Our hope is that families can use this information to make the choices that work best for each family.

We will continue to provide any and all updates that we have as soon as we learn of them.

Sincerely,

Ruth Lincoln
Adoption Division, Office of Children's Issues
Overseas Citizens Services
Bureau of Consular Affairs
U.S. Department of State
Washington, D.C.

__________________________________________________________________
Thursday, September 16, 2010 7:29 AM
From:"Lincoln, Ruth A"
To:"Lincoln, Ruth A"
RE: Clarification Regarding Embassy Kathmandu's Scheduling of I-604 Investigations

Dear Prospective Adoptive Parents and Adoption Service Providers,

The U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu will first investigate cases of prospective adoptive parents who have received travel authorization from the Government of Nepal. Please send a scanned copy of your travel authorization letter to the Embassy by email to AdoptionsNepal@state.gov as soon as it is received. Prospective adoptive parents may still file their Form I-600 petition with the Embassy through their local agency representative, although cases with travel authorization letters are considered complete and ready for investigation and will be investigated first. if there are issues that can be resolved in one investigative visit that relate to cases that are received but do not include travel authorization letters (for example if the investigators are visiting a n orphanage or police station that is part of the investigation for multiple cases), the investigators will resolve these issues for as many received cases as possible, regardless of whether the cases include the travel authorization letter.

I hope this information is of assistance.



Sincerely,

Ruth Lincoln
Adoption Division, Office of Children's Issues
Overseas Citizens Services
Bureau of Consular Affairs
U.S. Department of State
Washington, D.C.
__________________________________________________________________

From: Lincoln, Ruth A

Sent: Tuesday, September 07, 2010 11:01 AM

To: Lincoln, Ruth A
Cc: Nepal Pipeline PAPs
Subject: Note to Pipeline PAPs Regarding Prioritizing I-604
Investigations
Importance: High

Dear Prospective Adoptive Parents,

Please be aware that prospective adoptive parents in the pipeline who have received travel authorization from the Government of Nepal will generally have their I-604 investigations processed first. While the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu is requesting extensions for the travel authorization from the Government of Nepal, the Embassy only has verbal agreement that the Government of Nepal will extend the 60 days in which prospective adoptive parents are required to travel to Nepal. Therefore, the Embassy will give priority to cases for families who have already received their travel authorization. When you receive your travel authorization letter, please forward a scanned copy by email to the U.S. Embassy (addressed to AdoptionsNepal@state.gov) and your case will be prioritized over those waiting for travel authorization. In the meantime, you may still have your local agency representative deliver your Form I-600 petition and supporting documents (except for the adoption order) to the Embassy’s American Citizen Services (ACS) Unit, Monday through Friday, between the hours of 1:30 and 4:00 p.m.

I hope this information is of assistance. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any further questions or concerns.



Sincerely,

Ruth Lincoln
Adoption Division, Office of Children's Issues
Overseas Citizens Services
Bureau of Consular Affairs
U.S. Department of State
Washington, D.C.
__________________________________________________________________

Tuesday, September 7, 2010 11:13 AM
From:"Lincoln, Ruth A"
To:"Lincoln, Ruth A"
RE:List of Official Holidays Observed by U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu

Dear prospective adoptive parents and adoption service providers with Nepal programs,

Some of you have asked about the upcoming Nepali holidays. Attached, for your information, is the link to the list of official American and Nepali holidays observed by the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu.

http://nepal.usembassy.gov/holidays.html

Sincerely,

Ruth Lincoln
Adoption Division, Office of Children's Issues
Overseas Citizens Services
Bureau of Consular Affairs
U.S. Department of State
Washington, D.C.

__________________________________________________________________
Thursday, September 2, 2010 7:52 AM
From:"Lincoln, Ruth A"
To:"Lincoln, Ruth A"

The following is provided for your information. This notice was sent yesterday to adoption service providers with Nepal programs.

Dear Adoption Service Providers With Nepal Programs,

The U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu understands that local agency representatives may have questions about the new orphan processing procedures. If your local agency representative wishes to meet with a member of the Embassy’s Adoption Unit, they may request an appointment by sending an email to AdoptionsNepal@state.gov with the following information:
-Name
-Agency representing
-Prospective adoptive parents name(s)
-Purpose of visit

The Adoption Unit will advise your local agency representative of the date/time of the appointment by return email.

The Adoption Unit staff will not/not have the opportunity to answer general processing questions when local agency representatives drop off prospective adoptive parents’ Form I-600 petitions and supporting documents to the American Citizens Services (ACS) Unit Monday through Friday between the hours of 1:30 and 4:00 p.m.

We hope this appointment system helpful and will enable your local agency representative to get any processing questions they might have answered in a timely manner.

Thank you,
Ruth Lincoln
Adoption Division, Office of Children's Issues
Overseas Citizens Services
Bureau of Consular Affairs
U.S. Department of State
Washington, D.C.

__________________________________________________________________

From: Lincoln, Ruth A 

Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2010 12:19 PM

To: Lincoln, Ruth A

Subject: Question Re Travel to Nepal

Q: I understand that we are strongly advised not to travel to Nepal and to wait for the new program to be implemented, but what are we to do about our travel approval expiring? Is an extension being negotiated with the Ministry in Nepal? I want to comply with the USCIS and Department of State recommendations but the Government of Nepal has clearly stated that we must travel within 60 days of receiving approval.

A: The U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu is working with the Government of Nepal to determine whether the 60 day period in which prospective adoptive parents are required to travel to Nepal to finalize their adoptions can be extended. We will provide more information once a decision has been reached.

Sincerely,
Ruth Lincoln
Adoption Division, Office of Children's Issues
Overseas Citizens Services
Bureau of Consular Affairs
U.S. Department of State
Washington, D.C
__________________________________________________________________
From: Lincoln, Ruth A 

Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2010 4:07 PM

To: Lincoln, Ruth A

Subject: Status of Pre-I-604 Program for Nepal

Dear Prospective Adoptive Parents and Adoption Service Providers,

We are sending this message to answer your questions about the status of the program that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Department of State are currently setting up that will enable the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu to complete the required I-604 Determination of Child for Adoption (sometimes referred to as the “orphan investigation”) in your case before you travel to Nepal to finalize your adoption.

As of this date, the program is not yet finalized. Every effort is being made to finalize and implement the program in the immediate future. The Office of Children’s Issues will inform you when the program is implemented and will post a notice on adoption.state.gov with information and instructions. Please continue to monitor adoption.state.gov for updated information.

At this time we do not recommend that prospective adoptive parents travel to Nepal to finalize their adoptions. We are concerned that problems identified in our public announcement will affect the processing of all adoption cases in Nepal. Prospective adoptive parents who do elect to travel to Nepal to finalize their adoptions should be prepared for an extended stay. If the I-600 petition is determined to be not clearly approvable, it will be forwarded to USCIS/New Delhi for further processing, per standard procedure.

We wish to caution prospective adoptive parents that even with a pre-approval program in place, it may take the U.S. government several months to process adoption cases to completion. Questions concerning adoptions in Nepal may be sent to either AskCI@state.gov or AdoptionsNepal@state.gov.

Sincerely,

Ruth Lincoln
Adoption Division
Office of Children's Issues
U.S. Department of State
Washington D.C.

__________________________________________________________________


Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/

MEDIA: Adoption Suspension Leaves Children in Limbo

Adoption Suspension Leaves Children in Limbo
By Bhuwan Sharma

Excerpt:

"KATHMANDU, Sep 10, 2010 (IPS) - A big question marks looms over the future of many Nepali children in various child homes in the country in the wake of the suspension by 11 countries of their child adoption programmes for this Himalayan nation.

"Children will now have to remain in grim orphanages or may risk a worse fate by staying with families that don’t want them," says Philip Holmes, the adoptive father of two Nepali children and country director of Esther Benjamins Trust-Nepal, a U.K.-registered charity engaged in childcare and child protection and fighting child trafficking in Nepal.

Some 400 Nepali children are adopted by foster parents each year from 44 institutional homes accredited by the country’s Ministry for Women, Children and Social Welfare. There is no data available on the number of Nepali children given up for adoption yearly.

Besides orphans, Nepali law permits inter-country adoption for voluntarily committed children, who have been surrendered to a child welfare home, orphanage or Bal Mandir, a national children’s organisation, by either their guardians or parents.

Problems ranging from fake documents, lack of transparency in handling funds and corruption in the adoption process, which have been reported over the years, have led to the latest round of adoption suspensions."

more here: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=52781

Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/

DOS: New Orphan Processing Procedures

USDOS:
New Orphan Processing Procedures for Cases not Subject to the Suspension in Nepal
August 30, 2010

Summary:

In an effort to protect the interests of U.S. prospective adoptive parents who are adopting from Nepal, the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu is implementing new procedures to ensure that the adoptive child will be eligible to immigrate to the United States BEFORE the prospective adoptive parents travel to Nepal and complete the Nepali adoption process. The procedures in this announcement apply only to prospective adoptive parents who were officially matched with Nepali children prior to August 6, 2010, and whose Form I-600, Petition to Classify an Orphan as an Immediate Relative, has not yet been adjudicated. If prospective adoptive parents whose cases meet these qualifications choose to follow the procedures outlined below, the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu will determine whether the children for whom they are petitioning meet the definition of orphan under U.S. law – one of the requirements for approval of the Form I-600 petition and visa issuance. End summary.

Background:

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Department of State have encountered inconsistent and unreliable documentation regarding the reported abandonment of children for adoption in Nepal. These problems led the U.S. government to suspend processing of new orphan cases involving Nepali children claimed to have been abandoned, effective August 6. However, a number of cases were already underway as of that date and are now being processed to conclusion.

On August 27, 2010, the USCIS delegated authority to the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu to approve any Form I-600, Petition to Classify an Orphan as an Immediate Relative, on behalf of a Nepali child residing in Nepal who is and whose case is exempt from the suspension of processing announced August 6, 2010. The exemption applies to cases in which the prospective adoptive parents: 1) received an official referral letter from the Government of Nepal’s Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MOWCSW) prior to August 6, 2010, informing them of a proposed match, or 2) who seek to adopt a Nepali child who has been relinquished by known parent(s) and whose identity and relationship can be confirmed.

Prospective adoptive parents involved in a case exempt from the suspension are strongly encouraged to file their completed Form I-600 petition with the U.S. Embassy Kathmandu prior to traveling to Nepal to finalize the adoption. The Embassy will then complete the required Form I-604 Determination of Child for Adoption (sometimes referred to as the “orphan investigation”) and inform the prospective adoptive parents of the results.

Procedures:

Prospective adoptive parents who wish to participate in this program should send their completed, signed Form I-600 petition and supporting documents (other than the adoption order), including a copy of the Government of Nepal’s official referral letter dated prior to August 6, 2010, if available, through their U.S. adoption service provider to their local agency representative in Nepal. Local agency representatives may deliver Form I-600 petitions and supporting documents to the Embassy’s American Citizen Services (ACS) Unit Monday through Friday between the hours of 1:30 and 4:00 p.m. They should tell the Embassy security guard that they are coming to deliver adoption documents. All Form I-600 petitions and supporting documents (other than the adoption order) should be delivered in person by local agency representatives. Prospective adoptive parents should not mail Form I-600 petitions or supporting documents directly to the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu.

Upon delivery of the Form I-600 petition and supporting documents, the local agency representative will be given written confirmation from the Embassy that the documents have been received. A consular officer will perform a preliminary review of the case to ensure that the Form I-600 petition has been properly completed and signed (and includes the appropriate fee, if required) and that all of the required documents have been submitted to enable the Embassy to initiate the I-604 investigation. If the petition and supporting documents are in order, the case will be added to the list of cases pending an I-604 investigation.

The MOWCSW has informed the U.S. Embassy it is willing to grant extensions on the 60 day period between the date of the authorization to travel letter and finalizing the adoptions in Nepal, to give the Embassy time to complete the required I-604 investigation. Prospective adoptive parents who have received the MOWCSW’s travel authorization letter should include a copy with the documents that their local agency representative delivers to the ACS Unit. After the Embassy confirms that the prospective adoptive parents have received an official referral letter from the MOWCSW dated prior to August 6, 2010, the Embassy will request an extension of the 60 days in writing from the MOWCSW on behalf of the prospective adoptive parents. A copy of the Embassy’s letter requesting the extension will be provided to the prospective adoptive parents by email for their records. When the Embassy receives a response from the Ministry, the Embassy will share this response with the prospective adoptive parent.

If, after completing the Form I-604 investigation of the case, the Embassy finds that the evidence establishes that the beneficiary child is an orphan under U.S. immigration law, the prospective adoptive parents will be notified in writing that they may travel to Nepal to complete their adoption.

Upon completion of the adoption, the Embassy will be able to complete the adjudication of the Form I-600. Note that the I-604 Investigation results are not the only consideration in the I-600 adjudication.

If the Form I-600 Petition is approved, further documents (such as the child’s medical report, etc.) will be required at that time for the visa interview. These documents could affect the child’s eligibility to receive an IR-3 or IR-4 immigrant visa.

Notification from the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu to travel and complete an adoption following these procedures should therefore not be construed as a guarantee that the Form I-600 petition will be approved or that the child will be issued an immigrant visa. After their adoption is finalized, the adoptive parents or their local agency representative should submit the original adoption order and the child’s Nepali passport to the Embassy and request an immigrant visa appointment. If Embassy Kathmandu determines that the Form I-600 petition is not clearly approvable, the prospective adoptive parents will be notified in writing that the Embassy has forwarded their Form I-600 petition and supporting documents to USCIS New Delhi for further review and action.

With the exception of those families already in Nepal at the time of this announcement, USCIS and the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu will process the Form I-600 petitions in the order that they are filed, regardless of whether the petitioner is in Nepal. If a petitioner chooses to travel to Nepal to file the Form I-600 petition after the date of this announcement, the petitioner should anticipate a lengthy stay in Nepal while the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu conducts the required investigation and while USCIS conducts any necessary review.

Domestically Filed Form I-600 Petitions for Children from Nepal:

Effective immediately, the USCIS National Benefits Center (NBC) will forward any pending Form I-600 petitions filed domestically on behalf of children from Nepal to the National Visa Center (NVC) and notify the petitioner(s) of the transfers. In addition, any Form I-600 petition received by the NBC after August 6, 2010 will be forwarded to the NVC. Once the NVC receives a Form I-600 petition from the NBC, it will scan the documents and forward the case to the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu for processing.

http://adoption.state.gov/news/nepal_processing_procedures.html

Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/

USCIS: File I-600 in Kathmandu prior to travel/adoption

USCIS Announces Change to Filing Location for Nepali Adoption Petitions
Update

WASHINGTON — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced that any U.S. citizen seeking to adopt a Nepali child, whose case is not affected by the suspension of processing of adoption cases involving Nepali children claimed to have been found abandoned, should file the Form I 600, Petition to Classify an Orphan as an Immediate Relative, with the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal.

This change in the filing location for the Form I-600 petitions applies to two groups of prospective adoptive parents who are not affected by the suspension.
* The first group is those who received a referral letter from the Government of Nepal’s Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare before Aug. 6, 2010, informing them of a proposed match of an abandoned child.
* The second group is those who seek to adopt Nepali children who were relinquished by known parent(s) and whose identity and relationship can be confirmed.

USCIS strongly encourages prospective adoptive parents to follow this procedure for their own benefit, based on growing concerns about unreliable documents, irregularities in the methods used to identify children for adoption in Nepal, and the resulting difficulties in classifying those children as orphans under U.S. immigration law. Please see the Aug. 6, 2010 announcement online regarding the suspension.

To file the Form I-600 petition with the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu, prospective adoptive parents should complete and sign the Form I-600 and send the Form I-600 with all required supporting documents and evidence, other than the adoption or custody decree, to their respective local agency representatives in Nepal. The local agency representatives may then deliver the documents directly to the American Citizen Services Section of the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu. Based on this filing, the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu will then complete the required orphan determination before prospective adoptive parents travel to, or adopt a child in, Nepal.

Following this procedure will protect the interests of the prospective adoptive parents and the children by ensuring that the adoptive children will be eligible to immigrate to the United States before the prospective adoptive parents travel to Nepal and complete the Nepali adoption process. It is anticipated that most determinations will be completed within 90 days of receipt of the case by the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu.

If, after completing its investigation of the case, the Embassy finds that the child qualifies as an orphan under U.S. immigration law, the prospective adoptive parents will be notified in writing that they may travel to Nepal to complete the adoption process.

For addition information about filing a Form I-600 petition at the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu, please visit www.adoption.state.gov. Guidance for prospective adoptive parents of Nepali children is available online at http://www.uscis.gov/ .

For more information on USCIS and its adoption programs, visit http://www.uscis.gov/adoption .

From USCIS

Last updated:08/27/2010
Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/

PEAR Response to Suspension of Adoptions in Nepal

PEAR Response to the August 6, 2010 Suspension of Adoptions from Nepal to the US

On August 6th, PEAR participated in the conference call held by the USDOS and USCIS in which they jointly announced their decision to suspend processing cases of anonymously abandoned children in Nepal. PEAR is saddened by the necessity of a suspension in Nepal. We believe that the best place for a child to grow is in a loving home. For the legitimately abandoned orphans in Nepal, a suspension will mean the delay or a loss of a permanent home for these children.

Because it is so important for children who need homes to find homes, we believe that inter-country adoption can have a place in a country’s child welfare plans. However, we strongly believe that adoption needs to be in the best interests of the child – and therefore all steps must be taken to ensure that all children placed are truly in need of homes.

Unfortunately, Nepal has a long history of corruption in its inter-country adoption program. There are many documented cases of children placed in orphanages for temporary care being adopted internationally without their parent’s consent. In countries with limited social welfare systems, like Nepal, a temporary orphanage placement is often the only option available to a parent during a crisis. It should not, however, lead to the child being placed for adoption without the parent’s consent.

PEAR hoped when the new program opened in 2009 that would mean a fresh start for the Nepal inter-country adoption program and a reduction in the kind of corruption and ethical violations that had previously plagued many adoptions from Nepal and resulted in the May 2007 closure. Our hopes seem to have been misplaced.

The Reasons

According to the USDOS¹ and news reports², one of the children referred to the first three US families traveling to Nepal was a child whose parents were searching for her. This little girl, Karuna, was placed in the orphanage by her parents for temporary care. Her identity was changed; she was declared to be an abandoned child; a false police report was created; and she was referred for adoption to a US family. Meanwhile, the parent’s requests for her return were refused by the orphanage several times. The prospective adoptive family was in Nepal when Karuna was finally returned to her parents.

On June 22, 2010, eKantipur.com published an article about Smriti³, a girl whose mother placed her in an orphanage for temporary care. During a regular visit to the orphanage to see her daughter, the mother learned Smriti had been adopted by a family in Italy. Her abandonment documentation is alleged to have been falsified. On June 25, 2010, Italy suspended adoptions from Nepal⁴.

The USDOS reports that, in recent months, there have been more cases of allegedly “abandoned” children – whose families were actively searching for them – being referred for adoption with falsified abandonment documentation. Given the small number of adoptions cases reviewed, this is a shockingly high percentage.

When a child is truly abandoned and turned over to an orphanage as an unknown child, documents are generated. There will be reports of whoever found the child and where the child was found. There will be a police report of the finding and a newspaper report alerting the community of the lost child. Eventually, if the parents cannot be found, new identity documents will be created. The USCIS (and the prospective adoptive parents) need to be able to rely on the authenticity of these documents. These documents need to reflect the real situation of each legitimately abandoned child.

Due to the falsifications in some paperwork, the USCIS conducted field reports to investigate the documents submitted for abandoned children. Either they were unable to confirm how and where the child was found and/or they were prevented from speaking with Nepali officials named in the documentation. The documents submitted could not be relied upon to reflect the child’s true situation, and therefore the child could not meet the legal criteria for an orphan visa.

In other words, USDOS has reason to believe that the entire chain of paperwork for some alleged orphans in Nepal is fraudulent. Compounding the allegedly fraudulent documents is the refusal by Nepali officials to reasonably investigate claims concerning the legitimacy of documents or to cooperate with USDOS.

The Warning Signs

The USDOS has issued at least 7 Notices and Alerts about adoption in Nepal since June 2009. These increased in severity: from concern about the safeguards in the new adoption procedures; to warning Adoption Service Providers (ASPs) not to accept new clients; to advising prospective adoptive parents (PAPs) to change to a different country; and finally to the suspension. In the Appendix, PEAR has excerpted important text from these Notices and Alerts.

PEAR believes that whenever the USDOS issues a warning about adoption issues in a sending country, it should be read with the utmost scrutiny by PAPs, as these warnings are not issued unless there is a specific cause for concern. As USDOS does not usually archive its warnings, it may be difficult for PAPs to notice that the warnings have been changed or updated.

PAPs should also be aware that it is highly unusual for USDOS to issue so many warnings about one country's program within such a short period of time. For example, of 67 USDOS Notices and Alerts that PEAR has posted from 2008 to 2010, at least 7 have been for Nepal. It is very significant that over 10 percent of the USDOS alerts/notices have pertained to one newly opened program.

The Nepal Program 2009-2010 and Available Children

When the Nepal program reopened in 2009, there was a huge rush of ASPs to open programs there, as well as a rush of PAPs to submit dossiers in Nepal. Nepal licensed 63 ASPs in 2009, and an additional 19 in 2010. In an April 12th eKantipur article⁵, MoWCSW officials reported that there were 534 registered adoption applications, and only 520 children available for adoption. In addition, while 90 percent of the US applications requested a child under 18 months, most of the registered children were 3 years or older.

Similarly, a 2005 study⁶ on children’s homes in Nepal surveyed 335 children’s homes with 8,821 children under age 18. The author estimated 80% of all the children’s homes in Nepal were surveyed and that the data would be representative of the unsurveyed homes⁷. Seventy percent of the children were in regular contact with their families⁸. Only 1 percent of the children had no information about the parents⁹. Fifty-nine percent were 10 years or older and only 7 percent were under age 5¹⁰. Twenty percent of the 8,821 children were double orphans¹¹ who might qualify for adoption under Nepal’s laws, but presumably, the majority of these children were over age 10.

Clearly, there was a mismatch in the information provided to PAPs about the number and ages of children in Nepal available for adoption.

We believe that Nepal should not have licensed additional ASPs in 2010, given the lack of legally available children and completed adoptions for already licensed ASPs.

We also believe that responsible ASPs should not have promoted Nepal as a viable alternative for most families considering inter-country adoption once the current problems were officially brought to light in September 2009.

Unethical Adoptions and Wrongful Referrals, Past and Present

We encourage you to read the recent articles about Karuna’s reunion with her family, Smriti’s adoption, and the historical articles about Nirmala Thapa’s three children¹², Sunita Bhattarai’s son¹³, Mitra Bahadur Thapa and Rama Karki’s son¹⁴, and Padam Bahadur Shahi’s son¹⁵. These children and their parents were permanently separated by an unethical child placement system.

The Nepali closure in 2007 was brought about by the numerous reports of children adopted illegally, including the situations referenced above and of an allegedly abandoned 6-year-old girl who told embassy personnel that she was 8, had a family, and did not wish to be adopted¹⁶.

Children reported to be “abandoned” plunged after the May 2007 closure, as documented by both Nepali police Women and Children Service Centre (WCSC) data¹⁷ and Gorkhapatra newspaper publications¹⁸ of abandonments. This data supports the evidence that abandonments were falsified specifically to place children for inter-country adoption.

The ASPs and Their Member Organizations

We believe that ASPs and their member organizations played a role in creating the situation in Nepal by failing to properly present the Nepal adoption program to their clients, including the lack of children available in the age range most requested, the warnings issued by DOS, the limitations and known fraudulent paperwork of the Nepali system, and its history of corrupt practices. ASPs who continued to promote and recruit prospective adoptive parents for Nepal after the DOS issued warnings opposing this should be held accountable for the pain and financial loss these families are suffering.

• We encourage ASPs to take responsibility for their role in this situation by allowing PAPs to transfer to another program or offering full refunds.
  
• We encourage ASP member organizations to hold their members to higher ethical standards and to actively promote ethical adoptions.

We understand that the JCICS, an ASP member organization, is requesting full contact and personal information from affected PAPs and asking them to allow JCICS to advocate for them. While we fully support every PAP’s right to seek assistance, we question the role of the JCICS in attempting to clean up a problem that was encouraged by its member organizations. What did the JCICS do to encourage ethical behavior by ASPs and the Nepali officials in order to prevent the suspension, particularly in light of the repeated and increasingly severe warnings by USDOS beginning in June 2009?

Our Suggestions

• PEAR encourages PAPs who had hoped to adopt from Nepal to join together with other PAPs and explore avenues for promoting the reopening of Nepal under an ethical and transparent process that supports and respects the entire triad, not just the ASPs and their in-country facilitators, orphanages, and Nepali officials. We are willing to speak with any and all families and to assist them in exploring ethical avenues for assistance.
  
• We hope Nepali officials will cooperate with USCIS investigators, especially in the cases of children referred prior to the deadline.

• We advise families that while there is no suspension for legally relinquished children, this process is very difficult in Nepal and rarely happens. The USDOS reports that there have been no relinquished children submitted for adoption by US parents since the program re-opened in 2009¹⁹.

• We advise families who are officially matched with children, and who also choose to proceed with the adoption, to be patient and expect long delays while in Nepal and understand they may not be successful if they proceed.

We are certain that PAPs want to provide a home for a child who needs a one, and not for a child stolen, tricked, or coerced from another family.

---

¹ USDOS, Nepal Adoption Notice, (Feb 17, 2010)

² Claire Cozens, Nepal's stolen children point to flawed system, (Agence France-Presse, Mar 1, 2010)

Om Astha Rai, Dalit couple foils adoption of offspring, (Republica, Feb 24, 2010)

Gopal Sharma, International adoption resumes for Nepalese children, (Reuters, Sep 10, 2009)

³ Pratima Baskota, Fake police document to adopt a girl, (eKantipur.com, Jun 22. 2010), English translation

⁴ Commission for International Adoptions, (Italy, Jun 25, 2010)

⁵ Baby dearth snags adoption, (eKantipur.com, Apr 12, 2010)

⁶ Rudramati Marg, Study of Children in Children's Homes in Nepal, (June 2005)

⁷ Ibid. page 41

⁸ Ibid. page 39

⁹ Ibid. page 50

¹⁰ Ibid. page 26

¹¹ Ibid. page 27

¹² IRIN, NEPAL: Concern rising over illegal adoptions, (Sep 2, 2008)

Lucia Mari Bueno, Un drama lejano: los niños vendidos de Nepal, (El Pais, Sep 17, 2004)

¹³ Alessandro Gilioli, Premiata Macelleria delle Indie, Chapter 24: Mercanti di Bambini, (Rizzoli, 2007)

Joseph Aguettant, Andrea Koller, Anand Tamang, Moni Shrestha, and Marlene Hofstetter, Adopting: the rights of the child, A study on intercountry adoption and its influence on child protection in Nepal, (UNICEF and Terre des homes Foundation, Aug 2008), Page 40

¹⁴ Bueno, Un drama lejano: los niños vendidos de Nepal, op. cit.

Razen Manandhar, Duped whammy: Torture Follows trickery, (The Himalaya Times, Sep 25, 2004), Also here page 6

¹⁵ Thomas Bell, On Sale, (Nepali Times, Issue 339, March 9, 2007)

Lekhnath Pant, Irregularities rife in adoptions, (Kathmandu Post, Mar 8, 2007)

¹⁶ Aguettant et al., Adopting: the rights of the child, op. cit., page 8

¹⁷ Ibid., page 20

¹⁸ Ibid.

¹⁹ USDOS, Nepal Adoption Suspension: Frequently Asked Questions, (Aug 6, 2010)

Appendix of USDOS Notices and Alerts

PEAR Response to the August 6, 2010 Suspension of Adoptions from Nepal to the US Full Statement in PDF format


Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/