Minister Ojha lands in thick soup (Kathmandu Post)
- inter-country adoption
KATHMANDU, MAR 11 -
Amid claims from different quarters that Nepal's international adoption system is full of loopholes, it has been disclosed that a British couple managed to adopt a Nepali child flouting the law earlier this month.
The British couple--Christopher Grice Lloyd and Caroline Ann Lloyd--managed to adopt the child named Abhisekh after Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare Sarbadev Prasad Ojha and other top officials “intervened” in the case that had been stalled for more than two years, said an official seeking anonymity, smelling a rat in the adoption process.
The couple had, in 2007, selected another child--Umesh, residing at the Bhaktapur-based Sagarmatha Child Home--and managed to get a recommendation letter from the Bhaktapur District Administration for adoption. Upon receiving the letter, the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW) had allowed the couple to adopt him, only to find that the child had died.
It was then that the child home selected Abhisekh for adoption -- without bothering to consult the ministry. Notably, the child home had picked Abhisekh for adoption at a time when the then government had suspended the international adoption process after reports that foreigners were paying hefty sums for adoption of children, most of whom were not genuine orphans.
Under the new adoption procedures, prospective parents have to deal with registered adoption agencies from their home countries or Nepal-based embassies. Earlier, the prospective parents would deal with orphanages and end up, in most cases, paying huge sums for the babies of their choice as there was no fixed adoption fee.
What makes this case a suspect is that the recommendation committee comprising representatives from the ministries of Home and Law, and MoWCSW decided to hand over the child to adoptive parents 'for the good of the child' this time. In the past, MoWCSW had repeatedly rejected the British couple's application for Abhisekh's adoption, telling them to follow new procedures.
The Law Ministry's role in the entire episode has also given rise to suspicion that there indeed was some foul play, sources said. It could not furnish a clear answer when MoWCSW's wrote it to suggest whether this adoption can go ahead.
first location:
http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2010/03/11/Nation/Minister-Ojha-lands-in-thick-soup/6048/
Now located at
http://www.ekantipur.com/2010/03/12/top-story/minister-ojha-lands-in-thick-soup/310070/
Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/
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