Commissione per le Adozioni Internazionali (Italy)

Commissione per le Adozioni Internazionali:

http://www.commissioneadozioni.it/it/notizie/2011/comunicato-nepal-.aspx

COMUNICATO: NEPAL (05/04/2011)

Nei giorni 31 marzo e 1° aprile 2011 si è tenuto a Roma un incontro tra una delegazione da rappresentanti del Governo e alti funzionari del Nepal, i vertici del Permanent Bureau della Conferenza di Diritto Internazionale privato de L’Aja e i rappresentanti di 14 Paesi di accoglienza (Belgio, Canada, Danimarca, Francia, Germania, Italia, Paesi Bassi, Norvegia, Spagna, Svezia, Svizzera, Regno Unito, Stati Uniti d’America) ratificanti la Convenzione del 1993. L’incontro, promosso e organizzato dal Permanent Bureau con il supporto della Commissione per le Adozioni Internazionali, è stato determinato dalla necessità di sollecitare e sostenere il Nepal nel processo di adeguamento del proprio sistema normativo e operativo ai principi della Convenzione del 1993, firmata dal Paese asiatico nell’aprile 2009.

Le criticità del sistema nepalese, solo in parte risolte dalle nuove norme introdotte nel 2008, avevano determinato le autorità di tutti i Paesi d’accoglienza a sospendere – già dal giugno 2010 – il deposito di nuovi dossier. In particolare, l’attuale sistema non prevede una reale tutela dei diritti dell’infanzia, non garantisce l’accertamento dello stato di abbandono e non assicura il rispetto del principio di sussidiarietà.

Il sen. Carlo Giovanardi, presidente della Commissione per le Adozioni Internazionali, ha aperto i lavori assicurando il sostegno dell’Italia a tutte le iniziative individuate dalle autorità partecipanti al meeting, volte ad accelerare il processo di cambiamento auspicato.

Le due giornate di lavoro congiunto hanno portato ad una più chiara reciproca comprensione. In particolare, la delegazione nepalese ha confermato la volontà di aderire al programma di assistenza tecnica offerta dal Permanent Bureau, cui i Paesi di accoglienza porteranno il loro supporto. La delegazione ha altresì illustrato le tappe per una serie di riforme già programmate nelle grandi linee, manifestando il bisogno del Paese di interventi di cooperazione per sostenere la transizione. Al riguardo, i Paesi di accoglienza hanno assicurato la volontà di valutare interventi di supporto.

E’ stata comunque confermata la comune decisione di mantenere la sospensione del deposito di nuovi fascicoli, finché il Nepal non avrà raggiunto standard normativi e operativi conformi al “sistema Aja”.E’ stata peraltro espressa alla delegazione nepalese la disponibilità dei Paesi di accoglienza di ricercare soluzioni per i bambini con “bisogni speciali”.


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Preparation to amend laws on children (The Himalayan Times)

Preparation to amend laws on children

The Himalayan Times

2011-04-16

KATHMANDU: The government is preparing to make the process of adopting children easier in Nepal and initiate necessary process to ease inter-country child adoption.

At a discussion programme organised by the Federation of Child Homes Nepal here on Friday, Deputy Secretary at Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare, Sher Jung karki informed the government is mulling to make necessary amendments to existing laws on children in Nepal.

The changes will be made in the laws considering the conclusions drawn from the discussion recently held among the representatives of European government, United States and Canada, Hague secretary and Nepal government representatives in Rome of Italy.

The Himalayan Times:

http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Preparation+to+amend+laws+on+children&NewsID=284194



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

U.S. State Department -- Update on Adoptions in Nepal

Nepal -- U.S. State Department

April 22, 2011

Notice: Update on Adoptions in Nepal


Government of Nepal Announces Amendments to 2008 Terms and Conditions

On January 5, 2011, the Government of Nepal, Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MOWCSW) in its Notice No. 1 announced that children found by the police will not be available for intercountry adoption until further notice. This and other amendments to the Terms and Conditions of 2008 may be found at:

http://www.mowcsw.gov.np/inter-country-adoption-15-en.html


Nepal Forms New Government

On February 3, 2011, in the 17th round of voting, Nepali parliamentarians chose Jalala Nath Khanal as the new Prime Minister. On the same day, Parliament passed a resolution censuring Sarba Dev Ojha, the most recent Minister of Women, Children, and Social Welfare, for negligence, lack of responsiveness, and violation of the parliamentary Committee on Women, Children, and Social Welfare's rules. On March 12, 2011, Khadga Bahadur Bishwakarma was appointed as new Minister of Women, Children and Social Welfare. Bishwakarma previously held this same position from 2007-2009, during the Government of Nepal-imposed suspension of intercountry adoptions.


Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Janice L. Jacobs' Visit to Nepal

Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Janice L. Jacobs visited Nepal on February 16-17, 2011. During her visit, she met with officials in the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare and the Prime Minister's Office. They discussed the United States Government's concern with the lack of integrity and transparency in the adoption system in Nepal.

Assistant Secretary Jacobs encouraged the Government of Nepal to work with the international community, including The Hague Permanent Bureau, to implement The Hague Adoption Convention and reform its adoption process to protect children and families.

Assistant Secretary Jacobs noted that recent changes to the adoption process in Nepal are inadequate to address concerns about the origin of the children being matched for intercountry adoption.

The U.S. suspension on new adoption cases involving abandoned children will remain in place until substantive progress is made on the issues raised by a February 2010 Hague Convention report.


Permanent Bureau meeting with Government of Nepal Adoption Officials in Rome

On March 29, a joint Department of State/U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services delegation attended meetings in Rome organized by The Hague Permanent Bureau (HPB) and the Italian Central Authority to discuss how to improve Nepal's intercountry adoption and child welfare system. Nepal sent representatives from the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare, and the Intercountry Adoption Management Committee. The two-day meeting involved representatives from 12 major receiving countries (Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States) as well as participants from UNICEF and Terre des Hommes Foundation.


Update on Adoption Case Processing

Since the August 6, 2010 announcement that the Department of State and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) were suspending processing of new adoption cases from Nepal that involve children who are claimed to have been found abandoned, sixty four families filed Form I-600 petitions with the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu on behalf of their adoptive children. Of these, Embassy Kathmandu found six petitions approvable and sent 56 petitions to the USCIS office in New Delhi as "not clearly approvable." One case in which the Form I-600 was recently filed with Embassy Kathmandu is under investigation by the Consular Section. USCIS approved one case after an initial review, and sent 55 families Requests for Evidence (RFE) asking for additional information in their case. As of April 15, 2011, USCIS found those 54 petitions approvable after reviewing additional information submitted by the families. One petition remains pending. Embassy Kathmandu has issued 46 immigrant visas to the beneficiaries of those petitions; the remaining families are in the process of finalizing their adoptions and applying for their adopted child's immigrant visa.

http://adoption.state.gov/country_information/country_specific_alerts_notices.php?alert_notice_type=notices&alert_notice_file=nepal_3



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

Some background to the TDH/Image Ark documentary Paper Orphans

Some background to the TDH/Image Ark documentary Paper Orphans

The Terre des hommes/Image Ark documentary Paper Orphans was a major reason so many receiving countries suspended adoptions from Nepal.

Paper Orphans focuses on three NGOs -- Nepal Children's Organization (NCO/Bal Mandir), the Helpless Children Protection Home (HCPH), and the Education Centre for Helpless Children (ECHC).

For background to the documentary, see the following links.

The Nepal premier at Patan Museum (March 2010):

Paper Orphan\Kishan Sharki (Kantipur Daily):

http://pearadoptinfo-nepal. blogspot.com/2010/03/paper- orphankishan-sharki-kantipur. html

and

Paper Orphans on the Screen (Voice of Children):

http://pearadoptinfo-nepal. blogspot.com/2010/05/draft- agenda-for-special-commission- on.html

The Hague screening (June 2010):

2010 Special Commission of the Hague Releases its Conclusions and Recommendations:

http://pearadoptinfo-nepal. blogspot.com/2010/07/2010- special-commission-of-hague. html

and

Nepal skips the Hague meet on adoption (Republica):

http://pearadoptinfo-nepal. blogspot.com/2010/06/nepal- skips-hague-meet-on-adoption. html

Nepal Children's Organization (NCO/Bal Mandir):

Victims of Balmandir:

http://poundpuplegacy.org/ node/43654

and

Prachanda Raj Pradhan -- head of the Child NGO Federation Nepal (CNFN):

http://pearadoptinfo-nepal. blogspot.com/2010/03/ prachanda-raj-pradhan-head-of- child-ngo.html

The Helpless Children Protection Home (HCPH):

Paper Orphans & The Helpless Children Protection Home:

http://poundpuplegacy.org/ node/43603

and

Dalit Couple Foils Adoption Of Offspring (Republica):

http://pearadoptinfo-nepal. blogspot.com/2010/02/dalit- couple-foils-adoption-of.html

and

Adopted Children always in disputes! (Voice of Children):

http://pearadoptinfo-nepal. blogspot.com/2010/04/adopted- children-always-in-disputes.

Also worth reading (for general background on Nepali adoptions):

Trade of Children (Voice of Children):

http://pearadoptinfo-nepal. blogspot.com/2010/06/trade-of- children-voice-of-children. html

and

Orphaned or Stolen? The U.S. State Department investigates adoption from Nepal, 2006-2008

Exclusive State Department internal cables from Freedom of Information Act requests

The Huffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ schuster-institute-for- investigative-journalism/ orphaned-or-stolen-the-us_b_ 825451.html

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

Orphanage Operator Held (Republica)

Orphanage Operator Held

Republica

KATHMANDU, April 2: Police have rescued 20 children from Mukti Nepal, a Maharajgunj-based orphanage, and arrested its operator after finding that the orphanage does not meet minimum standards. The rescued children are aged between five to 15 years.

Police arrested Goma Luitel, chairman of the orphanage, at the behest of the Central Child Welfare Board (CCWB).

“We found the children living in pathetic condition. Six boys and 14 girls were kept in one room,” Lochan Regmi, a CCWB monitoring officer said.

Regmi added that some foreigner, including a representative of Save the Children Norway, had complained about the orphanage.

He said a 12-year-old girl died in the orphanage in November. But the orphanage has not informed about the incident to the CCWB.

“They could not show the authorized documents about the child´s death,” Regmi said adding, “We have been told the child died at Kanti Children´s Hospital, but they showed papers from Kantishwori Cultural Center.”

The children rescued from the orphanage complained they were not given enough food.

“Children were also compelled to go out to fetch water when there was a water shortage at the home,” chief of District Child Welfare Board (DCEB) Suneeta Shah said.

She added that the children themselves had to cook meals and wash clothes. “Some children were not sent to school,” Shah said.

Children have complained that operator Luitel used to beat them.

“The kids were living in a terrible condition. We decided to rescue and transfer them to another home,” Shah said.

She also revealed that children are from the outskirts of the capital and all have parents. The DCWB is working to find their parents. “In the name of charity work, the operator was doing business,” she said.

The orphanage has been operating since 2004.

The CCWB said the orphanage is now closed permanently.


Republica:

http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=29845



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