PEAR Adoption Information - Nepal

Great expectations gone awry (Republica)

2012-01-25T14:46:00.007-05:00

Great expectations gone awry

Republica:

http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=41086

KALENDRA SEJUWAL

SURKHET, Jan 25: Twenty two children brought to the capital from several villages of Surkhet and Kalikot with the lure of top class education for negligible charges have been rescued by their parents after they found out that the kids were kept as captives in poor conditions at the school.

The parents said they suspected that their children would have been sold had they not intervened on time.

"We were told that our children would be admitted to a branch school of Budhanilkantha school where they could study till the higher level for just Rs 40,000,” said Dhanbahadur Khadka of Sipkhana, Kalikot.

“The children sounded as if they were under some distress when we called them. We then visited the school to see if everything was all right and the truth came to surface,” he added. According to him, the parents were not allowed to go inside the school at first. “But we forced our way in and found that the children were crammed in a single room that was dark and very small.”

Khadka had handed over his son to his relative Netra Bahadur on November 19 along with the demanded amount of Rs 40,000 which he had borrowed against a very high interest. The children were rescued from the school on January 11 under Khadka's initiation.

According to the parents, the school principal Dayalaxmi Shrestha was the mastermind of the plot. With the help of Prem Saud, Netrabahadur, Birendra Dhami and Mahesh, all of them residents of Kalikot district, Shrestha was able to gather the children at the school situated in Siddhartha Banasthali area and went by the name of MBS High School.

In the month of November alone, 84 children from Seuna, Sikhana, Mumra, Mehalmudi and other villages, were brought to the school.

The children who have returned home with their parents painted a hellish picture of the life inside the school. “We were never given fresh and enough food,” said nine years old Charitra Sahakari. “We took care of all their household chores. We were made to work like slaves,” added 10-year-old Rasila Yogi.

The children were found to be in a very poor health condition. “Many of them suffer from dysentery and diarrhea,” said Khadka.

On the other hand, the government has kept quiet despite being aware of the ongoing situation at the school. According to Khadka, the children were rescued with the help of an education officer Suresh Shahi.

“Shahi had asked the principal Shrestha to produce legal documents of the school which she could not,” Khadka said, adding, “however, no action has been taken against her yet.”

Published on 2012-01-25

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

DOS Adoption Notice - Nepal Relinquishment Cases

2012-01-19T22:57:00.008-05:00

Nepal

January 19, 2012

Notice: U.S. Department of State Continues to Recommend Against Adopting from Nepal

On August 6, 2010, the U. S. Department of State and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) suspended processing of new adoption cases from Nepal involving children claimed to have been found abandoned, because documents presented in support of the abandonment of these children in Nepal were unreliable. Cases involving relinquishment by known birth parent(s) were not affected by the suspension.

Recently, the Government of Nepal informed the U.S. Department of State that there may be a small number of children who will be found eligible for intercountry adoption by the Government of Nepal as relinquishment cases in 2012. The U.S. Department of State continues to strongly recommend that prospective adoptive parents refrain from adopting children from Nepal due to grave concerns about the reliability of Nepal’s adoption system and credible reports that children have been stolen from birth parents, who did not intend to irrevocably relinquish parental rights as required by INA 101(b)(1)(F). We also strongly urge adoption service providers not to accept new applications for adoption from Nepal.

Due to the concerns regarding reliability of Nepal's adoption system, any future relinquishment cases received by the Embassy in Kathmandu will require complex investigations which may include birth parent interviews and DNA testing. Although we have not yet received these cases, and cannot estimate the amount of time for any investigation, we caution that they may require significant time and expenses that would likely raise the overall costs for prospective adoptive parents.

The U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu continues to encourage 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.

We will continue to keep you updated through adoption.state.gov as additional information is received. This link will also provide additional information and past adoption notices and alerts on the detailed concerns found in Nepal adoptions.

http://adoption.state.gov/country_information/country_specific_alerts_notices.php?alert_notice_type=notices&alert_notice_file=nepal_4

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

PEAR Website Announcement

2011-12-29T09:02:00.002-05:00

Our website will be down December 26 to January 6 for a redesign. Due to this, our web comments, membership forms and donate buttons will be inoperable.

Please direct your correspondence to the following board members:

Comments and requests for assistance:
Gina Pollock
Vice President Advocacy and NGO/Government Relations
rmprhp@yahoo.com

Membership Issues:
Shanna Wright
Secretary and Membership Chair
shanjwright@gmail.com

Donations and financial issues:
Margaret Weeks
Treasurer
meweek@aol.com

All other correspondence:
Kimberly Kennedy
President
kackennedy_2000@yahoo.com

Thank you for your continued patience and support!

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

Govt opens applications for inter-country adoption (Republica)

2011-12-17T09:55:00.018-05:00

***Please note: although Nepal has announced it is accepting applications for intercountry adoption, the US Suspension on processing I 600 petitions for abandoned children remains in place. See: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/08/145767.htm

Govt opens applications for inter-country adoption

REPUBLICA

ARJUN POUDEL

KATHMANDU, Nov 29: After receiving no application for inter-country adoption in 2011, the government has asked prospective foreign parents to apply for adopting Nepali orphans for the year 2012.

The Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MWCSW) has formally invited applications through concerned embassies, diplomatic missions and international adoption agencies for the first time after inter-country adotption was suspended in 2009.

The ministry had suspended inter-country adoption following disclosure of rampant irregularities in the process. Some European countries including USA had also suspended adoption of Nepali children indefinitely after revelation of irregularities. Before the suspension, the ministry used to receive more than 500 such applications each year.

“We have completed listing eligible children for adoption for 2012. Altogether 252 children are eligible for adoption,” the legal officer at the ministry, Sher Jung Karki, said. Children formally relinquished by the family will also be put on offer for adoption, he said.

Some of the children´s homes had stopped providing shelter to newcomer orphans since a year after foreign countries stopped taking in Nepali children. The children´s homes cited financial problems for stopping providing shelter to newcomer orphans. Foreign adoption is one of the main financial sources of the orphanages.

The government has also introduced strict measures after reports of irregularities in adoption were disclosed.

Karki said that the foreign parents seeking to adopt Nepali children cannot approach the children directly. “Prospective parents cannot visit Nepal to select children without the consent of the Nepal government. They have to apply through the Internet,” the legal officer at the ministry, Karki, stated. The ministry has asked foreign parents to submit application within three days from November 17.

He also said the adopting parents need to submit documents concerning permission from their respective governments for adoption and should apply through registered adoption agencies.

The government had also fixed fee for adoption. Adopting parents have to pay US$ 8,000 and the orphanage will get only US$ 5,000 per child. The US$ 3,000 will go to the state and it will be spent for the welfare of children.

Previously adopting parents would approach the concerned orphanage directly and select a child. They would pay huge amount to the orphanages to take away the children of their choice. Karki said that adopting parents from now on will be able to choose only gender and age of the children.

The ministry says 29 orphanages have renewed their licenses for inter-country adoption. Seven new orphanages have acquired licenses for adoption. Parents from around 72 countries adopt Nepali children.

Published on 2011-11-29

http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=38929

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

Reforms made by the Government of Nepal on Inter-country adoption system (MOWCSW)

2011-12-07T21:35:00.008-05:00

Reforms made by the Government of Nepal on Inter country adoption system

Status of Children handed over in 2009 & 10

Number of children in 2009

Country	Female	Male	Total
Belgium	6	2	8
Canada	2	0	2
Denmark	8	9	17
France	12	12	24
Germany	2	0	2
Italy	40	32	72
Norway	7	3	10
Spain	32	14	46
Sweden	6	2	8
Switzerland	4	1	5
United Kingdom	4	1	5
USA	74	26	100
	197	102	299

Number of children in 2010

Country	Female	Male	Total
Brazil	1	0	1
India	0	0	0
Japan	1	0	1
Mauritius	0	0	0
Italy	21	13	34
Spain	13	5	18
	36	18	54

Data regarding the Child Protection and Family Support Program

1. Rehabilitation program for double orphans

Activities	Number	Rehabilitation support	Responsible Ministry
Double Orphan (Lost both their parents in conflict) support program until they reach 18 years	121 children	NRs. 5000 Per Month	Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction

Source: Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction (MOPR)

2. Family Preservation under the Women Empowerment Program

Activities	Working Areas	Support	Responsible Ministry
Family preservation under the Women Empowerment Program	3045 Village Development Committees and 35 Municipalities	Seed Money worth at NRs. 750 Million in total	Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare

Source: Department of Women and Children

3. Mobilization of Social Volunteers

Activities	Working Areas	Number of volunteers	Responsible Ministry
Mobilization of Social Volunteers for awareness raising for women and children	75 Districts at community level	857	Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare

Source: Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare

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

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

Submission of Application regarding the Inter Country Adoption (MOWCSW)

2011-11-23T16:18:00.007-05:00

Submission of Application regarding the Inter Country Adoption (MOWCSW):

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

Government of Nepal

Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare

Inter Country Adoption Management Committee

Singh Durbar, Kathmandu, Nepal

Subject: Submission of Application regarding the Inter Country Adoption

Date: 17 November 2011

In accordance with the Article 8 of Terms and Conditions and Process for Granting Approval for Adoption of Nepali Child by Alien, 2008, Inter Country Adoption Management Committee invites applications from the prospective adoptive parents through all the concerned embassies/diplomatic missions or international adoption agencies, for the year of 2012. In this regard, the Committee would like to request all to take the following notes:

Application for orphan and relinquished children should be submitted within 90 days being effective from 17 November, 2011 and no time restriction for the children with special needs.

Application includes-

Consent letter from concerned authority of the home country of adoptive parent/s,

Guarantee letter from the concerned authority (Government or Embassy) of the home country specifying that adopted children will be treated as biological children,

Birth certificate of applicant/s,

Documents proving the marital status of the applicant/s,

Family status including the birth certificate/s of biological/adoptive child (if any),

Health certificate of applicant/s issued by licensed medical practitioner,

Character certificate of applicant/s issued by government authority,

Documents proving properties and income sources of the applicant/s,

Photocopy of passport of applicant/s,

Social, psychological and home study report of applicant/s,

Covering letter of the embassy/ diplomatic mission/adoption agency,

Photographs depicting exteriors and interiors of living apartment/residence,

Commitment of the applicants to comply with post adopting requirements,

Prospective adoptive parent's sheet.

3. Application without valid and complete documents shall not be entertained

4. Application exceeding the quota shall not be entertained.

5. Application should be attached with the proof of bank transfer of an advance payment (non-refundable) of US $300 (three hundred) to the following bank accounts:

Name of the Bank: Everest Bank Limited, Singh durbar, Kathmandu

Name of Account: Inter Country Adoption Management Development Committee

Account Number: 00101102200050

Swift Code No: E V B L N P K A

Download Prosepective parents' Sheet

http://www.mowcsw.gov.np/uploads/02-%20Final%20Information%20about%20prospective%20adoptive%20parents%20Sheet.doc

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

A Nepalese child trafficker issues death threats (video)

2011-11-17T08:02:00.007-05:00

A Nepalese child trafficker issues death threats

YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ogfdb69FI4U&feature=youtu.be

For background, see:

Dal Bahadur Phadera & the suppressed UNICEF report

http://pearadoptinfo-nepal.blogspot.com/2011/11/dal-bahadur-phadera-suppressed-unicef.html

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

Dal Bahadur Phadera & the suppressed UNICEF report

2011-11-15T17:41:00.043-05:00

Dal Bahadur Phadera & the s
uppressed UNICEF report

UNICEF Nepal's suppressed Humla report is now available on the web.

The reason UNICEF Nepal suppressed (i.e., never published) their 2005 report is unclear.

Nor is it clear why trafficked Nepali children were left at the Michael Job Centre,

Tamil Nadu,

for over six years.

UNICEF FWLD Displacement of Children From Humla 2005:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/66594955/UNICEF-FWLD-Displacement-of-Children-From-Humla-2005

Also available at Pound Pup Legacy:

http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/48632

And posted by one of the European anti-trafficking INGOs:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/72805496/UNICEF-FWLD-Displacement-of-Children-From-Humla-2005

Here is an extract (one case from the report):

Bikram Bhandari, Thehe VDC

"Bikram Bhandari informed the team that his son (Machche Bhandari now changed to Manish) was sent 6 years ago (Date: 1998) with Kali Bahadur Bhandari from Humla to Katmandu. Ram Bahadur and Gam Singh where 2 other children also sent with Machche Bandari -- they are also now missing however the team did not meet with their parents. Once in Katmandu. Chakra Bahadur Shahi (ex-parliamentarian member) arranged addmition of the children to Bal Mandir (a government organization)

From Katmandu, Machche was sent to a foreign country though Bal Mandir. This information was relayed to Bikram, 3 years ago (Date: 2001) by a member of Bal Mandir when Bikram came to Kathmandu looking for his son.

When Bikram came to know that his child was sent to another country he reqested to meet with his son but the staff of Bal Mandir said that Bikram had to pay 2 lack rupies [lakh rupees]

for this to be arranged.

Bikram explained to the team that the CDO and VDC had prepaired a recommendation letter stating that Machche Bhandari's (Bikrams son) parents where Dead. This was false information.

Bikram would like to meet with his son but is unable to -- he expressed anger about this situation.

Only Kali Bahadur had the information on Bikrams son, however Kali is now dead and Chakra dose not know the information so there is no way of finding out about the child."

For background, see:

On Children's Homes -- Lonely Planet:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2032255&start=0&limit=1000

Read the full thread -- a horrific, first-hand account of D.B. Phadera.

Here are two extracts (from a Western volunteer):

"The orphanage I Managed was registered, but not once did I ever see anyone check up on it. My orphanage being registered also did not make it a good place. My job was to run the home and do everything I could to protect the children from the owner and his goons. The owner was a known childtrafficker who was above the law. The NGO ISIS had conducted and investigation that traced over 530 girls that he had sold to brothels in India. They turned the investigation over to UNICEF who promptly leaked it giving him time to pay off the right people. He spent all of 2 nights in jail. I really prefer not to get into how horrible this man is to children, but he is just one of many respectable businessmen who have registered orphanages that are just ways for him to earn money through exploiting children. Like at many homes, the term "owner" only means that he had custody over the children, not that he paid for anything or did anything to care for the children. I actually had to stop a group of swiss tourists from handing over 2000 USD directly to one of his goons (who was himself a pedophile)."

and:

"DB Phadera...was the owner of my orphanage. He lived just across the path from me. Words cannot fully describe how horrible this man is. My job involved documenting the hell out of each of the kids in order to try to keep them safe from him- and it wasn't always enough. He is truly the most despicable person i have ever met. When an 8 year old girl disappeared from the home, he smiled at me as he told me she was only there on vacation. When he had disputes with the organizations that funded the home, he would cut off their ability to bring the children food. He literally would starve the children as a bargaining tool. When I first arrived at the home, he was allowing his goons free reign and many would come and demand to sleep in the beds with the kids at night. It took everything I had to put a stop to that practice. He forces children to beg, sells them into servitude, or worse, into brothels. For him it's all an equation of how he can make the most money. The lucky children are the ones he just abandons. Many good organizations in the valley have rescued kids from DB. All of the ones I listed in my previous post are among them. their efforts are noble and deserve support. But DB is a politically powerful man. As long as he remains free, he will continue to bring in more Humli children and subject them to cruelty, abuse, and in the best case scenario simple neglect.

Having to deal with him on a daily basis was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. My kids needed me there as my foreignness did give them some level of protection and the alternative would have been a manager of his choice, but I couldn't rock the boat too much- he had threatened to kill a previous volunteer and she had to leave the country.

Corruption in Nepal creates this culture of impunity which allows traffickers to operate."

See also:

Lt. Col. Philip Holmes explains why his charity rescued Nepali girls from the Michael Job Centre (video) -- PEAR Nepal:

http://pearadoptinfo-nepal.blogspot.com/2011/11/lt-col-philip-holmes-explains-why-his.html

"After the girls' return to Nepal the trafficker who had been involved, DB Phadera, orchestrated a vicious media campaign against the charity."

The Indian preacher and the fake orphan scandal -- Daily Telegraph:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/8856050/The-Indian-preacher-and-the-fake-orphan-scandal.html

On the Western supporters of the Michael Job Centre (Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India).

Long journey home -- The Nepali Times:

http://www.nepalitimes.com.np/issue/2011/09/30/ThisIsIt/18594

On The Esther Benjamins Trust's rescue of 23 Nepali girls (Tamil Nadu -- September 2011).

A trafficker remains scot-free -- The Kathmandu Post:

http://pearadoptinfo-nepal.blogspot.com/2011/07/trafficker-remains-scot-free-kathmandu.html

On trafficker D.B. Phadera & the Michael Job Centre.

Paper Orphans documentary posted on the web -- PEAR Nepal:

http://pearadoptinfo-nepal.blogspot.com/2011/10/paper-orphans-documentary-posted-on-web.html

The Terre des Hommes/Image Ark documentary on adoption trafficking in Humla (the NCO/Bal Mandir kidnappings). Some Humli children ended up in India -- others in the inter-country adoption trade.

How our media helps sell children (by asking the wrong questions) -- Ushaft's Blog:

http://ushaft.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/how-nepali-media-helps-sell-children/

Andrew Undershaft on the media allies of trafficker Dal Bahadur Phadera.

Adhocism and the culture of press-release journalism (part one) -- Ushaft's Blog:

http://ushaft.wordpress.com/2011/11/08/adhocism-and-the-culture-of-press-release-journalism-part-1/

Andrew Undershaft on Anuradha Koirala's curious support of the traffickers.

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

Lost and found (The Kathmandu Post)

2011-11-15T09:43:00.006-05:00

Lost and found

The Kathmandu Post

Jenee Rai

Nov. 11 The arrest of Goma Luitel—the infamous warden of the Mukti Nepal orphanage in Maharajgunj, one accused of sub-standard operations and child abuse—was a rare episode of victory for the Central Child Welfare Board (CCWB) and the families of the 20 children rescued. The story of dubious orphanages in Nepal, and their deliberate exploitation of parents’ innocence is an old one as of now, but what has emerged from this one case of rescue and arrest is a story of children resuming normal lives.

Eight-year-old Rajnish Lama (name changed) and 10-year-old Rajni Lama (name changed) were admitted to Mukti Nepal at the ages of five and three respectively. Their childhood before the orphanage had been carefree, even though there was little prospect of education. But admitted to the orphanage upon false promises of being sent to school, life for them soon turned harsh.

“We were not given sufficient food and if anyone dared to steal some more, the warden would punish us severely,” recalls Rajni. Severe punishments often involved heavy beatings with iron rods. The siblings were hoarded with 21 other children in a small room, one that was mostly unfit for living.

Rajni and Rajnish were fortunate enough to be rescued by human rights organisations and placed at the centre regulated by the CCWB. Now reunited with their father in Thamel, the siblings go to a local school in the area. “I am happy that my children are now safe with me. I used to drink a lot. But for my children, I gave up drinking six months ago and have not touched a drop of alcohol since,” says Manish, the father.

Another child, 14-year-old Malika from Dang, was also rescued along with the Lama siblings and is now under the care of cousins who live in Dhapasi. Malika, who remembers her warden Luitel pocketing donations from foreign volunteers, is now studying in grade seven at the Chakrapath-based Little Rose School. Serious about her studies, she attained fourth position in her first terminal exams and topped her class in the next.

Such stories of reunification where children begin to grow in the right direction show that there is no real substitute for family care in child rearing—a conviction among anti-trafficking organisations who advocate the deinstitutionalisation of orphanages and have been looking into alternative care settings, such as moving children in with extended family members or guardians.

With the CCWB’s findings thus far revealing only eight childcare homes operating within the minimum standard—which include the capacity to take care of at least 10 children, the hiring of at least four staff members for administration, cleanliness, cooking and care taking and the assurance of the home being free of child abuse—the rest of the orphanages, hundreds in number, are likely to be spaces of mistreatment.

CCWB’s Rajendra Manandhar stresses the need for awareness in the local community and requests them to file complaints against any illegal orphanages that may be operating in their areas to the District Child Welfare Board or the District Administration Office. Arrests of perpetrators like Luitel—whose case is running in the Kathmandu District Court—are needed to prevent the lives of children like Rajnish, Rajni and Malika from being irreparably scarred.

Posted on: 2011-11-12

http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2011/11/11/features/lost-and-found/228112.html

For background, see:

The Mukti Nepal adoption scandal -- torture of a birth parent:

http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/43654

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

Lt. Col. Philip Holmes explains why his charity rescued Nepali girls from the Michael Job Centre (video)

2011-11-12T11:24:00.007-05:00

Lt. Col. Philip Holmes explains why his charity rescued Nepali girls from the Michael Job Centre

YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHHHwdHVGnI&feature=youtu.be

"In September 2011 UK children's charity The Esther Benjamins Trust instigated and supported the rescue of trafficked Nepali girls from the Michael Job Centre in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, south India. After the girls' return to Nepal the trafficker who had been involved, DB Phadera, orchestrated a vicious media campaign against the charity. Lt Col Philip Holmes, Founder and Operational Director of the Trust, explains the background to the rescue and why he and his colleagues were compelled to intervene in the gross abuse of child rights."

For background, see:

Duelling videos -- Humla trafficker Dal Bahadur Phadera

http://pearadoptinfo-nepal.blogspot.com/2011/11/duelling-videos-humla-trafficker-dal.html

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

Are They Orphans? (The American Prospect)

2011-11-08T18:13:00.005-05:00

Are They Orphans?

The American Prospect

E.J. Graff

Beware of overseas orphanages seeking donations. If you're not careful, you may become the victim of an orphanage scam—in which a savvy entrepreneur in a poor country hustles up some children so that he or she can ask developed-world humanitarians for money for the children's support. In some of the notorious cases, the orphanage director pockets the money while the children are left to starve or sold for sex. Few people know that they may be underwriting kidnapping or other modes of defrauding local families out of their children. In other cases, the traffickers put the children—who are neither abandoned nor orphaned—up for international adoption, which can bring in astonishing fees.

One version of the orphanage scam has just been uncovered in India by the Esther Benjamins Memorial Foundation. Several years ago, a now-infamous child-trafficker traveled through Nepal's Humla province, asking families to pay him to take their children to boarding schools in Kathmandu. Instead, according to information I received from Joseph Aguettant of the child welfare NGO Terre des Hommes, many of the boys were sold into international adoption, while many girls were sold into the sex trade in India. (You can see Joseph Aguettant's documentary of the Nepal adoption issues, "Paper Orphans," on You Tube here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4).

Parents paid a child-trafficker more than £100 to take their daughters to good schools in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, but instead they were taken more than 1,200 miles to Tamil Nadu, southern India. Some of the girls were a bit luckier, as reported by the Nepali Times and the UK newspaper the Telegraph:

At the Michael Job Centre, a Christian orphanage and school in Coimbatore, they were converted to Christianity, given western names and told that its charismatic founder, Dr PP Job, was now their father.
On websites, the children were given serial numbers and profiles. The charity claimed they had been either abandoned by their parents who did not want the financial burden of raising girls, or orphaned after their "Christian" parents were murdered by Nepal's Maoist insurgents.
The profiles were used to attract financial sponsors from around the world.

46 more children with parents identified in Sulur orphanage (The Times of India)

2011-11-07T09:15:00.007-05:00

More on the Michael Job Centre/Humla scandal:

46 more children with parents identified in Sulur orphanage (The Times of India)

P Sreedharan, TNN

Nov 7, 2011

COIMBATORE: The ongoing probe into the alleged international child trafficking racket involving an orphanage here after 23 Nepalese children were found in their custody under the guise of orphans has become murkier. The Child Welfare Committee probing into the institution has identified and sent 46 more children to their rightful parents so far.

More such cases are expected to crop up in the coming days claimed officials involved in the process. Majority of these children were from Assam and Bihar. Even though they were not orphans, they were lodged at Michael Job Centre for Orphan Girls in Sulur.

"We are probing into the matter. More such children were identified and the Child Welfare Committee is expected to send a detailed report to me in the coming days. It is a sensitive issue and we have to handle it carefully," said M Karunagaran, District Collector, Coimbatore.

The chairman of the institution Dr PP Job, a famous evangelist based out of New Delhi was also asked to appear before the Child Welfare Committee but has not complied with the order so far. He had sent a deputy to represent him before the committee on October 11.The committee along with the Social Welfare Department are now engaged in trying to confirm the exact number of such children being lodged at the centre and trying to rehabilitate them with their natural parents.

"We had asked Dr Job to appear before the committee but he has not done so yet. We have been contacted by some parents after they heard about the incident involving Nepalese children and we have identified 46 more children who were not orphans at the centre," said Dr D Rajan, Chairman, Child Welfare Committee, Coimbatore.

The officials have also cancelled the license of the centre. As of now 485 children reside there and are given a formal education. Officials say they are proceeding cautiously, as the future of the children is at stake. Their main priority is children below eighteen years of age. The centre was initially given 15 days to furnish their documents and records. It is believed that majority of the children at the centre are from the North Eastern States, Bihar and also some parts of TN.

Meanwhile, officials at the Michael Job centre dismissed the entire issue and claimed that they have filed a legal appeal with the Tamil Nadu government challenging the district collector's order to withdraw the license of the centre.

"We have filed an appeal challenging the withdrawal of the license of the centre on October 3. I cannot divulge much about the matter at this point of time," said CV Francis, a Delhi based advocate representing the orphanage.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/46-more-children-with-parents-identified-in-Sulur-orphanage/articleshow/10637622.cms

For background, see:

Duelling videos -- Humla trafficker Dal Bahadur Phadera

http://pearadoptinfo-nepal.blogspot.com/2011/11/duelling-videos-humla-trafficker-dal.html

Ethics, Transparency, Support

~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/

Duelling videos -- Humla trafficker Dal Bahadur Phadera

2011-11-04T16:40:00.014-04:00

Duelling videos on Humla trafficker Dal Bahadur Phadera

First, from the Esther Benjamins Trust:

23 Nepali girls rescued from 'mission'

Our September rescue operation which freed 23 Nepali girls has been vindicated by the Child Welfare Council (CWC) in India.

The CWC has ordered the closure of the centre from which the children were freed.

The girls were in The Michael Job Centre in Tamil Nadu. The centre is well known to authorities in Nepal and India. It claimed to offer sanctuary to children of Christian martyrs; many of the children we rescued had in fact been taken there by known trafficking agent D B Phadera after their parents had paid what appears to amount to a placement fee.

We are planning the future care of these children, to work out who can safely be reunited with their family and who might need genuine residential refuge and support as they rebuild their lives.

A video by Lt. Col. Philip Holmes shows the challenges faced post-rescue:

http://www.ebtrust.org.uk/news/Mission_rescue.html

In response, Dal Bahadur Phadera held a Kathmandu press conference. (D.B. Phadera is seated in the video -- wearing a dark waistcoat and sitting next to the woman in an orange coat):

http://www.nepalnews.com/home/index.php/-video-archive-gg/14297-esther-benjamins-trust-victims-seek-justice.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQgrkGwCUHA

For background, see:

Long journey home -- The Nepali Times:

http://www.nepalitimes.com.np/issue/2011/09/30/ThisIsIt/18594

On The Esther Benjamins Trust's rescue of 23 Nepali girls (Tamil Nadu -- September 2011).

On Children's Homes -- Lonely Planet:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2032255&start=0&limit=1000

Read the full thread -- a horrific, first-hand account of D.B. Phadera.

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

Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare -- notices

2011-11-02T16:18:00.011-04:00

Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare

Notice on domestic adoption

Date: October 23, 2011

In accordance with the details received from Land Reform and Management Department, this is to inform that 48 Nepalese children from the children's homes enlisted in the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare and 11 children from other children homes have been adopted by the Nepalese prospective families in the year of 2009-2010.

Inter Country Adoption Management Committee under the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare is working for the promotion of alternative child care including domestic adoption. Therefore, the Committee would also like to request to concerned prospective Nepalese families to contact the telephone numbers 01-4200140 and 01-4200328 of the Committee for further information in this regard.

Notice on

The Number of children in the children homes listed in the Ministry

Date: October 23, 2011

This is to inform that the Ministry has renewed 29 orphanages/ Children homes for the year 2011-2012 for the purpose of Inter country adoption. As per the data provided by the children homes, 252 children (129 Female and 123 Male) out of 1172 are eligible for inter country adoption.

Notice for Foreign Organizations or Agencies regarding the extension of time for paying the amount of MOU

Date: 22 October, 2011

In relation to a notice on renewal of foreign organization or agencies dated 4 September, 2011, this is to inform that the Committee has extended the date to deposit the rest amount annually payable for MOU in 2010 for 3 weeks effective from 19 October, 2011.

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

Ethics, Transparency, Support

~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/

'Orphan' girls rescued from TN (Hindustan Times)

2011-10-30T17:59:00.003-04:00

'Orphan' girls rescued from TN

Hindustan Times

Utpal Parashar & KV Lakshmana,

Kathmandu/Chennai

October 30, 2011

For parents in Humla, a remote district in mid-western Nepal, Dala Bahadur Phadera was something of an angel. Worried about their children’s future during the civil war, they found Phadera’s proposal to send them to Kathmandu for safety and a good education a blessing in difficult times.

Hundreds of parents paid him to take away their boys and girls lest the Maoists enlist them. But Phadera dumped most boys in rundown orphanages in Nepal and sent the girls to Tamil Nadu.

These girls were taken to the Michael Job Centre in Coimbatore, run by PP Job, an evangelist from Kerala.

In a September 7 operation, the Esther Benjamins Trust (EBT), a UK-registered children’s charity, rescued 23 Nepali girls from the centre. Forty-six Indian girls, mostly from North India and Orissa, have also been rescued since then.

These girls were allegedly given Christian names and presented as “Christian orphans” to attract financial sponsors from around the world.

“They were certainly not Christian and for the most part their parents were alive and well,” said Philip Holmes of EBT, who was involved in the rescue.

Following the raid, the TN government has cancelled the orphanage’s licence. However, Job, the head of the centre, is unavailable for comment.

D Rajan, chairman, child welfare committee, Coimbatore and Nilgiris district, said Job had already explained in writing that the “girls were accepted by him into the orphanage without verifying the antecedents”.

Job, who lives in New Delhi, has also reportedly admitted that they were not orphans.

Most of the girls have been reunited with their families, while some remain under the care of EBT and other organisations. “Phadera told our parents that we were being taken to Kathmandu, but he took us to Coimbatore instead. We had no idea where we were going,” said one of the Nepali girls rescued from the centre.

Surprisingly, Nepal has not initiated any action against those involved in sending the girls to Coimbatore. In addition, a section of the Nepalese media has blamed EBT for curtailing the girls’ education.

Parents of some rescued girls have also asked Nepal’s ministry of women, children and social welfare to investigate the rescue operation. The whereabouts of Phadera, who brought the girls to India, are unknown.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/Nepal/Orphan-girls-rescued-from-TN/Article1-762956.aspx

For background on Humla, see:

Paper Orphans documentary posted on the web

http://pearadoptinfo-nepal.blogspot.com/2011/10/paper-orphans-documentary-posted-on-web.html

The Terre des Hommes documentary on adoption trafficking in Humla.

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

The Indian preacher and the fake orphan scandal (Daily Telegraph)

2011-10-29T05:46:00.014-04:00

The Indian preacher and the fake orphan scandal

Daily Telegraph

An Indian missionary charity falsely portrayed young Buddhist girls from Nepal as "orphans" of murdered Christians in a global fund-raising operation involving British and American churches.

[Photo -- Dr PP Job, a well-known evangelist, admitted that many of the girls were not orphans]

By Dean Nelson, New Delhi

28 Oct 2011

Parents paid a child-trafficker more than £100 to take their daughters to good schools in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, but instead they were taken more than 1,200 miles to Tamil Nadu, southern India.

At the Michael Job Centre, a Christian orphanage and school in Coimbatore, they were converted to Christianity, given western names and told that its charismatic founder, Dr PP Job, was now their father.

On websites, the children were given serial numbers and profiles. The charity claimed they had been either abandoned by their parents who did not want the financial burden of raising girls, or orphaned after their "Christian" parents were murdered by Nepal's Maoist insurgents.

The profiles were used to attract financial sponsors from around the world.

Many of the donors were in the United States, Holland and Britain, where Dr Jobs's sister organisation, Love in Action, is run from St Mary's C of E Church in Stoke-sub-Hamdon, Somerset.

An anti-trafficking charity run by Lt Col Philip Holmes, a retired British Army officer, assisted Indian officials in a raid on the Coimbatore centre last month, when 23 children were rescued.

His group, the Esther Benjamins Trust, discovered that none of the children were from Christian families, very few were, in fact, orphans and some of the girls had been kept apart from their families for up to 10 years. Among those rescued were six girls from one extended Buddhist family in Humla district in northern Nepal who were all renamed on their first day at the Michael Job Centre.

One 17 year-old, "Daniele", whose real name is Tara, told The Daily Telegraph yesterday she was seven when she was taken from her village with her five-year-old sister, "Anna Bella", whose real name is Upaal. On the charity's website, "Daniele" is presented as "an orphan girl from the area bordering India and Nepal", while her sister is described as an orphan whose parents were killed by Maoists.

"There was nobody to take care of her. Our Nepal missionary brought her to the Michael Job Centre," her profile reads. "Anna Bella" is listed as child number 146, and "Daniele" 148, part of a batch of six girls including their four cousins who were renamed Tryphosa (143), Tryphena (150), Jael, and Persis (144).

"Daniele" said: "My mother and father couldn't afford our education and food. There was no threat from the Maoists. We are all Buddhists but now we have two religions.

"Our parents thought girl children should get married, and that if we got an education we would get money. They thought we were going to Kathmandu. They did not know it was a Christian school."

Dr Job, the "orphanage" founder, has left India for the United States, where he did not respond to enquiries. But in a letter to the Indian child welfare authority in Coimbatore last month, he admitted many of the Nepalese children were not orphans and blamed Dal Bahadur Phadera, the alleged trafficker who brought the girls to India, for misleading him.

"Most of the children mentioned were brought by Himalayan Orphanage Development Centre, Humla, run by Mr Dal Bahadur Phadera ... atthe time of admission it was brought to attention that the children are uncared [for] and that they are living within India. The children were neglected by the society and [were] in [the] orphanage. Till today we are taking care of children properly," he wrote.

The charity Love in Action raised around £18,000 for the Michael Job Centre between 2007 and 2010, but Tom Reeves, churchwarden at St Mary's, declined to comment on whether he and his colleagues had been duped.

Mr Phadera was unavailable for comment. A 2006 Unicef report said his organisation was acting in "direct violation of the international convention of children's rights".

In an interview with Avenues TV, a Nepalese channel, he denounced Lt Col Holmes's charity and its role in the raid. "At the time we took our children, there was conflict and we didn't have any problems that the school took our children. But this is a rescue done in the name of rescue. It's like they are looking for treatment when there is no need," he said.

Lt Col Holmes said he had no regrets over the raid. The trafficking of girls from Nepal was "a total abuse of child rights", he said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/8856050/The-Indian-preacher-and-the-fake-orphan-scandal.html

For background on Humla, see:

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

Protecting children from abuser-volunteers (IRIN)

2011-10-27T12:41:00.007-04:00

NEPAL: Protecting children from abuser-volunteers (IRIN)

[Photo: Natalie Bailey/IRIN]

A lack of protection policies is putting Nepal's children at risk

KATHMANDU, 26 October 2011 (IRIN) - Business is booming for volunteer placement organizations attracting adventurous do-gooders to public service throughout this poor, picturesque country. But aesthetics and needs aside, an almost complete lack of regulation has made Nepal particularly vulnerable to the pairing of philanthropy and travel, experts say.

“A lot of times we find that in Asian countries, child serving organizations lack child protection policies, and procedures hence do not have systems in place to protect themselves from potential abusers,” Junita Upadhyay, programme deputy director of ECPAT, an international organization campaigning for the protection of children, told IRIN from Bangkok.

“Many organizations don’t require volunteers to have police checks, even when they have child protection policies… There is not enough dialogue in realizing the importance of such a policy, and the government regulations, if any, are weak.”

Indeed, Anish Neupane with VolNepal, a Kathmandu-based organization which matches volunteers with local NGOs, said in accepting their ever-increasing international placement requests - this year it will reach about 200 - his company proceeds on the grounds of “trust and faith” that volunteers have the best of intentions when requesting to work with children.

Similarly, Volunteer Nepal, established by American Michael Hess to place visitors primarily in Nepali orphanages and schools, does not perform background checks. “We should, but we don’t,” Hess said.

Hess added informal systems are in place in which volunteers are monitored with a sensitivity to any “red flags” that might arise.

[Photo: Natalie Bailey/IRIN

A young boy reading in Nepal]

While the vast majority of volunteers have the best of intentions, some do not, and child protection experts say unregulated volunteering is happening at the risk of everyone involved. Until the government implements regulations, the burden of protection falls on the organizations and the volunteers.

“At the very least there should be vetting procedures in place,” Aarti Kapoor, child-safe tourism manager with World Vision in Bangkok, told IRIN. “It can be relatively easier to start up a children’s organization in developing countries where the regulations aren’t yet fully developed.”

Take the case of Jean Jacques Haye, for example, a French paedophile who set up an orphanage in Nepal and sexually abused its inhabitants between 1985 and 2001.

He was extradited in 2010 and later sentenced to 10 years in prison in France. Variations of such abuses are sprinkled throughout other countries like Cambodia and Thailand, but a lax or nonexistent legal framework make such successfully tried cases rare.

Regulation

Of Nepal’s 602 child care homes housing 15,095 children, four are run by the government and nearly 60 percent are operating without evaluation.

A coalition of international organizations is working with the government towards a policy which incorporates best practices for any organization caring for children, but the trend of volunteers going into the child care homes continues mostly unnoticed.

“We know that child care homes are not running properly,” said Raghu Adhikari, programme manager of the Child Welfare Board. He explained the board is awaiting the government's approval of a rights-based national child protection policy which will enhance Nepal’s Children's Act of 1992. But without even a national constitution, this could take years, experts say.

In the meantime, ECPAT conducts child protection policy training in Nepal, emphasizing that an organization must protect itself just as much as the children it serves.

“When the government is not very good at regulating these institutions, the responsibility lies within the organization,” Upadhyay said. “It is fundamental to running a good institution that is serving children.”

Off the record

Though a walk down Thamel, Kathmandu’s backpacker area, yields relentless questioning from eager guesthouse owners as to whether or not a passerby is a volunteer, all non-tourist activity in Nepal is unofficial.

Volunteers are lumped in with the more than half a million tourists entering the country every year, de-regulating the experience even further.

“When you don’t have a law then so many things can go wrong, but if we have a law then we can regulate - we could have codes of conduct for volunteers,” said Sumina Tuladhar, executive director of Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN), a Kathmandu-based child advocacy organization. “But when you say volunteering is not legal, then you are not entitled to seek references, or check the background of volunteers coming to your organization. Then it becomes so much easier to come and go.”

Asking questions

International organizations like World Vision, Save the Children and Plan International, all partner with local NGOs and require criminal record checks for potential employees and volunteers. They also cycle through fewer people than those whose primary focus is the placement of tourists in volunteer experiences. In the last year, Save the Children Nepal took on five volunteers, against Volunteer Nepal’s 150.

Experts say volunteers seeking placement should ask a few key questions, starting with: “Would this be allowed in my own country?”

The more questions a volunteer asks, the more an organization will start to think about protecting the children involved, Upadhyay said.

nb/ds/cb

http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=94067

For an excellent thread on orphanage volunteering & child trafficking in Nepal, see Lonely Planet:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2032255&start=0&limit=1000

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

Paper Orphans documentary posted on the web

2011-10-14T14:09:00.004-04:00

Nepal -- Paper Orphans documentary posted on the web:

Part 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B5QiFFxAu4

Part 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0adJdVBPvto

Part 3:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsUWaToRWuQ

Part 4:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95Fyy3UY_U0

It would be useful if the FBI and Interpol took a good look at the Western organizations that worked with these homes.

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

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

http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/48144

(Also discusses NCO/Bal Mandir's new alliance with the Mitrataa Foundation.)

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.

Uttar Tamata (interviewed in Paper Orphans) owns the Children's Home (Bal Griha) -- a home at the center of Al Jazeera's recent adoption documentary:

Nepal: Children for sale (Al Jazeera):

http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/101east/2011/09/2011920125119853524.html

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

and

Swiss National Radio on Nepali adoptions (English translation):

http://pearadoptinfo-nepal.blogspot.com/2011/10/swiss-national-radio-on-nepali.html

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

Swiss National Radio on Nepali adoptions (English translation)

2011-10-06T09:46:00.004-04:00

Swiss National Radio on Nepali adoptions (English translation):

Soundbite Music

Kamala Tamang lives in a mountain village far off Katmandu. She is the mother of two sons and one girl. After divorce, she went to the city where she found work in a hotel. She gave her children to an orphanage because she believed that they would get good education and enough food. In many orphanages, this is the case. But when she called her son Mahesh, he gave her bad news:

Soundbite Kamala: "The owner of the orphanage brought my sister to the airport, my son told me, the owner said, Sushila would come back, but she never came back. Later they told my son that Sushila went to another country."

Kamala asked the owner to give back her children. But he denied. He just promised he would not give away the boys if she wouldn't tell what happened to Sushila.

Joseph Aguettant, until recent head of TdH in Nepal, confirms that story.

Soundbite: "62 percent of children in orphanages had both parents. Many parents are misled and believe the orphanages are schools." Says Aguettant who conducted together with UNICEF a study on the topic.

In Nepal, it's not difficult to create an orphan even though the parents are still alive. The owner of an orphanage has to publish the picture of the child in a newspaper, and if the parents don't come to claim it within 35 days, the child is declared orphan. But many parents can't read or write. Hence, many wouldn't know that their child was given for adoption, says Aguettant:

Soundbite: "In the vast majority of cases, we found that the people didn't know. They were misled, misinformed, and they simply realized later that their child was sent to another country. And they were, with the help of pictures, kept in the belief that their child only went to a foreign country for educational purpose and would come back. But, in reality, they never come back."

The Nepalese state, orphanages and child traffickers earn a lot of money.

Soundbite of noise in the Ministry of Child, etc.

The responsibility for the adoption lies in the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare. Under State Secretary Sherjung Karki has finished this morning six adoptions. He denies that this is a good business, but the numbers tell another story.

Soundbite Sher Jung Karki: "3000 US dollars the parents pay to the government, each adoption agency pays 10,000 dollars to the Ministry."

There are eighty adoption agencies in Nepal, this makes 800,000 US Dollars which the Ministry earns only by the agencies. And also the orphanages get 5000 Dollars per child, and this is a lot of money in a country where half the population lives beyond the poverty line.

Many of the orphanages finance themselves not only through adoption but also through foreign money and donations. Some provide a new and secure home to the children, many earn a lot of money with them. Hence, it is not surprising that orphanages mushroomed in the country in the last years. 2001 there was only one adoption orphanage in Nepal, 2007 there were already 47. 2000 only 8 children were adopted, 2006 nearly 400 were adopted. Most of them from American and Italian parents.

That this is child trafficking becomes clear at a meeting with a lady whom we call Maya. She is a vegetable seller, and she sells children to the orphanages. In order to meet her, we tell her that we are orphanage owners and want to buy children. We record the conversation with a hidden microphone. We want to know how much money she gets from the orphanage owners per child:

Soundbite Maya: "It depends from child to child. For a newborn, I get 300 Swiss francs (I converted it), 60 francs of it I give to the mother. Normally I make children younger than what they are. Younger ones are preferred from the adopting parents. In the last year, I have sold about 16 children to the orphanages. The majority went to foreign countries. I search directly for pregnant women, therefore I also have contact to hospital personnel who tell me about abandoned children. And I got training from the orphanage owners how I can convince the parents to give their children. When the parents talk about the daily struggle, I tell them about a better future for their children. I'll take them to the orphanage, and finally they get overwhelmed by emotions."

Soundbite children singing

More than 60 children live in this orphanage in Katmandu. Maya says that she sold most of her children to this orphanage. Some children sit in the classroom.

Soundbite crying children

In a room above the classroom, the little ones are tied with a cord to their beds. The owner says he gets all the children from the police, and they find them abandoned in the street. He denies that any of the children are trafficked or bought.

Already 2007, Nepal gained internationally a bad reputation because of the adoption cases. After that Nepal released a new law to stop the trafficking, but again new cases of parents who didn't know about the trafficking of their children were made public. Even Sher Jung Karki knows that:

Soundbite: "We have a problem, and the ministry tries to improve the system, but it takes some time. We just don't have the capacity to control each adoption."

Since 2010, all the countries stopped adoption from Nepal. Even the US, where the adoption lobby put high pressure on the Senate.

Gillian Mellsop from UNICEF is relieved about this decision:

Soundbite: "But we want to put it in a much bigger frame. Adoption is only one small part of child care, but first there have to be other options, like in-country adoption or foster families."

Also the Nepalese government wants that now. This spring they officially declared that they want to do more to protect children. They would look into alternative care and children who were found in the street are not given for adoption any more.

For Kamala Tamang and other mothers this decision comes too late. Kamala Tamang says she would have never given her children to an orphanage if she had known what would happen to her daughter. But even now after years of no news she still hopes:

Soundbite: "My heart tells me that Sushila will come back -- one day."

Translation by Karin Wenger.

Radio broadcast (in German):

http://www.drs.ch/www/de/drs/sendungen/echo-der-zeit/2646.bt10191669.html

Beitrag 7 von 7 aus Echo der Zeit vom Dienstag, 30.8.2011, 18.00 Uhr, DRS 1 und DRS 4 News

Kinderhandel in Nepal

Bis vor kurzem konnten Kinder aus Nepal sehr leicht von ausländischen Paaren adoptiert werden. Die meisten Kinder in den Waisenhäusern seien jedoch gar keine Waisen, sagen das Kinderhilfswerk Unicef und Terre des Hommes.

Hören (8:33)

Verantwortlich für diesen Beitrag:

Karin Wenger

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

Long journey home (Nepali Times)

2011-09-30T10:29:00.006-04:00

Long journey home (Nepali Times)

Instead of being commended, rescuers of Nepali girls are condemned

RUBEENA MAHATO

FROM ISSUE #573 (30 SEPT 2011 - 06 OCT 2011)

[Photo] REUNITED: After ten years of search, Shangmo Lama finally meets her two nieces at Michael Job Centre in Coimbatore where they were kept as orphans. Lama had travelled with the rescue team to bring back her two daughters and her nieces from the school.

After the rescue of 23 Nepali girls from an orphanage in Coimbatore in southern India two weeks ago and writing my report for Nepali Times (A far-away rescue, #571), I was following up to see how many of them had been reunited with their parents.

The girls, mostly from Humla, had been taken to Michael Job Centre (MJC) in Coimbatore when they were between three to seven by the infamous human trafficker, Dal Bahadur Phadera. Ten years later, the girls were found by the Esther Benjamins Memorial Foundation (EMBF) living in the centre as "orphans" of "Christian martyrs" killed by Maoists during the war. In all these years, the children except for those whose parents worked with the traffickers, had no contact with their families in Nepal.

When all girls were handed over and brought back to Nepal,we had expected this to be received positively back home and that it would spur up similar rescue efforts of other children sold and trafficked in India. But instead of being commended for the rescue, EBMF has been condemned in an orchestrated media campaign. It has been blamed for forcibly bringing back the girls from a 'good English medium school'. A television channel broadcasted footage of angry parents badmouthing the rescuers for endangering the future of their daughters. With their irresponsible and badly researched coverage, sections of the Nepali media ended up helping the trafficker.

They never bothered to check that in Bhairawa last week, when the children arrived, Phadera was there as well with the parents, most of whom are his relatives . A UML member, Phadera was convicted for human trafficking but used his political connections to get himself released after serving just three years. Now, he is using all his influence to slander the rescue and sadly, many reporters have played along.

The Coimbatore school is supposed to be an orphanage, but the girls were no orphans. The girls were said to be Christian, they were not. They were said to be victims of Christian martyrs killed by the Maoists, they were not. At anytime, if the Indian authorities had closed down the centre, the girls would have been homeless.

The police here have also been trying to pass the buck to cover up their lack of action. DSP Puja Singh said this week that it wasn't a big deal if the girls were falsely kept as orphans in India because "half the children in Nepal's orphanages are not orphans either" and that forcible conversion of minors is fine too as the country is secular now. Such comments prove how deep Phadera's political connections are and how everyone from the police to sections of the media are complicit in this crime.

There is not a shred of doubt that the Humla girls were trafficked to India to make money for the Michael Job Centre. The people who have objected to their children being embarrassed in public by the rescue might do well to remember that their girls were being advertised globally as orphans in the centre's website. The images and profiles of the girls were displayed online for sponsors to choose from. The centre has removed its website after being exposed. (See archived webpage of the centre)

Some parents were not happy to get their children back, they would rather that the girls stayed in India without them having to worry about their upbringing. But many are happy to have their children back. (See box).

What has got lost in all this is that the presence of the girls at the centre in India was illegal. It is no longer the question of whether the girls or their parents want them to stay in the orphanage, they had to come back or face an even more uncertain future in India.

It is typical for the parents of girls rescued from circuses and brothels to disown them. Many Nepali parents also sell their daughters off. We could not help but wonder if some of those parents would have reacted as bitterly if the children were not girls but boys.

But most surprising was how the media chose to argue in favor of traffickers by implying that children of poor parents are better off in foreign orphanages. The problem is in fact not so much with foreign traffickers as with Nepalis themselves.

Afterall it is often relatives who sell their daughters, sisters and wives to middlemen. Unless we stop, they won't. The rescuing organisation is ready to take charge of the girls if the parents are not interested. Instead of making ruckus about the future of the girls which the organisation is willing to look after, we would do better to rally against dangerous people like Phadera and their political patrons who sell Nepali girls and get away with it.

________________________________

Sabita's homecoming

Sabita Kadel, 14, from Nawalparasi has finally came back home after five years of living as an orphan in Michael Job Centre in Coimbatore in India. After the rescue, her aunt Mina Paudel came to receive her in Kathmandu.

"I can't explain my happiness. For five years, I looked all over for her, two years ago I travelled to Coimbatore but I was humiliated at the Centre and they refused to give me back my daughter."

They did not even let Mina talk to Sabita over the phone for all these years. In the Centre's newsletter, Tortured For Christ, July 2009 issue, Sabita aka Fay has been mentioned as the child of a murdered Christian mother whose other relatives were also slaughtered in a killing rampage by Maoists.

Mina says that her family is Hindu and that the child's father died of kidney failure while the mother left when Sabita was young. "When we got to Bhairawa I saw parents refusing to take responsibility of their girls because they were hand-in-glove with the traffickers," Mina told Nepali Times. "I felt so sorry for those girls."

For her part, Sabita was ecstatic as she talked of her journey home: "I am so happy. I want to go places and be with my family and then continue school."

See videos of Michael Job Centre

http://www.nepalitimes.com.np/issue/2011/09/30/ThisIsIt/18594

Dal Bahadur Phadera is also an alleged adoption trafficker.

For more on Phadera, see:

A trafficker remains scot-free (The Kathmandu Post):

http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2011/07/08/features/a-trafficker-remains-scot-free/223763.html

And the horrific, first-hand account of Phadera at Lonely Planet (read the full thread):

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2032255&start=0&limit=1000

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

Cashing it big on children (Nepali Times)

2011-09-30T00:20:00.001-04:00

Cashing it big on children (Nepali Times)

Adoption is just one part of the larger trafficking problem in Nepal

THOMAS BELL

FROM ISSUE #573 (30 SEPT 2011 - 06 OCT 2011)

Hundreds of orphanages in Nepal are being run as businesses, filled with children who would have been left with their families if orphanage owners weren't making money by keeping them in homes.

Child rights organisations estimate that there are about 15,000 children in orphanages although the number is difficult to track because disreputable owners move children around to avoid scrutiny. Many have been lured away from poor families, especially in remote districts such as Humla (see overleaf), with promises of education in Kathmandu.

That practice is familiar from the adoption racket, which saw fake "orphans" matched up with Western parents who paid thousands of dollars to adopt a Nepali child. Farid Ait-Mansour of Next Generation Nepal says: "Everything is linked. Adoption is just one part of the trafficking problem."

Other children end up in prostitution, child labour or begging. "When there is no inter-country adoption the number of children [in orphanages] always decreases. They send the children elsewhere," says Dharma Raj Shrestha, Director General of the government's Central Child Welfare Board (CCWB). "Children who reached European countries may be lucky ones. Unfortunately, some children could have gone to India and Gulf countries. There is no proper record."

With adoption currently frozen by a dozen Western countries due to rampant fraud, new revenue streams have emerged, like luring foreign volunteers to work in fake orphanages over the Internet. "It seems like a big source of income is foreign volunteers," said one diplomat. "If it wasn't for this income they would probably have been left with their families."

According to another international: "You've got foreigners flying in, volunteering for short periods, sometimes with the best of intentions, sometimes with other intentions."

There is no vetting or background checks of volunteers. Shrestha of the CCWB said that he is aware of cases of sexual abuse by "volunteers". Next Generation Nepal has evidence of children sometimes kept in abject conditions to maximise donations from foreigners. Orphanage owners sometimes sell gifts of clothes and toys after the volunteer has left. Sometimes the children do not even receive the education which their parents were promised.

Several NGOs have withdrawn funding from the orphanage sector over fears that children are being unnecessarily institutionalised in money-making schemes. But a Google search reveals many private tour companies offering volunteering holidays in Nepal. The volunteer ends up paying thousands of dollars after arriving.

Several Thamel travel agencies have murky links with children's homes in the capital. The CCWB has a list of 454 orphanages, most of them in the Kathmandu Valley, although they admit there could be many unregistered ones.

"Pokhara and Chitwan are also dangerously populated by child care homes," says Shrestha, whose agency grades homes A-D for their standard of care, and most of them fall in the C and D categories. He says influential orphanage owners have good contact with the donors in Europe, a steady flow of funds, and want a loose easy-going policy from the government. Nepali businessmen often roam through Europe making contacts with potential donors for their fake orphanages.

The government has no effective policy on children's homes. There is no proper method of assessment in cases where a child may actually need to be put in an orphanage. No orphanages in Nepal, including Bal Mandir, receive any government funding so they are forced to look elsewhere to raise cash.

Shrestha says that some of the most abusive orphanages urgently need to be shut down the CCWB rarely acts because they have no-where to put the rescued children. "There are some good orphanages," admits Shrestha. Asked what happens in the bad ones he reels off a list: physical punishment, torture, sexual abuse, begging duty on the street, one meal a day, no treatment when they fall sick, no schooling.

http://nepalitimes.com/issue/2011/09/30/Nation/18609

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

Disabled kids to get priority in adoption (The Himalayan Times)

2011-09-29T13:51:00.002-04:00

Disabled kids to get priority in adoption (The Himalayan Times)

2011-09-10

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: The government is to give priority to ‘children with special needs’ –– those who have some kind of disability –– for inter-country adoption, said a committee established to monitor inter-country adoptions.

To pave way for the new provision, the government in January amended the Inter-Country Adoption Regulation.

Inter-country Adoption Management Committee Chairman Mahendra Shrestha said the provision will be implemented as the panel prepares a new list of kids, who are to be made available for inter-country adoption.

“After collecting data on children eligible for the adoption, we will invite applications by next month,” said Shrestha. “Although some countries have banned adoption of Nepali children, citizens of some European countries have shown interest in adopting children with disability,” he added.

A dozen European countries such as Noway, the UK and Italy soon followed suit and barred their citizens from adopting Nepali children.

Shrestha said the government was planning to introduce programmes to encourage domestic adoption as well. “To encourage domestic adoption, we are planning to build regional centres for destitute children by using the revenue received through inter-country adoption,” he informed.

http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Disabled+kids+to+get+priority+in+adoption&NewsID=302399

Nepal has adopted a remarkably broad definition of special needs (see below). Adoption reformers fear this is an attempt by corrupt insiders to game the adoption process. Almost any child will qualify as "special needs" under the new rules:

Government of Nepal

Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare

Kathmnadu,

Date of Decision : 5 January 2011

In accrodance with the Article 15A. of Terms and Conditions and Process for Granting Approval for Adoption of Nepali child by an Alien (First Ammendment), 2067 (2010), the Ministry has defined and classified the special needs children as mentioned below :

Definition: Children who need more care, concern and love from the parents due to the abnormal medical, physical, emotional, and developmental condition and sometime due to their special circumstances Older age children living under special conditions

Classification:

Category-1

Older children over 6 years/sibling group

Category-2

Low Birth weight

Category-3

Children with following Conditions:

Acute Ricketts
Blind
Blood disorders
Brain Lesion
Burns
Chronic Asthma
Chronic Eczema
Cleft Lip-Cleft Palate/Cleft Lip
Colostomy
Deaf
Diabetes
Dwarfism
Ectodermal displacia (no sweat glands)
Epilepsy (does not include fever induced
convulsions)
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Fingers-toes missing
Hare lip
Heart conditions of a severe nature
Hemophilia
Hepatitis B+
Ichthyosis (Collodian baby)
Indeterminate sex
Limbs Missing
Microcephaly
Neurological disorders
Paralysis
Partially Blind
Partially Deaf
Pier Robin Syndrome (no tongue)
Polio
Severe disfiguring birth marks
Severe Orthopedic conditions
Severe Seizure disorders
Speech dysfunction-dysphasia
Spina Bifida
Thalasemia Major

Category-4

Prior traumatic background, disruption, long institutional care, difficult circumstances, psychiatric and mentally challenged parentage.

Note: Older Child means the child above 6 years of age upto 16 years of age.

http://www.mowcsw.gov.np/uploads/Child%20adoption%20details/Nepal%20criteria%20special%20need_final.pdf

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

Renewal of Foreign Organizations or Agencies (MOWCSW notice)

2011-09-29T10:59:00.004-04:00

Government of Nepal

Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare

Notice on

Renewal of Foreign Organizations or Agencies

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

Date: 4 September 2011

Upon scrutiny the applications submitted by the following foreign organizations along with other documents for renewal pursuant to the notice published on 2 January 2011 for renewal of the foreign organizations enlisted for two years with effect from 1 January 2009 under this Ministry with regards to inter-country adoption, this is to inform all the concerned that the following foreign organizations have been renewed for two years with effect from 1 January 2011 subject to observance of the following terms and conditions.

Terms and Conditions:

(a) The foreign organizations or agencies enlisted with the Ministry shall be required to produce the evidence indicating recognition received from the Hague Secretariat.

(b) It is required to comply with the directives issued by the Ministry and the Committee from time to time.

(c) The enlisted foreign organizations or agencies shall be required to deposit the rest amount annually payable for MoU in 2010 in the bank account designated by the Committee within forty-five days from the date of renewal.

(d) The enlisted foreign organizations or agencies shall be required to establish their contact office pursuant to Section 11(4) of the Terms and Conditions and Process for Granting Approval for Adoption of Nepali child by an Alien 2065 (2008)" and shall also be required to make address of the contact office, contact persons and other employees available to the Committee.

(e) The qualifications of the In-charge of the contact office shall be as follows:

(i) He/she shall be a Nepali citizen designated by the enlisted foreign organizations or agencies.

(ii) He/she shall be a person who has done at least Bachelor Degree from the recognized university or he/she has worked in the sector of children for at least ten years.

(iii) He/she has never been convicted of any criminal offence pursuant to the laws in force.

(iv) He/she or any member of his/her family has not been a Director or Member or administrative chief or employee of any children home/ orphanage or Bal Mandir enlisted with the Ministry.

(v) He/she shall produce written guarantee indicating that he/she is not involved in more than one foreign organization or agency.

(f) The foreign organizations or agencies enlisted with the Ministry shall be required to obtain an approval of the Inter-country Adoption Management Development Committee through the concerned contact office while voluntarily providing assistance in the sector of Nepali children.

(g) The foreign organizations or agencies shall be required to place the accurately updated information and data relating to the inter-country adoption on their websites.

(h) If it is found that any foreign organization or agency fails to comply with the aforesaid terms and conditions, the Ministry may delist such a foreign organization or agency at any time on the recommendation of the Committee.

Name of the Foreign Organizations :

1. New Beginnings adoptions and Family Services, USA

2. Holt International, USA

3. AIPA Erga Pueros, Italy

4. ANDENI, Spain

5. AC International,Denmark

6. Namaste Asocion Aragonesa Para La Promocion De La Infancia, Spain

7. Mami Wata, Spain

8. Ninos Sin Fronteras, Spain

9. Wide Horizons for Children, USA

10. International Adoption, USA

11. Gladney Center for Adoption , USA

12. Families Thru International Adoption, USA

13. Internationa Adoption Tracento, Italy

14. Amici De Bambini, Italy

15. Adopsjonsforum, Norway

16. Adoption Ark, USA

17. NAAA, Italy

18. Associazione Ariete Onlus, Italy

19. Children's Home Society & Family Services, USA

20. Danadopt, Denmark

21. DeColores Adoptions International, USA

22. Adoption Alliance, USA

23. Choices Adoption & Counselling, Canada

24. All God's Children International, USA

25. Associazone Amici Trentini, Italy

26. Adoptions Centrum, Sweden

27. Ecai Balbalika, Spain

28. Anpas Associazione Nazionale Pubbliche Assistenze, Italy

29. L'Airone Onlus, Italy

30. Hope Promise, USA

31. Adoption Star, USA

32. Pearl S. Buck International, USA

33. La Vida International, USA

34. Adopt International & Domestic Services, USA

35. Illien Adoptions International Inc, USA

36. The Joy Sowers, Belgium

Terms and Procedures for Adoption of Nepalese Children by Foreign Citizen(Second Amendment), 2067 (2011)

Inter-country Adoption Management Committee (Formation) Order, 2067 (2011)

List of Foreign Agency Enlisted in the Ministry

Definition and Classification of Special Needs Children

Terms and Conditions and process for granting approval for adoption (First Amendment) 2067

Terms and Conditions and process for granting approval for adoption 2065

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

Bal Mandir stops taking new children (Republica)

2011-09-29T08:59:00.002-04:00

Bal Mandir stops taking new children (Republica)

ARJUN POUDEL

KATHMANDU, Sept 16: With indefinite suspension by some European countries and USA of adoption of Nepali children, Nepal Bal Mandir has stopped taking in new children.

The organization stopped taking new admissions a year ago as inter-country adoption was its biggest source of income. The non-governmental organization devoted to giving care to orphans says financial crisis compelled it to take such a step.

“Inter-country adoption is one of the main financial sources of our organization. Suspension by some European nations and USA of adoption of Nepali children has directly hits us,” Ramesh Bhumi, director of the organization, said.

The European countries and USA suspended adoption of Nepali children citing instances of forged documents and a case of a Nepali couple searching for their child who was put up for adoption without their consent.

With stoppage of income from adoption, the organization´s dues have piled up. The organization has to pay more than Rs 15 million to schools where its children study.

“The organization is under pressure due to piling dues,” said Pundya Raj Maharjan, a staffer at the organization.

Dozens of children were adopted from the organization before western countries suspended adoption.

The organization gets 5,000 euros per child from a foreign national who adopt a child. “Now the collection from the foreign adoption is negligible,” Maharjan added.

The organization was able to send only 12 children to adoptive foreign parents in 2010. Before this, the number was almost four times.

After the suspension of adoption by many western countries, internal adoption has, however, increased.

In 2010, 11 children were adopted inside the country. In 2009 only three children were adopted by Nepali couples.

According to Bhumi, students enrolled in various schools across the country are facing difficulty as organization has not able to pay fees on time.

“We have been facing problems re-admitting children, but we manage it somehow. Sometimes the schools do not give exam results to the children,” he said. The organization has been making special request to the schools to give the results and has been pledging to pay the dues soon.

Sponsorship is another significant income source of the organization. People from the abroad as well as Nepalis sponsor some children. They provide certain amount for their study and education.

The organization uses 75 percent of the total sponsored amount, while the remaining 25 percent goes into the personal account of the concerned child, which the child can use after passing SLC examination. Bhumi said that the organization is working to find sponsorship for more children.

Another source of income for the organization comes from leasing out its land. The organization gets Rs 400,000 per month from land lease. Bhrispati Bidhya Sadan, which has taken land of the organization on lease, pays Rs 350,000 per month.

Bal Mandir operates 11 child care centers across the country and around 500 orphaned children are getting shelter there.

Published on 2011-09-16

http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=36069

NCO/Bal Mandir's "financial crisis" is a matter of debate.

See:

Nepal -- Corruption at Nepal Children's Organization (NCO/Bal Mandir)

http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/48144

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

Nepal comes to terms with foreign adoptions tragedy (BBC)

2011-09-28T12:44:00.004-04:00

Nepal comes to terms with foreign adoptions tragedy (BBC)

28 September 2011

By Thomas Bell -- in Kathmandu

Hundreds of parents in Nepal are struggling to come to terms with the fact that their children have been adopted by Western couples without their consent.

Adoptive parents pay thousands of dollars in fees and "donations" to orphanages and government officials who process their cases, creating what many observers describe as an incentive for widespread abuse.

Fraud in international adoption became so rife that several Western governments suspended adoption from Nepal in 2010.

"Many of the documents turned out to be false," explained one diplomat. "When we tried to investigate we were either blocked by the Nepalese government or we were unable to confirm anything we had been told."

Sarita Bhujel was a struggling single mother when a neighbour persuaded her to put her seven-year-old daughter in a Kathmandu children's home.

During an interview she wept and buried her face in a rag while she described what happened.

Illiterate parents

"The neighbour said that I should keep my child in the organisation since her future would be secured," Ms Bhujel recalled.

"She said that she would be educated and would do well. I loved my daughter. I have two sons but only one daughter. I loved her more than anything."

Researchers say that there are about 20, mostly female, agents operating in Kathmandu, obtaining children for orphanages by offering similar promises to those Ms Bhujel received.

However, the majority of so-called "orphans" come from remote Himalayan districts such as Humla in north-west Nepal, where agents persuade illiterate parents that their children will receive a proper education in the capital.

Only later do they discover that their son or daughter has been adopted.

In Ms Bhujel's case she was promised that she could meet her daughter in the orphanage, although she says she was discouraged from visiting often.

She would take sweets and biscuits when she went. For about a year everything seemed to be fine.

"One day my daughter said, 'Mummy, there is someone from a foreign country who is going to take me away.' I told her that nobody was going to take her and that I would not allow such a thing. I told her not to worry," Ms Bhujel said.

She claims that she asked the orphanage staff and received assurances that her daughter would not be adopted. "I believed them. I am uneducated and I had faith in them," she said.

Desperate to adopt

After that Ms Bhujel was prevented from seeing her daughter on various pretexts - that she was studying for exams or had gone for a picnic.

She said she broke down in tears at the orphanage and was insulted when she persisted with her inquiries.

Ms Bhujel works as a labourer on building sites and had only 50 rupees (40p) to her name at the time.

She used 30 rupees to bribe a member of staff at the orphanage. In that way, she says, she discovered that her daughter had been adopted by an Italian couple and gone to Italy.

The orphanage in question denies Ms Bhujel's account. Its director said that she would not have sent the girl to Italy if she had known at the time that she had a natural mother.

"I always remember the meeting with her when I explained about her daughter being adopted by [an] Italian family. She was so happy and told me that we have saved her daughter's life," the director said.

Ms Bhujel recalls being distraught and relying on the support of neighbours for months after learning what had happened.

"For six months, I could not do much… no sleep, no food," she said.

"They did not tell me anything for six months. For three years they did not give me much information. I would be restless and sleepless. I cried for three years."

In 2007 media revelations about corruption in international adoption led the Nepali government to suspend the process.

But following pressure from European countries, where childless parents are desperate to adopt, the process began again in 2008 without substantial reforms. Ms Bhujel's daughter was adopted that year.

Foreign couples are required to pay $5,000 (£3,216) to the orphanage and $3,000 (£1,930) to government officials for handling the paperwork. In many cases adoptive parents are believed to make other payments as well.

Old practices

Diplomats and child rights activists describe how the scam usually works.

Orphanages place advertisements in newspapers showing children's photographs but giving little other information.

The text states that the child has been found abandoned. If no one comes forward to identify them, the police issue documents declaring the child is an "orphan".

Among the papers and photographs from her daughter's case Ms Bhujel has a copy of the advertisement placed by the orphanage, picturing her daughter and claiming that she had been found abandoned.

She also has a copy of the police letter certifying her as an orphan, although the police have subsequently said that the serial number on the document indicates an irregularity.

Ms Bhujel, who is illiterate, says the orphanage eventually asked her to put her thumb-print on a document in exchange for photographs of her daughter, which her new family were sending from Italy.

The undated document - which she can not read - states that she agreed to put her daughter up for adoption.

Nepal is a signatory to the Hague Adoption Convention which sets standards for international adoption but has not implemented it.

The officials in charge of reform are widely seen as linked to the old practices and there have been allegations in the local media of corruption in the committee charged with bringing the system in line.

Nevertheless, children's rights activists and diplomats - interviewed on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject - say that while the Nepali government drags its feet on reform there is pressure on some Western governments to reopen the process.

BBC:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-15066220

For more on Sarita Bhujel and Prayas Nepal, see PEAR Nepal:

http://pearadoptinfo-nepal.blogspot.com/2010/06/fake-police-document-to-adopt-girl.html

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

A far-away rescue (Nepali Times)

2011-09-27T23:04:00.006-04:00

A far-away rescue (Nepali Times)

Young girls from the remote mountains of northwestern Nepal who were trafficked to the southern tip of India are rescued this week

RUBEENA MAHATO in COIMBATORE, INDIA

FROM ISSUE #571 (16 SEPT 2011 - 22 SEPT 2011)

In the suburbs of Coimbatore at Sulur, the first thing that one notices in the impressively walled Michael Job Centre is the sheer enormity of the complex.

There is a school, a post graduate level college and an orphanage in the sprawling premises housing some 500 girls that the organization claims are abandoned or orphaned children of Christian martyrs. The last thing one would expect to find there are young girls from the remote Nepali district of Humla. But there they are, all 23 of them with Christian names living for the past nine years here as orphans despite having parents back home.

They were rescued from the centre last week at the initiative of the Esther Benjamins Memorial Foundation (EBMF), Nepal, ChildLine India and the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) at the state of Tamil Nadu.

EBMF got into action when the families of four girls from Humla requested them to find their missing daughters. The parents of the girls had sent them along with their brothers in the care of Dal Bahadur Phadera, a local politician.

Many families in Humla had paid Phadera Rs 5-20,000 to get their children out of war-ravaged villages at the time and educate them in boarding schools in Kathmandu. The boys are still in the institution run by Phadera, but the girls, between 3 to 7 years old, were taken away nine years ago. Their families never heard from them.

When rescued, many girls didn't remember their parents' names or where they came from. They have been given Christian names and identities.

In the website of Michael Job Centre, the girls are falsely depicted as children of Christian martyrs in Nepal murdered by Maoists. The Centre runs on the donations given by Christians from all over the world for 'orphans'.

In one of the pages of the website was where we first saw pictures of Anna Bella, Daniela, Persius and Jael (Christian names given by the centre, original names withheld). Their mother and brother had made a three days journey from Humla to join us in Kathmandu for the trip to Coimbatore in India's southern tip. Persius and Jael's mother Shangmo Lama had never been in a car before. After a long and tiring journey to Coimbatore, a frail Shangmo smiled for the first time when we stepped inside the gate of the Centre to get back her daughters. She had waited nine years for this moment.

At first, the principal of the centre flatly denied having any Nepali children at the centre. But she was forced to accept having illegally kept the girls as orphans when the photos of the children and the mother were shown (pictured, right).

Outside, a very Nepali looking girl's face stopped me. After few exchanges in English, I asked if she was Nepali. The girl's face brightened up. Lynsy then gave me her Nepali name, informed there were now 23 of them left in the centre and that they have not forgotten to speak Nepali. Soon the news spread of the team from Nepal and Nepali girls surrounded the principal's office.

There was noisy chatter and a sense of jubilation in the office. Some of the girls were seven years old and all had parents and families back home and hadn't heard from them in all these years.

It was an emotional scene when Shangmo met her girls, who at first failed to recognise their mother. But her brother's daughter Daniela instantly recognised her aunt.

PP Job, the centre's founder has denied having known that the children had families in Nepal. The self-styled Christian preacher has alleged that the children were brought to him by Phadera and that the center has only provided good education and living to these underprivileged children.

"It is illegal under the Indian law to bring children, orphaned or not from Nepal to India, and house them in an institution here. It is a clear case of trafficking," Nandita Rao, Childline's lawyer told Nepali Times.

The Centre is now under investigation by the social welfare department in Tamil Nadu and has been given 15 days to furnish details and prove that it was not involved in child trafficking. On Monday, 500 activists from different Hindu organisations staged a protest outside the orphanage accusing it of proselytizing.

"Poor countries are turning into a missionary haven for religious zealots and this has led to a new form of trafficking," says Philip Holmes of Esther Benjamins Memorial Foundation. The girls are now on their way home by train via Gorakhpur.

The girls had kept the memory of their home country alive for nearly a decade, and were full of pride as they sang the Nepali national anthem for the rescue party from Nepal. They had memorized the words from the mobile ring tone of a Nepali visiting the center.

Said an ecstatic Sabita Bogati: "I want to go home. I would not mind walking all the way to Nepal."

POST SCRIPT: EBMF is now preparing to file charges against Phadera for trafficking. In India, child rights organisations have taken up the issue and are now planning to bring PP Job and his accomplices to book. Efforts to repatriate children trafficked from Tibet and Bhutan who were also kept in the centre are now underway. But even if the children are reunited, their lost years, separation from parents and loss of identity will never be returned.

http://www.nepalitimes.com/issue/2011/09/16/Nation/18563#bottom

Dal Bahadur Phadera is also an alleged adoption trafficker.

For more on Phadera, see:

A trafficker remains scot-free (The Kathmandu Post):

http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2011/07/08/features/a-trafficker-remains-scot-free/223763.html

And the horrific, first-hand account of Phadera at Lonely Planet (read the full thread):

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2032255&start=0&limit=1000

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

Nepal: Children for sale (Al Jazeera)

2011-09-25T16:48:00.003-04:00

Nepal: Children for sale (Al Jazeera)

With weak law enforcement, can foreigners adopting children from Nepal be sure that they are really orphans?

Video:

http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/101east/2011/09/2011920125119853524.html

Orphaned, abandoned or trafficked? That is the question facing foreigners who wish to adopt Nepali children.

International adoption services have provided a lucrative business to poverty-stricken Nepal. But in 2007, Nepal stopped adoptions for two years as it investigated claims of child trafficking.

After adoptions resumed, law enforcement remained weak.

By the end of 2010, many countries including the US, stopped granting visas to children from Nepal. This was in response to unscrupulous agents falsifying children's status as orphans so they could be adopted overseas.

Today, loopholes remain in Nepal's adoption processes and the government has been slow to formulate new policies, creating more problems for children in orphanages.

101 East investigates the scam behind an industry borne from the desire to love a child.

Al Jazeera -- 101 East

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

The Children Left Behind (The Pulitzer Center)

2011-07-18T21:08:00.003-04:00

The Children Left Behind

LISA DESAI AND HABIBA NOSHEEN, FOR THE PULITZER CENTER, KATHMANDU, NEPAL

Published on June 29, 2011

Nepal became an important source of children for international adoption in part because adoption is not widely practiced or accepted among the Nepalese, an attitude that is prevalent across South Asia.

But the United States and several other countries have recently stopped adoption of abandoned children from Nepal because of allegations of fraud.

Some critics opposed to the U.S.’s decision say it only punishes the children left behind and sentences them to a life stuck in an institution. It’s a position that Elizabeth Bartholet, director of the Child Advocacy Program at Harvard, strongly agrees with.

“The easy thing to do is what our regulators do, which to say let’s punish the children. Let’s just imprison the children who have done nothing wrong,” Bartholet said. “It destroys a lot to keep kids in these institutions.”

The State Department’s Susan Jacobs defends the decision to clamp down on adoptions from Nepal. She says the sole goal is to ensure international adoptions are ethical—the U.S. had no choice but to stop adoptions of abandoned children after finding that documentation provided by the Nepalese government was often fraudulent and unreliable.

“Our goal has always been to protect the child, the birth parents and the adoptive parents because I can’t think of anything worse than completing an adoption and then finding out a week or month or a year later that there is a parent out there looking for their child,” said Jacobs.

One orphanage tucked away in the outskirts of Kathmandu, Nepal, however, is seeing the effect of this policy change first hand.

Sapna Ekta Rana runs the Sagarmatha Children Home. She says as international adoption has dried up, so too have the funds needed by the orphanage to sustain its regular operations. And in the Sagarmatha Children Home, that means providing food, education and shelter for children is getting harder and harder.

“The main source of funding is from adoption parents...there is no government support,” said Rana.

Before the recent policy change, when parents adopted a child from Nepal through the international adoption program, they were required to pay the child’s orphanage a fee or “donation” of $5,000. That money, Rana says, was used to fund the rest of the children at the orphanage who hadn’t been adopted or could never be adopted.

And without that regular income coming in, Rana says they have no choice but to shut their doors. “Right now we are not able to take in any children because the home is full,” said Rana.

Rana notes that without the ability to adopt out children from her orphanage internationally, the future of many Nepalese orphans is grim. Once a child turns 16, the orphanage no longer is able to support him or her. That’s when many Nepalese orphans might find themselves abandoned with nowhere to turn.

Many international organizations, including UNICEF, have urged the Nepalese government to finds ways to increase domestic adoptions. They argue that international adoption should be considered a last resort, and countries such as Nepal must first try everything they can to take care of orphans within the country.

The State Department’s Jacobs urged the Nepalese government to implement stricter oversight of its adoption program.

“There are countries, and not just in the west, but all over the world, that can do this properly. And there is no reason that Nepal can’t. All it takes is a little bit of political will,” said Jacobs.

Jacobs says the political turmoil that Nepal has faced over the last decade cannot be used as justification to ignore the need for better adoption oversight.

“I know there is a lot of political chaos there. It’s a difficult place to be right now, but they could do this. They need to do this for their children. The children are the most important thing in a country and they are just letting these things happened to them and there is no excuse for it,” said Jacobs.

http://pulitzercenter.org/articles/nepal-trafficking-kathmandu-orphans-children-adoption

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

Better Sit By the River Than Be a Bird of Cage (Terre des hommes)

2011-07-14T22:33:00.015-04:00

- Published by Darcissac, Marion

From our delegate in Nepal, Joseph Aguettant

A new publication highlights new ways to support families in rural areas instead of institutions such as orphanages and children’s homes (mostly in urban areas).

The news came as an earthquake in the world of child care: Naxal’s Bal Mandir, the oldest orphanage in Nepal, was taken over by an Australian NGO. Following months of negotiations between Nepal Children’s Organisation and Mitrataa Foundation, it was announced that the management of the largest institution in the country, currently hosting 250 children, was shifted to foreign management, from 1st May 2011 and for a five year term. Volunteers found the children in desperate condition, some of them suffering from acute malnutrition. The children had not been enrolled in schools due to lack of funds. This didn’t come as a surprise to those who knew about the old Bal Mandir.

A change of guard at Bal Mandir raises a set of questions: are all these children orphans? Did they really need to be institutionalised in the first place? Can the prospect of a “good education” wash away the trauma of family separation? Are there ways to keep children in their own families and can we find alternatives in communities? Why does Nepal maintain large institutions while the rest of the world is closing them down?

Burned alive

In the last few days, several untoward events reminded us of the gravity of the situation. At the beginning of June, an eye witness reported that in an orphanage in Kathmandu, the main caretaker was using torture to “discipline” the children. She was seen holding a candle over a 10-month girl and pouring wax on her as a punishment for wetting her pants. This was not an isolated incident.

The situation was worse (even nightmarish) in another institution. According to a Central Child Welfare Board official who visited the home, the orphanage was “far below standards”. The institution was closed down on 20th March 2011 and all the children rescued. Picture this: 21 children were crammed together in one bedroom with no separation between boys and girls. They were not being fed regularly, were living in squalid conditions and their profiles were falsified. Worse is yet to come: the director was routinely beating children with a metal stick. One child had died six months ago and another one disappeared. As a punishment, one child she was beaten with a metal rod and nettles and kept in isolation (on the terrasse upstairs) for two weeks. The director did not give the child any food, but the other children managed to bring her food and water secretly. The child was taken to the hospital by a visitor and died on the same day. Her name was Sangita. The surviving children are still having nightmares about the horror they witnessed in this home and are seriously traumatized. They have nightmares that the orphanage director will take them to Pashupati and burn them alive. They say that this is what happened to one child some years back because the home could not afford medical treatment.

Similarly, a 12-year old child died mysteriously in Jorpati in a child care home. Although she was admitted as an orphan, it was found that both her father and mother were alive. She had been institutionalised five years ago through a fake village development committee recommendation letter from Ramechhap District stating that she had no father. The orphanage was running illegally.

In another large orphanage, a young man entered the premises at night and molested adolescent girls who were hearing and speech impaired. They were able to alert orphanage staff by making loud sounds such as banging on their beds.

All these cases are symptomatic of a larger problem. We estimate that at least 4,000 children live in substandard institutions across Nepal. In terms of numbers and seriousness of child rights violations, we are in fact facing a major child protection crisis. In 2008, Terre des hommes estimated the number of children in residential care to reach 15,000 throughout the country. There were at least 440 private institutions, many of whom were being run by businessmen as a side activity. According to CCWB, this figure has not changed and it is still the official one. To get a true picture of institutional care, however, one should add illegal institutions, boarding schools, faith-based institutions, as well as “correction homes”. The rate of institutionalisation in Kathmandu is higher than that of Cambodia (193 per 100’000 children aged 0-17) or even China (27). A large number of unregulated orphanages is a recipe for disaster for children but also for society at large.

“We’re sorry for the tragedy of childhoods lost”

“We come together today to offer our nation’s apology, to say […] that we are sorry. Sorry that as children you were taken from your families and placed in institutions where so often you were abused. Sorry for the physical suffering, the emotional starvation, and the cold absence of love, of tenderness, of care. Sorry for the tragedy, the absolute tragedy, of childhoods lost.” These words of contrition were those of the Australian Prime Minister in 2009. Mr. Rudd offered the nation’s apology to the hundreds of thousands of children who were separated from their families and institutionalised in Australia. Many children were placed in religious institutions, where they were abused or neglected. The homes attracted pedophiles: many children said they were sexually abused. Others have described miserable, lonely lives, during which birthdays and festivals went unmarked, and they never received any affection.

We trust that one day the suffering of children in institutions will be recognised in Nepal as well. We, child rights advocates, are sorry for the tragedy of childhoods lost. We look up to countries like Australia, and many others, which have completely reversed the situation in a few decades, to help us. Australia has closed all its orphanages. There are no “orphans” in the country- only children placed in foster care and then adopted domestically.

We have hope. Less than a year ago, there was almost no recognition of the risks inherent to institutionalisation of children in Nepal. The 2005-2015 National Plan of Action for Children was openly “promoting children’s homes” and recommending an “increase in the number of orphanages”.

Today the situation has changed. Institutions are no longer immune because they would be protected by the Queen Mother or some politicians. The Terre des hommes project has put in place 41 verified foster families in the four Midwestern districts and have placed 27 children in their care. There will be many more foster family placements in the years to come, in many more districts.

From time immemorial the preferred way to care for and protect orphans was to send them to the extended family. Kinship care remains one of the primary responses – it needs to be strengthened and made safe. The challenge is to ensure that this is in the child’s best interest and that child labour is eliminated from this form of care.

Where consciousness goes, energy and resources will follow. As this is a complex and resource-intensive process, de-institutionalisation will help bring more resources into the country. It doesn’t mean simply emptying boxes: it will require a conscious effort to develop modern and effective child care services.

It is probably as easy to carry out de-institutionalisation as it is to pronounce the 22-letter word. All those engaged in the process will know that it is an arduous and time-consuming endeavour. But the concept is straight forward. It basically means opening the boxes. It means support to other forms of care and the establishment of a gatekeeping mechanism. It means investing in competent and compassionate staff who will leave no stone unturned to return the children to their families or provide family-based alternative care.

A few individuals and organisations have taken a head start: Tdh, Hope for Himalayan Kids, Next Generation Nepal, The Himalayan Innovative Society and Umbrella Foundation. We are greatly encouraged by the inclusion of de-institutionalisation as a topic of discussion with the Government, particularly the Central Child Welfare Board and the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare. The National Plan of Action has been corrected. Several organisations have approached Tdh with requests for assistance and an informal working group has been set up. We have created a list of organisations that promote family preservation, family-based alternative care and de-institutionalisation (if you feel you should be on this list, contact nawjeet@tdhnepal.org).

One new resource might come in handy: Terre des hommes Nepal Delegation Office teamed up with Hope for Himalayan Kids, to produce a hands-on manual on how to reduce the number of children in institutions and promote family-based care. Swiss Ambassador to Nepal, H.E. Thomas Gass launched the publication titled “10 Steps Forward to De-institutionalisation” in the presence of other ambassadors and staff of Diplomatic Missions, Nepal Government officials, UNICEF and non-profit organisations involved in working with children in institutions. The main author is an Australian social worker, Deborah MacArthur, assisted by Aruna Khadka, a pioneer of de-institutionalisation. The key philosophy of the document is that the rights (and best interests) of children are better served in families compared to institutions.

A Humli proverb sums it all: “It is better to sit beside the river than to be a bird of cage.” We hope for less and less “cages” and a lot more little birds flying around – and above all, little birds learning how to fly with their families.

Download the “10 Steps Forward to De-institutionalisation” manual

Further information on the Terre des hommes intervention in Nepal

http://www.tdh.ch/en/news/nepal-better-sit-by-the-river-than-be-a-bird-of-cage

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

A trafficker remains scot-free (The Kathmandu Post)

2011-07-13T23:01:00.006-04:00

A trafficker remains scot-free (The Kathmandu Post)

SHAHANI SINGH

JUL 08 -

It was in April this year when three worried adults in Humla submitted a letter of appeal to the Central Child Welfare Board (CCWB), a statutory body under the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare. Humble words requested for help in repatriating girl children from Tamil Nadu, India- “…a place wherefrom it is impossible to learn of their well being and condition…and where our children have expressed over the telephone their inability to continue staying”-the letter states in Nepali.

Guardians Dhan Maya Lama, Saraswati Lama and Krishna Lama (names changed) of Humla had entrusted the responsibility of their children to a local politician in the year 2004, convinced of his promises to educate them in a boarding school in Kathmandu, away from the conflict-ridden place that Humla was in those years. But in the year 2006, the parents came to learn that their children had been taken all the way down to Tamil Nadu, and they were not even informed about it. “When he first took them, we gave him money for taking our children to a better place. But it has been seven years now and he refuses to bring them back to us,” said Dhan Maya over the telephone from Humla.

Claimed by many villagers in Humla, such a practice—of entrusting one’s child into the hands of people with authority, along with sums of money—has been a resort for many parents, as they trust those more empowered to give their children a better future. The families of Dhan Maya, Saraswati and Krishna followed suit and their children were taken away, later enrolled at the Michael Job Centre in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu—a Christian organisation that claims to house and provide education to orphan girls.

About four years ago, another Humli parent Dhiren Lama (name changed) along with five friends hunted down the person who had taken their children away. UML member Dal Bahadur Phadera was coerced by the group to bring their children back. Phadera had succumbed then, taking the group of guardians with him to the Michael Job Centre in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. “We had to spend so much money to finally track him down, but even then he tried to assuage us by saying, ‘Let me celebrate Tihar first, and then I shall get your kids’,” recalls Dhiren. Dhiren and his friends invested significantly in making their way from Humla, to Kathmandu and Gorakhpur, en route to Tamil Nadu. But unlike him, Dhan Maya, Saraswati and Krishna, have yet to gather finances and the courage to make Phadera bring their children back.

Dhiren’s niece, who was brought back with 12 other girls talked of receiving an education in Tamil Nadu. The place appeared to be good for children in Dhiren’s eyes too, letting one believe that such a case would be hard to define as trafficking. But says Dhiren: “He (Phadera) is not a good man. I had given him Rs. 12,000 when I handed my niece over to him and a separate Rs. 3,000 to my niece for her personal expense. But Phadera snatched the money off her hands.”

The Michael Job Centre claims to have a mission of saving orphaned girls of Christian martyrs, after the principal Dr. P.P Job’s own son, Michael, was run down with a car—as the website claims—by radical Hindus of India. Also accepting orphans of any other religion, it has had a record of receiving girls from Nepal. But the centre’s reputation would best be defined as ambiguous. A news report titled ‘Mother seeks return of her daughter’ (Apr. 30 2010) from the Manipur Mail informs of 20 Manipuri girls from Churachandpur district to have been “beaten to bleeding” and confined all days inside the Michael Job campus. Could this be a reason why the children express their inability to stay in the centre, as stated in the letter?

What Dhan Maya, Saraswati and Krishna should ideally have done is filed a First Information Report (FIR) with the local police, enabling rescue organisations in India to enter and investigate the alleged institute where their children are kept. But uninformed of these criminal justice procedures, and unsure of its advice from local NGOs and INGOs, Dhan Maya went back to Phadera instead to consult the matter. “He was extremely angry when I talked to him about this,” recalls Dhan maya, who told the Post of Phadera’s bullying ways whenever she gathered her voice to ask of her child. “The school is good, don’t file the report,” Phadera would tell her and end the conversation. Corroborations with officers of a local NGO in Humla that works closely with Humli families to bring back their lost children confirm the same.

Dal Bahadur Phadera, known to anti-trafficking organisations in Kathmandu as ‘DB’, is known to exert considerable fear and influence among civilians in Humla. He is a martial arts practitioner, say some and “someone who follows you around if you come in his way” others. But the man and his notoriety are an open secret among Humlis, child rights officers and administrators in government and non-government bodies, who take his name easily when discussed with about child trafficking. A child rights officer of the District Child Welfare Board claims Phadera to “not have stopped trafficking entirely” whereas an officer at the Central Child Welfare Board acknowledges his reputation as a trafficker.

But aside from these sources who are cautious with their comments, evidence of Phadera’s history in trafficking lies in Saroj Adhikari’s article ‘Bal Balika ko Rahasmaya Osaar Pasaar’ in the July 2006 issue of Nepal magazine. Adhikari reports the stark discrepancy between the number of children registered in a dozen schools in the Valley where Phadera claims to have enrolled them, and the number actually present. “Details given by Dal Phadera state 32 minors to have been enrolled in Pushpanjali Boarding School in Taukhel, but the school’s teacher Sharada Lamichhane of the Accounts Department claims 14 of them to be absent,” he writes. Additional proof of Phadera’s engagement in trafficking children comes from a group of children rescued by the non-profit organisation Next Generation Nepal. Currently staying at their children’s home in Balkot, 16-year-old Sravan Puri (name changed) gives a heart-rending testimony of leaving home for Kathmandu when he was eight, being taken in custody by Dal Phadera, and eventually being forced to beg in the streets for money and at another time, being paid Rs. 25 for three months of washing dishes at a hotel. Similar testimonies have come from Sravan’s friends, who now in their late teens, were all victims of Phadera’s guile. “DB used to bring volunteers to the orphanage in Mathatirtha, but he would take away all the goodies and stationary items they would bring for us,” he shares of his days in the Mathatirtha orphanage run under Phadera’s organisation Himali Anath Bal Bikas Kendra (Himali Orphan Child Development Centre). Both the orphanage and the organisation closed down in the year 2006 after the orphanage was discovered to have been run illegally.

Put into custody for three days by the Nepal Police in the same year, Phadera was released by the sheer weight of his political influence, reports Adhikari, now with the Kantipur Daily. Not once charged for his trafficking activities since, Phadera continues to remain free today.

In a telephone conversation with the Post, Phadera claimed of not taking any money from parents in Humla. “I do not know who Dhiren is, besides, when members of the UCPN (Maoist) party kidnapped me on charges of several complaints of trafficking, it was done with political motives and for character assassination,” he added, regarding an accusation by members of UCPN (Maoist) of Humla in the year 2006-7. Interestingly, in a statement denying charges from the UCPN (Maoist), Phadera quotes the name of a certain ‘Chakkra Shahi’ as a trafficker, who is also named by a villager in the documentary Paper Orphans by Terre Des Hommes, a Swiss humanitarian organisation that gives assistance to children in need, to have carried out similar activities of deceiving Humli parents and taking children away.

The Human Trafficking and Transportation Control Act (2007) and Regulation (2008)— as mentioned in the 2011 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report issued by the US Government in June this year—subjects persons guilty of trafficking to 10 to 20 years’ imprisonment. Phadera has not been subject to any such punishment.

This issue of families being deceived by traffickers in the Karnali region has been addressed for the first time in the 2011 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, and so have the impunity enjoyed by politically-connected perpetrators and the negative effect it has had in the number of trafficking cases filed with the police. But slow justice and a long wait before reunification remains the reality of most families, who in their circumstances have unwittingly lost their children.

Dhan Maya, Saraswati and Krishna wait for what assistance can come from their local NGO and the DCWB in response to their letter of appeal. Says the NGO officer who has been contacted by the CCWB for coordination: “We have asked for institutional and strategic help in our letter in response to the CCWB, but we have yet to send it.”

Posted on: 2011-07-09

http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2011/07/08/features/a-trafficker-remains-scot-free/223763.html

For a first-hand account of DB Phadera/Fadera, see Lonely Planet (read the full thread):

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2032255&start=0&limit=1000

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

Children trapped between supply and demand (Nepali Times)

2011-06-17T02:18:00.005-04:00

Children trapped between supply and demand

Where does adoption end and trafficking begin for Nepal's children?

JENNIFER LOWE

Nepali Times (17 JUNE 2011 - 23 JUNE 2011):

http://nepalitimes.com/issue/2011/06/17/Nation/18300

[Photo] -- SHHH: Sign on the wall of an "orphanage" in Kathmandu housing children like the one, right, who have biological parents. The children are offered for international adoption, often without the knowledge of their parents.

Kathmandu Valley has dozens of children's homes and orphanages, Thamel is plastered with fliers looking for volunteers and donations to help parentless children. Foreigners can often be seen holding their newly adopted Nepali babies as they dine in hotels.

It is clear that the business of adopting orphans has taken off in Nepal. Below the surface, however, lies complicated political and social conditions that affect the lives of thousands of Nepali children.

Since international adoption from Nepal became legal in 1976, there was a huge increase in the number of both registered and unregistered childcare facilities as well as an increase in incidents of trafficking, false documentation and bribery. This led to the temporary suspension of adoption from Nepal in 2007 by the Ministry of Women, Children, and Social Welfare.

But by January 2009, the self-imposed ban was lifted, resulting in an even more disturbing situation.

Inside a small orphanage on the outskirts of Kathmandu live dozens of 'orphaned' children. Younger children lie in small rooms tied to cribs, with the door shut, screaming, in desperate need of a diaper change. Older children stand barefoot outside as they wait for the small amount of food they are allotted each day.

Sadly, this is an all too common scene in Kathmandu. Organisations like UNICEF and Terre Des Hommes Foundation estimate that more than 15,000 Nepali children live in residential care facilities, but no one knows how the children are treated because the shelters are rarely monitored. Shockingly, more than half of the children in the 'orphanages' actually have biological parents.

Inside the same orphanage, a 15-year old girl nervously confesses having living parents and two younger brothers. "I want to go home," she whispers in English as her biological younger brother climbs onto her lap. Her parents voluntarily gave their children to shelters in the city because they couldn't afford to feed and educate them. In many cases parents are promised their children's safe return following the completion of their education, but many never see their children again because they are sold to foreign adoptive parents.

Many child-care facility owners see the struggle of poverty-stricken parents simply as a lucrative business opportunity. This is not surprising because the average price of an international adoption can be up to $10,000.

On the other hand, many adoptive parents also endure great personal turmoil as they wait for their children. Over the past year, 11 countries including the United States, Canada, and Britain have suspended adoption from Nepal, citing an unreliable adoption system and the documentation practices. Although no new adoptions can be initiated from these countries, parents who have already begun the adoption process have been forced into legal battles with government embassies in their efforts to acquire visas for their newly adopted children.

Dozens of families from these counties have put everything on the line to bring their children home, spending thousands of dollars in legal fees and months stuck in small hotel rooms in Kathmandu. Sharon Vause is one parent. "I am meeting families here who are risking everything to bring their children home," she told Nepali times, "some have sold their homes, taken loans, but we are doing it for our children, we can't give up on them."

A growing group of foreign and domestic voices are once again calling for the suspension of international adoption from Nepal. However, those who oppose this fear that children will be forced to live in bleak orphanages for years before adoption is resumed.

In order to bring adoption practices in Nepal up to the standards outlined by The Hague Convention, child care experts say, there is a need to completely reorganise the process. In the meantime some agencies like Next Generation Nepal are concentrating their efforts on rescuing children with their biological families in hope of one day healing shattered lives.

________________________________

SOS for children

Even though the plight of non-orphans in orphanages seems insurmountable, there are some glimmers of hope. The SOS Children's Village in Sano Thimi is part of a chain of international long-term care facilities started in Austria by Hermann Gmeiner in 1949.

SOS facilities are based on a family structure with on-campus schooling, extra curricular activities, and family style housing with 10 children living in each of 14 homes with a single "house mother". SOS ethos also includes a unique integration program that helps children learn how to live on their own while still benefiting from the SOS infrastructure and support. No SOS facility offers children internationally or domestically for adoption, expect by extended family members of the children.

In stark contrast to commercial 'orphanages' in Kathmandu, children can be seen at all hours of the day singing in classrooms, playing football outside, eating healthy snacks, and helping to care for their new brothers and sisters. Perhaps such facilities provide a glimmer of hope in the face of uncertainty for the future of adoption in Nepal. "We create a sense of belonging, children have lost their lives and here they can feel important and valid and like they belong," says Khagendra Nepal of the Sano Thimi SOS Children's Village.

www.sosnepal.org.np

See also:

On sale, A NEPALI TIMES INVESTIGATION
Adopting new safeguards
Cinderella children, PHILIP HOLMES

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

U.S. Still Suspects Fraud In Nepalese Orphanages (NPR)

2011-05-10T23:19:00.007-04:00

U.S. Still Suspects Fraud In Nepalese Orphanages

by Monica Brady-Myerov

May 10, 2011

Listen to the Story:

http://www.npr.org/2011/05/10/136179395/u-s-still-suspects-fraud-in-nepalese-orphanages

All Things Considered -- National Public Radio

Photo -- Prakash Mathema/AFP/Getty Images

The Helpless Children Protection Home is an orphanage in Katmandu. Last August, the U.S. government suspended adoptions from Nepal because it was concerned about fraud in Nepal's adoption system — and there's still concern.

May 10, 2011 from WBUR

Last August, the U.S. government suspended adoptions from Nepal because it was concerned about fraud in Nepal's adoption system. The suspension left dozens of American families in limbo.

After months of investigations almost all of those American families have been granted visas for their adopted Nepali children.

But there's still concern about whether many of Nepal's orphans really are orphans.

Children Sold By Traffickers

The desire to be a mother was so strong for 45-year-old Dee Dee Milton that she went halfway around the world from Boston to Nepal to try to achieve it.

"I tried to adopt through the American foster system here and was not matched with a child and was told they had no idea when I would be matched and if I would ever be matched," she says.

In July, Milton was matched with a 4-year-old Nepali girl. Just after Milton landed in Nepal and took custody of her daughter, Bina, the U.S. closed the program, saying too many children who were reported to be abandoned by their families may actually have been kidnapped or sold into the orphanage system.

Milton and 65 other American families were caught in the middle. Milton ended up living in Nepal and hiring lawyers and investigators to help prove Bina was legitimately abandoned. Milton had to take out a home equity line of credit to afford the delay.

"I was on an unpaid leave from my job, so I literally had no funds coming in the entire time I was gone and then came home to unemployment," she says.

"In the worst cases I've seen ...they are actually forging death certificates for families and putting these children up for international adoption."

- Conor Grennan, founder of Next Generation Nepal, an NGO that has reconnected 400 trafficked children with their families

Janice Jacobs, assistant secretary of state for consular affairs, says while she sympathizes with what Milton went through, Nepal's child adoption system isn't trustworthy.

"They estimate — the NGOs with a lot of on-the-ground experience — estimate that perhaps 10 percent of the children who turn up in orphanages are in fact abandoned," she says.

That means as many as 90 percent of children in Nepalese orphanages may have been sold by a child trafficker under false pretenses. UNICEF estimates there are 650,000 orphans in Nepal.

Conor Grennan says that happens all the time. He's the founder of Next Generation Nepal, an NGO that has reconnected 400 trafficked children with their families. He says some of the children have been kidnapped. Other children have been sold by their families to brokers, who claim they will educate and care for them.

"And in the worst cases I've seen ... they are actually forging death certificates for families and putting these children up for international adoption," Grennan says.

Grennan says the child trade continues because it's lucrative. Orphanages can make $5,000 per child from an international adoption — a lot of money in a country where more than half of the population lives on less than $1.25 a day, according to UNICEF.

Difficult To Prove Fraud

Five months after Milton went to Nepal, Bina got a U.S. visa once a government investigation found no fraud. Now Bina lives a typical life of an American little girl, attending preschool, visiting her nana and tormenting her cat.

Eventually, U.S. investigators determined there was no fraud in the cases of 65 of the 66 children waiting to be adopted by American families. Only one is still pending, which leads Milton to ask: Where is the fraud?

"I mean, the law of averages and the number of cases — [and] there was absolutely no fraud found?" Milton says.

But proving fraud is very hard, says Grennan. He says the only way is to travel to mountainous villages.

"There's no roads here," Grennan says. "You have to put on a backpack and you have to walk through the mountains and you have to get to the village and you have to say this is where the child is from, are the parents still alive or are they not? To me, that is the proof," he says.

The investigation of Bina Milton and the others was done by a government agency outside Nepal. Jacobs of the State Department says you can't draw conclusions about the adoption system in Nepal from those investigations. She says Nepal will have to make sweeping changes to its child welfare system if the U.S. is to reopen adoption.

"They have to work on a system that builds in better protections for these children and they also have to find ways to look for domestic solutions," she says.

http://www.npr.org/2011/05/10/136179395/u-s-still-suspects-fraud-in-nepalese-orphanages

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

Child adoption process to become more credible (The Himalayan Times)

2011-05-08T22:25:00.005-04:00

Child adoption process to become more credible

The Himalayan Times

2011-05-08

KATHMANDU: The Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW) is working on the recommendations of the Permanent Bureau of The Hague Conference on Private International Law to make the adoption process more credible and reliable.

The ministry is gearing up to implement recommendations forwarded by the Permanent Bureau.

The Bureau has recommended that the country control the number of adoption files by publicising detailed profiles of adoptable children on their website. It recommended that recipient countries submit an existing file before working on a new file in the adoption process and provide a chance to older children to express their views and experience on the process.

“We will support almost all the points forwarded by the Permanent Bureau but have some problems in implementing recommendations on the financial aspects due to political instability,” said Sher Jung Karki, undersecretary at the ministry. Recipient states should encourage their development aid bodies to contribute to development of child protection system in Nepal so that Nepal does not have to request adoptive parents and Adoption Accredited Bodies (AAB) to contribute to orphanages (US$ 5,000 and US$ 10,000 respectively).

We have been asked to collect information on the origin of children, including police report and interviews of older children to make the process more reliable and effective, informed Karki.

As per the recommendation, the country will work only with AAB under the Hague Convention and delist agencies that did not process any case in the last ten years. Karki further added they had asked for monitoring the AAB website to ensure accurate information.

The Permanent Bureau, receiving states and organisations will provide assistance to Nepal to develop adequate legal framework for child protection and adoption, mentioned the recommendation, urging the country to recognise the need to make changes and improvements before ratifying the Hague Convention.

The Bureau has also emphasised importance of recipient states being assured that all documentation surrounding the status of the child, adoptability and adoption have been carefully scrutinised and authenticated. They also sought regulation and transparency in costs and fees, and their use.

The Himalayan Times:

http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Child+adoption+process+to+become+more+credible&NewsID=287221

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

Left in limbo: Nepalese adoptions halted (PBS)

2011-05-07T01:09:00.005-04:00

Left in limbo: Nepalese adoptions halted (PBS)

On Mother’s Day weekend, adoptive parents on the verge of bringing home a child find themselves caught between two governments.

By Habiba Nosheen and Lisa Desai

May 6, 2011

The U.S. State Department has suspended adoption of abandoned Nepalese children, citing numerous examples of unreliable and possibly fraudulent documents.

For Dee Dee Milton and 70 other American families who were in the midst of finalizing adoptions from Nepal, the new U.S. policy left them in limbo. The onus was now on those families to prove that the child they wanted to adopt is a legitimate orphan.

Need to Know traveled to Nepal to meet American adoptive parents who are fighting to bring their adopted children home, as well as Nepalese biological parents whose children were put up for adoption without their consent.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/video/video-left-in-limbo-nepalese-adoptions-halted/9158/

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

Commissione per le Adozioni Internazionali (Italy)

2011-04-23T12:36:00.004-04:00

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”.

Google Translate:

http://translate.google.com

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

Preparation to amend laws on children (The Himalayan Times)

2011-04-23T12:09:00.004-04:00

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

2011-04-22T23:45:00.005-04:00

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

2011-04-17T09:42:00.015-04:00

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

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.

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)

2011-04-01T20:05:00.002-04:00

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/

Twenty Children Rescued from Mukti Nepal

2011-03-22T18:08:00.017-04:00

Mukti Nepal rescue photo (Nepali Times):

http://www.nepalitimes.com/gallery/mainphoto.php?id=1259

LET US OUT: Human Rights Organisations recently rescued 20 children from Mukti Nepal, an orphanage in Maharajgunj. The orphanage had failed meet even the minimum requirements, housing 24 boys and girls, aged between 7 to 15, in a single room.

PHOTO: BIKRAM RAI

Posted on: 22 MARCH 2011

For the story of the Mukti Nepal adoption scandal, see
Pound Pup Legacy.

Mukti Nepal -- alleged torture of a birth parent (a sibling was in mid-adoption to the United States).

In Victims of Balmandir:

http://poundpuplega cy.org/node/ 43654

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

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

2011-02-23T14:32:00.011-05:00

by EJ Graff
Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University

Posted: February 18, 2011
Updated: February 23, 2011

Exclusive State Department internal cables
from Freedom of Information Act requests

Children abducted from their families for international adoption, so that middlemen could profit from Westerners' cash. Families that left their babies temporarily with a child welfare center during times of illness or financial distress--only to discover on returning that, to their horror, their children had been sent away forever to Spain, Italy, or the U.S. A "demand and supply" effect: when international adoptions were suspended, reported "abandonments" drop. Fees that suddenly increase without rhyme or reason--unless orphanages needed more cash for bribes or just out of greed.

That's what the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu was seeing between 2006 and 2008 when it checked into how children had become available for U.S. citizens to adopt, as documented in official internal cables received by the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism in response to Freedom of Information Act requests.

read more....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/schuster-institute-for-investigative-journalism/orphaned-o

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

Govt. mulling to amend in adoption provision again (Review Nepal)

2011-02-22T11:45:00.002-05:00

Govt. mulling to amend in adoption provision again

Review Nepal

21st Feb:

Kathmandu, Nepal –

The government of Nepal is mulling to amend again in the adoption-related provisions, which were amended on last December, stating that recent provision failed to impress the western countries.

The Ministry of Woman, Children and social welfare has said that it will prepare a draft proposal to amen on the exiting provision. The government was under pressure to amend the provision not only from the domestic institution but also from the international adoption group, a loose alliance of Western countries whose citizens adopt Nepali children.

A loose group, who adopts Naples children largely, from the countries like USA, UK, Norway Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Switzerland other western countries have been insisting that they can not adopt Nepalese children unless the government amend in the existing adoption-related provisions.

It has been mandatory provisioned that any organization working on the sector of facilitating inter-country adoption should submit details about each orphan child to a Probe and Recommendation Committee (PRC) within seven days and to a Family Selection Committee (FSC) under MWCSW within 14 days. Likewise, concerned district administration office (DAO) also needs to verify the child about his or her status.

Some domestic organizations have been pressing the government as it has been provisioned that the government deserves right to de-list any organizations eligible for inter-country adoption if it found involved in fraudulent practices. Those de-listed organizations will be barred from facilitating inter-country adoptions for the next five years.

Likewise, the government had also provisioned that any children's organization or orphanage home should have engaged for a minimum of six years in the field of child welfare to be eligible for facilitating inter-country adoptions. However, International communities have been objecting the existing provision stating that it lacks of integrity in the system.

Following the widespread condemnation that some institutions in home are trading Nepalese children with fake documents, the government had amended on the provision. However, the amended provision failed to impress the western countries.

US Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Janice Jacobs, who was in Nepal visit recently, has also conveyed her country's concern that existing provision is not sufficient to resume the adoption. During the visit with officials she had mentioned that the recent amendment in the adoption process is not sufficient.

http://www.reviewnepal.com/detail_news.php?id=1873

Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
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West not impressed by changes in adoption process (Republica)

2011-02-18T20:12:00.002-05:00

West not impressed by changes in adoption process

Republica

KIRAN CHAPAGAIN

KATHMANDU, Feb 19: Recent government efforts aimed at reforming its widely questioned inter-country adoption practices have failed to impress the United States, one of the main Western countries to stop adoptions from Nepal on grounds of lack of integrity in the system.

The US said the amendment in the adoption process introduced last December is not sufficient to answer questions surrounding inter-country adoptions from Nepal.

Visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Janice Jacobs conveyed Washington´s stance on the reform initiatives during her meetings with officials from the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MWCSW) on Thursday.

“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 inter-country adoption,” said Heather Steil, spokesperson at the US embassy, when asked about the US stance on the recent reform measures.

Last December, the government, in the wake up of widespread questions over the adoption system, amended adoption-related provisions, making it mandatory for any children´s home, orphanage or children´s organization facilitating inter-country adoption to submit details about each orphan child to a Probe and Recommendation Committee (PRC) within seven days and to a Family Selection Committee (FSC) under MWCSW 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.

In addition, MWCSW has also made it necessary 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.

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

Jacobs, who arrived here on Wednesday to discuss adoption issues, also conveyed the US government´s concern at lack of integrity and transparency in the adoption system.

Western countries have suspended adoptions from Nepal as investigations by The Hague Conference on Private International Law, an inter-governmental organization based in Holland, last February found the adoption system marred by widespread abuses.

Diplomatic sources told Republica that other countries are also not impressed by the recent steps taken by the government to improve the adoption system. A meeting of the adoption group - a loose alliance of Western countries whose citizens adopt Nepali children - held on January 13, had also concluded that the efforts were not sufficient. In addition, they were also against reopening adoption from Nepal. Besides the US, representatives from the embassies of Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the UK, Norway and Switzerland were present at the meeting called to discuss the reforms introduced in the adoption system in December.

“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,” the US embassy spokesperson further said in a statement to Republica.

The report had called on the government to overhaul the adoption system and even enact legislation so that children are better protected.

Jacobs, during her meeting with government officials here, encouraged the government to work with the international community, including The Hague Permanent Bureau, implement the Hague Convention and reform its adoption process to protect children and families.

Republica 2011-02-19

http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=28409

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

US bar on Nepali kids' adoption to stay (Kantipur)

2011-02-18T19:52:00.002-05:00

US bar on Nepali kids' adoption to stay

Kantipur

BABURAM KHAREL

KATHMANDU, FEB 18 - Visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affair Janice Jacob has said that the ban on inter-country adoption from Nepal would remain despite some changes to the adoption process in Nepal.

“The US suspension of inter-country adoption will remain in place until substantive progress is made on the issues raised by a February 2010 Hague Convention report,” said Heather Steil, Spokesperson for the American Embassy in Kathmandu. Assistant Secretary Jacob feels that recent changes to the adoption process in Nepal are "inadequate" to address concerns about the origin of the children being matched for inter-country adoption.

The US decision continues to affect over 80 prospective American parents who have already gone through meticulous paperwork for adoption of Nepali children. Though it is not clear how many American parents have adopted Nepali children so far, according to the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW), over 2400 children have been adopted since 2000 by parents in western countries.

The US government in August last year suspended the inter-country adoption involving abandoned children from Nepal questioning the authenticity of the system that has been marred by “fraud and irregularities.”

Jacob—who met officials in the Foreign Ministry, MoWCSW and Prime Minister's Office—encouraged the Nepali officials to work with the international community, including The Hague Permanent Bureau, to implement The Hague Convention and reform its adoption process to protect children and families.

The US government's decision to suspend adoption from Nepal follows a report last February by Hague Conference on Private International Law, an intergovernmental organisation. The report, based on investigation by a group of lawyers, had alleged systemic failure in Nepal's adoption system with widespread abuse and had called for suspension of adoption from Nepal until the system was reformed. Since then, ten other countries—Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Italy and Britain—have officially and unofficially suspended adoption from Nepal.

Last year as well, a team from the Department of State had visited Nepal to interact with government officials. The team investigated numerous abandonment cases, including field visits to orphanages and police departments. Its investigation found that documents presented to describe and "prove" abandonment of children in Nepal were unreliable. The US then said in a statement that civil documents such as children's birth certificates often included data that had been changed or fabricated.

Tilak Ram Sharma, acting Secretary of MoWCSW, met Jacob and said that addressing US concerns would take time. He said inter-country adoption was not a priority of the government. "Our primary focus will be to strengthen the domestic adoption in place of inter-country adoption," Sharma said.

http://www.ekantipur.com/2011/02/18/top-story/us-bar-on-nepali-kids-adoption-to-stay/329806.html

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

US Asst Secy Arrives Nepal To Discuss Inter-country Adoption (Republica)

2011-02-16T15:13:00.003-05:00

US Asst Secy Arrives Nepal To Discuss Inter-country Adoption

KATHMANDU, Feb 16: United States Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Janice Jacobs arrived in Kathmandu on Wednesday for a two-day visit.

Jacob´s visit comes a day after the US Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Maria Otero, who arrived in Kathmandu on Sunday, wrapped her visit to Nepal.

According to a press statement issued by US Embassy in Kathmandu, the visit will primarily focus on the issue of inter-country adoption from Nepal.

Assistant Secretary Jacobs is scheduled to hold meetings with officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and the Ministry for Women, Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW) to discuss the US government´s concerns on the inter-country adoption process.

The visit of a senior US official to Kathmandu comes in the wake of concerns being raised by international community that inter-country adoption from Nepal is subject to widespread abuses.

In an apparent bid to address the concerns, the MoWCSW last month amended the conditions and procedures relating to inter-country adoption.

Republica:

http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=28319

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

Nepal: Corruption and Fraudulent Documents Set Hurdles for Adoption (The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting)

2011-02-11T21:10:00.003-05:00

Nepal: Corruption and Fraudulent Documents Set Hurdles for Adoption:

http://pulitzercenter.org/articles/nepal-corruption-fraudulent-documents-adoption

Photo -- Rajan Kumar Nepali sits with his daughter in his house in Ranibari, Kathmandu. He said his daughter was wrongfully placed for adoption with an American family who were getting ready to take her to the United States. Image by Anup Kaphle. Nepal, 2011.

ANUP KAPHLE, FOR THE PULITZER CENTER, NEPAL

Published on February 10, 2011

When Rajan Kumar Nepali handed over his two children to a local orphanage in Kathmandu, he never imagined that they would be put up for adoption.

Rajan was a drug-addict. After being unable to cope with his addiction, Maya, his wife, left him and their two children at their ramshackle rented home about a mile west of the bustling city of Kathmandu. In desperation, Rajan decided to send his children to an orphanage, which he said promised to take care of them while he was in a drug rehabilitation center.

“I thought there were women caretakers at the orphanage who would be able to better care for them,” said Rajan. “I didn’t send my children away so that they could be adopted and taken abroad.”

But his three-year-old daughter was put up for adoption by the orphanage and placed with an American couple, a trend that has developed into lucrative business in Nepal because of the adoption fees that come with it. Last year alone, the Nepali government approved the adoptions of 195 children by international parents, 52 of them going to homes in the United States. But following cases like Rajan, where children were wrongfully put up for adoption, the United States government last August suspended adoptions from Nepal, citing rampant corruption in the system.

The abuse of adoption system is not new to Nepal. Following accusations of falsified documents and unregulated orphanages, the Nepali government shut down its international adoption program three years ago. New legislation later in 2008 banned the adoption of street children, required better verification that a child is an orphan, and established an oversight body to regulate existing orphanages. Under its new program, Nepal now allows two kinds of inter-country adoption: orphans and children voluntarily surrendered by their parents.

The U.S. State Department said cases like Rajan’s have exposed flaws in Nepal’s inter-country adoption system. Consequently, the State Department has cancelled its participation in the program and says it will not renew it until Nepal assures all adoptions are legal and ethical.

“We tried for very long time to work with the Nepalese government but they showed no inclination to work with us on this issue,” said Susan Jacobs, special advisor for international children’s issues at the State Department.

Nepali officials mostly defend their new system, but admit that they have problems at the local level, which is where the documents originate. “We have to depend on the local government for the process -- police, municipality office and district magistrate officers,” said Sher Jung Karki, under-secretary at the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare.

Another reason the number of adoption scandals has risen is the steep fee that foreigners must pay to orphanages. In an interview with a local orphanage, I learned orphanages can make up to $5,000 per child. Some other orphanages say foreign parents are willing to pay as much as $10,000. This opportunity for easy money led to an increase in the number of orphanages in Nepal, and with limited government oversight, children from the streets and others who had not been volunteered for adoption were put on the adoption market.

With the adoption system currently in limbo, the ones who are suffering are the parents who have already paid the money, have been given the child, but are not allowed to bring the child into the United States until they can prove that child is, in fact, an orphan or legally put up for adoption by the birth parents. In recent weeks, some American parents have been able to bring a Nepali child home, but many children remain stuck in Nepal, awaiting a green light from the U.S. government.

Meanwhile, Rajan and his wife have reunited with both of their children. Rajan said that although the American parents who wanted to adopt his daughter couldn’t do so, they still keep in touch through a pastor at a local church, and occasionally send money to pay for his daughter’s education.

Rajan said he is not against westerners adopting Nepali children. He just wasn’t expecting that those put up for adoption would be his own.

“There are many orphans in Nepal, so maybe it’s good that they get adopted by foreign families, especially those who can’t have children,” he said.

The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting:

http://pulitzercenter.org/articles/nepal-corruption-fraudulent-documents-adoption

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

Nobody’s child (The Himalayan Times)

2011-02-05T23:04:00.002-05:00

Nobody’s child (The Himalayan Times)

Prakriti Pathak

January 30, 2011

The international adoption trade is a booming multibillion-dollar industry, as families in the west increasingly adopt more babies from developing countries. Nepal, it seems does not want to miss out on this global opportunity.

In 2007, Nepal adoption alter it faced pressure and severe criticism from national and international media over allegations of corruption and children being sold. In addition, the report, Adopting the Rights of a Child prepared by the UNICEF and the Swiss-based child relief agency foundation Terre des hommes revealed instances of children and babies being put up for adoption without the parents’ consent. As a result, the United States and a number of European countries like the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Norway, Spain, Canada, Italy, Switzerland and Germany banned adoption from Nepal.

In 2008, Nepal promptly reopened inter-country adoption and in 2009, signed the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in respect to inter-country adoption. With an objective of ratifying the Hague Convention, the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW) formed a high level committee on May 14, 2010. Later in December 2010, new policies were introduced to facilitate the inter-country adoption process. “To discuss inter-country adoption, a team is heading to Italy in the first week of March, where all the European countries are expected to meet and most probably European countries will agree on adopting children from Nepal,” says Sher Jung Karki, under secretary at MoWCSW.

The optimism and speed to get things back on track is surprising. If only such promptness and dedication was displayed by our government in tackling much bigger issues that have almost brought Nepal to a standstill. What’s odd is the fact that while the government is going the whole hog to encourage international adoption, it has done precious little to even facilitate domestic adoption within Nepal and the vagueness of laws and provisions are often seen as a deterrent.

“The government is more focused on inter-country adoption, introducing new rules and regulations repeatedly and has completely neglected domestic adoption. Many factors are responsible for pushing the inter-country adoption but ’capital ’ is the main factor as lo reign countries have to pay hefty amount to adopt Nepali children and even with the new policies, there may still be space for irregularities,” says a source at the same ministry.

Interestingly, there is no data or any information on domestic adoption at the ministry. When a country neglects domestic adoption and focuses solely on inter-country adoption, it raises many questions. The answers themselves are not very hard to figure out. “We welcome recent improvements announced by the ministry but they are focused solely on inter-country adoption. Local solutions should be developed as a priority in line with international commitment”, says Joseph Aguettant, country representative of Terre des hommes in Nepal. He further added that local solutions include kinship, foster care and domestic adoption. Recently, Terre des hommes has been involved in promoting domestic adoption in mid-western regions in collaboration with Social Welfare Council, the local administration and NGOs. Besides creating a new mindset, the task involves deciphering the existing laws which are vague and need simplification.

“Nepal lacks adoption law and domestic adoption has not been fully practiced in Nepal yet. Though it is mentioned in Muluki Ain (Country Code), the process is vague and lengthy,” says Lochan Regmi of Central child Welfare Council. According to the Code, domestic adoption can be done by adoption can be done by relatives. But through various amendments, now any Nepali can adopt a child. “Though the horizon for domestic adoption has expanded, it is impractical and unscientific. There is no mention of the process for domestic adoption as the concerned body is busy regularly updating the policies of inter-country adoption,” says Rudra Kandangwa, advocate and chairman of Children Home Federation.

According to advocates and people involved in children’s homes to encourage domestic adoption, the government has to simplify the rules and laws. In the absence of proper and clear laws for domestic adoption, children’s homes are making their own. Aasha Shrestha, in charge of planning and sponsorship section of Bal Mandir says, Nepalis wanting to adopt a child legally from Bal Mandir have to fulfil a list of requirements.

Couples have to submit citizenship certificates, medical certificates to prove their infertility approved from Nepal Medical Board, marriage certificates, character certificates, details of economic status including land papers and bank balances, letters of consent from their family members, letter from authorized doctor proving the couple free from diseases like HIV; Hepatitis and mental illness. In addition to these, the age difference between the to-be adopted child and prospective parents should be not less than 35 and not more than 55 years. After completing all the required documents, they have to register the adoption case at the Land Revenue Office. According to her, Nepali children can gel genuine homes in Nepal rather than in other countries. But that is only possible if the government places the rights of orphans above all other issues.

To facilitate families and homes for orphans should be the priority. Whether in Nepal or abroad is secondary. Shrestha says the ministry’s priorities are misplaced; the concerned body should encourage domestic adoption rather than just aiming to maximize revenues from adopting parents from foreign countries. Till date, there is not a single child home in Nepal with the sole objective of promoting domestic adoption in Nepal.

The irony is that the ministry has all the data related to inter-country adoption but nothing on domestic adoption. Domestic adoption is supposed to be handled by the Land Revenue Office. However, many officers at the office itself were unaware about this fact. According to Beni Madhav Bhattarai, under secretary at the Ministry of Land Reform and Management, there is zero record maintained of domestic adoption and he argues that MoWCSW is the concerned body for both inter-country and domestic adoption.

When domestic adoption is not promoted serious questions arise. What kind of ‘New Nepal’ are we building in which our orphans have no place and no rights in their own country? For a country emerging from civil war and on the path to reconciliation, is our society not open to adoption and reaching out to orphans? Are Nepal’s orphans only worth the foreign exchange they bring in? What exactly is the government’s commitment and arrangements for orphans in this country?

Presently commitment is not visible. Orphans are housed in private children’s homes till they are exported to western families. These homes receive no financial assistance and hence little monitoring from the government. Over 198 of these children’s homes are far below the minimum standards. “The children’s homes that are not running in accordance with the government’s minimum standards should be shut down to ensure rights and the best interest of children,” says Gauri Pradhan, member of National Human Rights Commission of Nepal.

When contacted, even the minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare, Sarwadev Prasad Ojha admitted that “domestic adoption is unsystematic and major steps have to be taken to promote it”. Then he hands us the age-old diplomatic line. ’’A team will be set up to make the new guidelines for domestic adoption."

From:

http://www.tdh.ch/en/news/nepal-perspectives-nobodys-child

PDF copy of original article:

http://www.brandeis.edu/investigate/gender/adoption/docs/NobodysChild_HimalayanTimes30Jan11_Pathak.pdf

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

DOS: Changes that Require an Amended Home Study Report

2011-02-04T09:13:00.003-05:00

Changes that Require an Amended Home Study Report

February 3, 2011

We know that many of you have been waiting for months to reach resolution in your adoption cases. We want to remind you of a critical component to establishing eligibility for an immigrant visa on behalf of an adopted child. While expiration of the Form I-600A approval will have no impact on issuance of an immigrant visa, provided that you filed a Form I-600 petition with the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu before the Form I-600A expiration date, the underlying information in your home study must still be accurate and reflect your current situation.

During the immigrant visa interview, the consular officer must ensure that the most recent home study on file is accurate and up-to-date. If significant changes have occurred, the officer must place the immigrant visa application on hold and refer the case to USCIS. The U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu has no authority over the adjudication of a significant change or amended Form I-600A approval.

Please confirm that all of the information in your current home study is accurate. If you need to pursue an update, we strongly urge you to do so as soon as possible.

Below is information on the policy and procedures regarding the home study requirement. This information has been taken directly from www.USCIS.gov.

Please e-mail adoptionsnepal@state.gov if you have questions. If you need to submit, or think that you need to submit, an amended home study, please contact USCIS directly at NBC.Adoptions@dhs.gov.

Orphan Home Study Guidelines

The following information is from the following USCIS webpage:

Once a home study is submitted, it will not have to be updated unless there is a significant change (including but not limited to) residence, marital status, criminal history, financial resources, and/or the addition of one or more children, other dependents, or adult family members to the family prior to the orphan’s immigration into the United States.

Living Accommodations

The home study must include:

A detailed description of the current living accommodations and if moving, the intended accommodations (if known).
If the prospective parent(s) reside abroad, a description of the living accommodations where the child will reside in the United States (if known).
An assessment of the suitability of accommodations.
A determination of whether or not the space meets the applicable state requirements (if any).

Specific Approval of the Prospective Adoptive Parent(s) for Adoption

The home study must include:

The home study preparer’s specific approval.

A discussion of the reasons for approval.

The number of orphans that may be adopted.

If there are any specific restrictions such as nationality, age, or gender of the orphan.

If the prospective adoptive parent(s) are approved for a handicapped or a special needs adoption.

The original signature of the preparer/agency completing the recommendation.

Amendments

If at any time there have been any significant changes prior to the child’s arrival, additional information will be requested that includes but is not limited to the following:

The prospective adoptive parent(s) current residence.

The prospective adoptive parent(s) marital status.

Any criminal history or abuse regarding the prospective adoptive parent(s).

The prospective adoptive parent(s) current financial resources.

Any Information regarding the addition of one or more children or other dependents.

Significant Changes

The following information is from the USCIS webpage

If a significant change occurs in your household, you must submit an amended home study that reflects the significant change to the USCIS National Benefits Center (NBC).

Significant changes include, but are not limited to, changes in the following:

Residence of prospective adoptive parent(s)

Marital status

Criminal history, abuse history, or other derogatory information

Financial resources

Additional children, dependents, or adults residing in the household

Characteristics of the child requested

Before approval of your Form I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of an Orphan Petition, or Form I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative:

If the significant change occurs while your Form I-600A is pending (or your Form I-600, if you did not file a separate Form I-600A), you should submit your amended home study to the NBC. Include a cover letter indicating that the amended home study is being submitted to address the change.

Remember to sign your cover letter and be sure your home study preparer signs your amended home study.

After approval of your Form I-600A or Form I-600:

If the significant change (other than a change in marital status) occurs after approval of your Form I-600A, submit the amended home study to the NBC. Include a written request for an updated approval notice. If USCIS concludes that approval of the Form I-600A remains appropriate, you will receive an updated Form I-171H or Form I-797 approval notice that reflects any changes.

If you did not submit a separate Form I-600A, submit the amended home study and written request to the NBC. Remember to sign your cover letter and be sure your home study preparer signs your amended home study.

If the significant change that occurs after approval of the Form I-600A or Form I-600 is a change in marital status, you cannot submit a request for an updated approval notice. You must instead submit a new Form I-600A, with a new filing fee, along with the amended home study. If you are married, your spouse must also sign the new Form I-600A.

Amended Home Study

When submitting an amended home study it must include:

A copy of the previously submitted home study

A new fully completed home study addressing the change(s)

*Addendums are not acceptable.

http://adoption.state.gov/news/nepal_changes_homestudy_reporting.html#

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

New regulatory panel in place (The Himalayan Times)

2011-02-02T12:39:00.001-05:00

New regulatory panel in place

The Himalayan Times

2011-02-01

KATHMANDU: The Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW) formed a nine-member inter-country adoption committee with the objective of regulating adoptions by foreigners.

Sher Jung Karki, under secretary at the ministry said the committee’s job was to make the adoption process transparent and to handle it through an autonomous semi-government body. Prior to this, there was a recommendation committee comprising only stakeholders from government offices.

The present four-member committee has a president, counsellor and activists.

Karki said the committee would work to amend the existing adoption law to make it compatible with the present time. He said the committee would help control irregularities and maintain transparency in documents.

The committee was formed after countries regularly adopting 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 and use of fake documents and false statements about children’s origin and other related information. European nations, particularly Italy, France, Spain and the US are major recipients of adopted children from Nepal.

Despite the accusations, these countries have still not been able to produce a single proof of fake documents related to inter-country adoption from Nepal, said Karki.

He further added that the new committee also has the authority to probe whether documents are authentic and recommend the family matching process.

A fund has also been established within the committee to promote and protect orphanage homes and orphans from the money that the government collects as revenue from prospective parents, informed Karki.

Children homes reportedly collect US$ 5,000 for each child on completion of the adoption process, whereas prospective parents have to pay US$ 3,000 as revenue to the government.

The Himalayan Times:

http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=New+regulatory+panel+in+place&NewsID=274783

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

PEAR Adoption Information - Nepal

Great expectations gone awry (Republica)

DOS Adoption Notice - Nepal Relinquishment Cases

PEAR Website Announcement

Govt opens applications for inter-country adoption (Republica)

Reforms made by the Government of Nepal on Inter-country adoption system (MOWCSW)

Submission of Application regarding the Inter Country Adoption (MOWCSW)

A Nepalese child trafficker issues death threats (video)

Dal Bahadur Phadera & the suppressed UNICEF report

Lost and found (The Kathmandu Post)

Lt. Col. Philip Holmes explains why his charity rescued Nepali girls from the Michael Job Centre (video)

Are They Orphans? (The American Prospect)

46 more children with parents identified in Sulur orphanage (The Times of India)

Duelling videos -- Humla trafficker Dal Bahadur Phadera

Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare -- notices

'Orphan' girls rescued from TN (Hindustan Times)

The Indian preacher and the fake orphan scandal (Daily Telegraph)

Protecting children from abuser-volunteers (IRIN)

Paper Orphans documentary posted on the web

Swiss National Radio on Nepali adoptions (English translation)

Long journey home (Nepali Times)

Cashing it big on children (Nepali Times)

Disabled kids to get priority in adoption (The Himalayan Times)

Renewal of Foreign Organizations or Agencies (MOWCSW notice)

Bal Mandir stops taking new children (Republica)

Nepal comes to terms with foreign adoptions tragedy (BBC)

A far-away rescue (Nepali Times)

Nepal: Children for sale (Al Jazeera)

The Children Left Behind (The Pulitzer Center)

The Children Left Behind

Better Sit By the River Than Be a Bird of Cage (Terre des hommes)

A trafficker remains scot-free (The Kathmandu Post)

Children trapped between supply and demand (Nepali Times)

U.S. Still Suspects Fraud In Nepalese Orphanages (NPR)

Child adoption process to become more credible (The Himalayan Times)

Left in limbo: Nepalese adoptions halted (PBS)

Commissione per le Adozioni Internazionali (Italy)

Preparation to amend laws on children (The Himalayan Times)

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

Some background to the TDH/Image Ark documentary Paper Orphans

Orphanage Operator Held (Republica)

Twenty Children Rescued from Mukti Nepal

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

Exclusive State Department internal cablesfrom Freedom of Information Act requests

Govt. mulling to amend in adoption provision again (Review Nepal)

West not impressed by changes in adoption process (Republica)

US bar on Nepali kids' adoption to stay (Kantipur)

US Asst Secy Arrives Nepal To Discuss Inter-country Adoption (Republica)

Nepal: Corruption and Fraudulent Documents Set Hurdles for Adoption (The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting)

Nobody’s child (The Himalayan Times)

DOS: Changes that Require an Amended Home Study Report

New regulatory panel in place (The Himalayan Times)

Exclusive State Department internal cables
from Freedom of Information Act requests