Netherlands temporarily halts adoptions from Haiti

Netherlands temporarily halts adoptions from Haiti

THE HAGUE : Dutch State Secretary for Public Safety and Justice Fred Teeven on Monday announced his decision to temporarily halt all adoptions from disaster-struck Haiti.

Haiti is still trying to recover from a powerful 7.0-magnitude earthquake which struck close to Port-au-Prince on January 12, killing more than 230,000 people.

Additionally, large parts of Haiti are trying to cope with a cholera outbreak that has already claimed more than 2,100 lives since October.

Teeven said the reason for the suspension is the current situation in Haiti. "Due to the limited capacity of the Haitian government, a careful adoption process can not be guaranteed at this time," the Dutch government said in a statement.

International adoptions from Haiti have to comply with the laws of the Netherlands but also the so-called Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. This international convention, which went into force in 1995, calls for safeguards to ensure that adoptions take place in the best interest of the child. It also seeks to prevent child trafficking.

"Considering the conflicting reports on the functioning of the authorities and the risk of corruption and child trafficking as indicated in reports by UNICEF and the International Social Service, the State Secretary decided to suspend adoptions," the statement added. It follows similar decisions in France and Belgium.

Shortly after the devastating earthquake in January, the Dutch government decided to allow 109 Haitian foster children into the Netherlands. These children were already in an adoption process.

"On the list of 109 children there were also three missing children who were later found to have been killed along with their Dutch adoptive parents. In addition, at the last moment, the mother of two children decided to keep her children and one child was added," the government explained on Monday. A total of 105 children eventually came to the Netherlands.

In March 2011, a Dutch official delegation will visit Haiti to asses whether the government should reconsider the decision to suspend adoptions. The suspension also means that Haitian children who were currently in an adoption process will not be allowed into the Netherlands.

--BNO News