Haiti Presidential Decree to Tighten International Adoptions

Haiti Presidential Decree to Tighten International Adoptions

PRESIDENT MICHEL MARTELLY [FILE]

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - President Michel Martelly will issue a decree to make law the adoption of Haitian children subject to institutional processes.

The law had begun forming during the Preval administration and has passed a vote in the Chamber of Deputies but is awaiting passage in the Senate.

As the nation is awaiting the ratification of a prime minister, the vote in the Senate is postponed. The President, believing no time can be wasted on the matter, will enact the decree in the meantime.

"While waiting for a vote on this law, a delay I hope will be as short as possible, I intend to issue a presidential decree making it obligatory for adoption applications to go through authorized organisms, as the Hague Convention outlines," Martelly was quoted.

The measure will effectively ban private adoptions, the President concluded.