East Africa: EALA Locks Out Foreigners From Child Adoption

East Africa: EALA Locks Out Foreigners From Child Adoption

22 August 2015

By Dicta Asiimwe

Members of the East African Legislative Assembly, who are currently sitting in Kampala, want EAC partner states to abolish international child adoption to stop the likelihood of children falling into the hands of traffickers.

EALA on August 19 passed a general purpose report on the rights of the child, which wants EAC partner states -- Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Burundi -- to change their laws to restrict adoption of children to their nationals only.

Only Rwanda prohibits non-nationals from adopting children.

Valerie Nyirahabineza, a former Rwandan minister in charge of family and women promotion, made the proposal to ban international child adoptions in the EAC.

The Rwandan government banned international adoptions, during Ms Nyirahabineza's tenure as minister between 2003 and 2008, when it was discovered that four Norwegian men, who approached her looking to adopt 400 children, had a contract with hospitals that would then sell children to interested parents.