DR Congo approves about 70 int'l adoptions: Belgian FM

The Democratic Republic of Congo has agreed to lift its suspension on international adoptions for "about 70" families, including all 11 cases in Belgium, the Belgian foreign affairs minister told local media on Tuesday.

Belgian public broadcaster RTBF reports that Belgian families have been waiting two years to be united with the Congolese orphans they adopted, after the central African nation's president Joseph Kabila ordered in September 2013 that exit permits for adopted children should be suspended.

Belgian foreign affairs minister Didier Reynders told RTBF: "We have received confirmation from the Congolese justice ministry that the children can come to Belgium."

He said that "about 70" cases involving adoptive families from several countries had been resolved. Some of the 11 children due to head to Belgium will arrive in Brussels later this week.

Reynders said the Belgian embassy in Congo was in the process of organizing the children's journey to Brussels and he would be meeting the parents on Nov. 4.

The minister thanked the Congolese authorities "who have finally allowed the children to arrive in Belgium, where their families are eagerly awaiting them."

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