Wednesday, August 20, 2003

This is what I was working towards, and will say that my work on this issue is half done. Now all that is left is to make sure those responsible are punished severely so others will not even think about committing such crimes in the future. On top of all this, it looks like I have a lifetime of work to get the orphans adopted and the children stuck in children’s homes back to their parents. I know this sounds like an impossible goal, but it’s something I’m committed to do.

CHANGES TO ADOPTION LAW TO BE MADE

YEREVAN, AUGUST 19, ARMENPRESS: Deputy social security minister
Karine Hakobian said an array of amendments to the Law on Adoption is
being now developed to be submitted to government's approval in
autumn. Ms. Hakobian said the current law is very imperfect leaving
room for corruption, especially in adoption of Armenian children by
foreigners.

Under the proposed changes a government body supervising the
process of adoption will have more authority to oversee adoptions and
receive regular information about the state of the adopted children.

Hakobian said that information about the children adopted by
Armenian citizens is usually available, which cannot be said about
foreign adoptions. According to the deputy minister, the supervision
must be based on inter-governmental agreements, as is the case in
many civilized countries.

The changes will exclude the services of middlemen, permitted by
current legislation. "Adoption of a child is a key decision in
parents' life and therefore they must be given time to arrive here to
see the children before adoption. If this is not important for
adoptive parents it would be better not to trust them," she said.

Some recent stories in local media suggested that the process of
adoption by foreigners involve thousands of dollars in bribes paid by
adoptive parents and their agents to Armenian officials administering
the process.

In the first half of this year some 80 children were adopted, of
which 43 by Armenian citizens and 37 by foreigners. In 2002 178
children were adopted, of which 116 by Armenian citizens and 62 by
foreigners.

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