2 September 2015
ACT received through the grapevine a serious Adoption Lobby Alert. We share it here, as it is seems to be a critical time in Uganda. Adoption agencies are throwing money around to try and keep the business going.
From a trusted source:
Reports out of Uganda are indicating that the US Embassy have recently sacked local staff for being involved in unethical practices in relation to international adoptions and visa fraud. Sadly the US Embassy are not being open about what exactly these fraudulent activities are.
This comes at a time when adoption agencies are lobbying Ugandan MPs and judges, even paying for them to visit countries such as the USA and Belgium, in order to convince them to block the proposed amendments to the children’s act which would essentially close a loophole that allows children to be trafficked for purposed of adoption.
Child rights activists in Uganda are being targeted by adoption agency funded ‘middlemen’ and some have had to increase security in fear of their own safety.
Reports out of Uganda by multiple news agencies over the last 5 years have shown an increase in the fees being charged by adoption agencies and the level of corruption and fraud to remove children from their communities to be adopted abroad skyrocketed.
The amendments to the children’s act proposed a great deal of improvements to the rights of children and the processes surrounding children outside of parental care ensuring that children can be cared for in line with UNCRC principles and stops illegal trafficking of children. Additionally it abolishes corporal punishment in all educational facilities and abolishes the death penalty for minors.
Sadly, if adoption agencies and their money have their way the children of Uganda will not access the rights they deserve and the current system of removing children, most of whom have relatives and all of whom could have a solution within Uganda, will continue and plunge Uganda into mass abuses previously seen in Haiti, Guatemala and Ethiopia.
We call upon the Government of Uganda to immediately pass the Children’s Act revisions and allow Uganda and Ugandan laws to dictate local solutions for children, not foreign adoption agencies.
UNICEF REPORT:
SCOOP! One really wonders why such reports are not made available.
Central Authorities and prospective parents should be able to be able to take informed decisions. How to do that when such reports remain in the dark…
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ADOPTION LOBBY ALERT is an initiative of Against Child Trafficking. We are closely monitoring the Adoption Industry.
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