By Vong Sokheng
Phnom Penh Post
Brad Pitt carries adopted Cambodian son Maddox as Angelina Jolie
carries adopted daughter Zahara in Mumbai in 2006. Photograph: Reuters
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday officially announced that a
ban on adoptions to the United States will be lifted on January 1.
In
2001, the US, United Kingdom, Canada, France and Australia suspended
adoption petitions citing the scant regulations in place. Cambodia later
instituted a ban of its own on all foreign adoptions in 2009, passing a
law that placed severe limitations on who was permitted to adopt
in-country.
The announcement came following a meeting between
Secretary of State Long Visalo and Ambassador Susan Jacobs, a US special
adviser for children’s issues, who has been visiting regional nations
this week.
“We made the law according to The Hague Adoption
Convention, and we are thinking about the future of Cambodian children,
as they will be able to receive a good education after being adopted,”
said Visalo. “We are not allowing them to be abandoned.”
A quota
of 100 to 200 children per year will be enforced, said Visalo, with the
aim of preventing the exploitation and trafficking of children, and only
children younger than 8 will be permitted to be adopted.
Visalo declined to comment on whether the ban will be lifted for all countries or only for the US.
Ith
Sam Heng, minister of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation
said that the Cambodian government is still working to establish the
necessary child welfare institutions in order to expand adoptions to
other countries.
Am Sam Ath, a technical supervisor for rights
group Licadho, said that he supported the new policy, but has concerns
over its potential loopholes.
“We have remaining concerns over
the issue of inter-country adoption, because there were many problems in
the past related to exploitation and the trafficking of children,” said
Sam Ath.
To contact the reporter on this story: Vong Sokheng at sokheng.vong@phnompenhpost.com
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