The adoption of Vietnamese orphans by foreigners will only be accepted after all attempts to place them with a local family have failed, says the child adoption bill drafted by the Ministry of Justice.

At a seminar on the bill held in Hanoi on Aug. 21, Nguyen Cong Khanh, vice head of the ministry’s Department for Child Adoption, said this point “absolutely conforms with the principle on giving priority to in-country adoption, which is recognised in international conventions related to children, especially the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect to Inter-country Adoption.”

In addition, it aims to ensure children get the chance to live in their original environment, which most closely meets their needs and their identity.

Prioritising in-country adoption, the bill stipulates that a search for local adoptive families is a compulsory step before accepting foreign ones.

The bill says the in-country search will be conducted consecutively at the communal, provincial and central levels throughout 90 days, replacing the previous regulation, stipulating a search only at the provincial level and for 30 days.

Another new point in the bill states that the legal authority to introduce children for foreign adoption belongs to the Ministry of Justice, instead of nursing establishments as at present.

The point aims to prevent a variety of negative phenomena that have arisen in connection with offering children for foreign adoption, which have occurred in some localities, due to the conflicting functions of local nursing establishments, who have been able to take in orphaned children for care and accept humanitarian aid from foreign organisations and individuals, while at the same time also directly introduce children for foreign adoption.

According to reports from 49 departments of justice nationwide, there were 100 cases where child adoption regulations were violated over five years from 2004-2009.

At the seminar, representatives from departments of justice, police, and labour, war invalids and social affairs from 22 northern provinces contributed their suggestions to complete the bill, which is scheduled to be proposed to the National Assembly at its sixth session in October.

According to the Ministry of Justice, from 2003 to the end of June 2009, Vietnam has had nearly 20,000 children adopted, including 6,000 by foreigners.

Vietnam has signed agreements on child adoption with Italy, France, Denmark, Spain, Switzerland, Canada, Ireland, Sweden, and the US and is preparing to join the 1993 Hague Convention./.