Not a single foreign couple came forward for inter-country adoption in 2011 after the government announced submission of applications from interested foreign parents. [break]
The Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MWCSW) published a notice on November 17, 2011, giving three months to the interested parents to file application through concerned embassies, diplomatic missions and international adoption agencies for the first time after suspending inter-country adoption in 2009.
"But no application was received within the stipulated time. We extended the application period by another 60 days on February 16," an official at the ministry said. The ministry said the application of the Japanese couple was received through Japanese embassy during the extended period.
The ministry prepared a list of eligible children for inter-country adoption before it announced application from the interested parents. There are 252 children living in various orphanages who are eligible for adoption, according to the ministry. The ministry´s list of children eligible for inter country adoption include children formally abandoned by their families.
More than 500 applications were received each year before the ministry suspended the inter-country adoption following reports of rampant irregularities in the process. Some European countries including the US had also indefinitely suspended adoption of Nepalese children after the irregularities in the process came to light. According to the ministry, the US and some European countries suspended adoption at the request of Hague.
Legal officer of the ministry, Sher Jung Karki said that Nepal government cannot ratify all of the provisions under Hague Convention immediately. "The government has lots of other priorities," officer Karki said.
"Around hundred children are adopted by foreign couple in a year. Our policy is to promote internal adoption not inter-country adoption, so we are not obliged to fulfill all the demand of Hague," he added.
He claimed that the ministry has already adopted measures to check irregularities in the adoption process. The ministry has banned prospective foreign parents to approach children or their families directly.
They now have to apply through registered adoption agencies and submit documents showing approval of their respective countries the internet. The government had also fixed a fee of US $8,000 for foreign couples interested in adopting a Nepali child.
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