Families Across Borders | law, policy, news and views
U.S. Suspends Some Adoptions from Nepal
After issuing warnings earlier this year, the U.S. government has announced a suspension of processing for new adoption cases from Nepal involving children claimed to have been found abandoned, because “a review of recently processed cases established a disturbing pattern indicating that available documentation cannot be relied upon,” and circumstances of alleged abandonment cannot be verified. Further [...]
State Department Issues 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report
Last week, the State Department issued its tenth annual Trafficking in Persons Report under the Trafficking Victim Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA). The TVPA defines “severe forms of trafficking” as either sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion (or in which the person induced to perform such an act [...]
2010 Hague Compliance Report
The State Department’s Office of Children’s Issues has published and posted its 2010 Report on Compliance with the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction for the period from October 1, 2008 to septemnber 30, 2009. According to the Report: During FY 2009, the USCA received 1,135 new requests for assistance in the [...]
International Judicial Conference on Family Relocation
Meeting in Washington D.C. last week, an international group of judges, Central Authority representatives and academics from 14 countries discussed approaches to cross-border family relocation and agreed to a set of principles known as the “Washington Declaration on International Family Relocation.” The meeting was sponsored by the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children and the Hague [...]
Adoption in Haiti
In response to the recent earthquake in Haiti, the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department have implemented a special process to assist prospective adoptive parents with pending adoption cases in Haiti. The Humanitarian Parole policy is described in detail in this Fact Sheet issued by DHS. The policy applies only to children who [...]
Snatchback?
The November issue of Atlantic Monthly: “The Snatchback” by Nadya Labi follows the efforts of a Florida man to re-abduct a 9-year-old boy from Costa Rica after the child was retained there by his biological father. Labi’s long story focuses mostly on the custody dispute and the man hired to carry out the snatching, but she [...]
Adoption Notices: Kenya and Ethiopia
The State Department periodically issues notices to inform agencies and prospective adoptive parents about on-the-ground developments in particular countries. A notice last week concerning adoptions in Ethiopia reminds adoptive parents “that before an immigrant visa may be issued to an adopted child, a U.S. consular officer must ensure that the adoption is legal under Ethiopian law [...]
State Department ACPIL Meeting
The annual meeting of the State Department’s Advisory Committee on Private International Law (ACPIL), held in Washington D.C. this week, included a panel on international family law issues. The discussion included: An update on the Child Support Convention, which is the first treaty to be taken up by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during this session of [...]
