No more adoptions from Vietnam, Kazakhstan is still in the balance
It will be impossible to adopt a child from Vietnam from Flanders. Flanders is stopping cooperation with that country because there are insufficient guarantees that the rights of children eligible for adoption and those of their families are guaranteed.
Flemish Minister of Welfare, Hilde Crevits (CD&V), has confirmed this in the Welfare Committee. The decision comes after a first round of screening of countries of origin for adoption, in which adoptees and adoption services were able to participate. Among the adoptees was Mai Linh Verdonck (27) from Bruges, who was adopted as a baby in Vietnam by a Belgian couple. 'I had to go through a lot of information, it was a complex matter: procedures, financing, legislation. For example, I noticed that Vietnam is not transparent about how they prepare adoptions. They also think that children should only be allowed to have a say from the age of nine. Plus: it is actually illegal to give up your child. Adoptes can ask the government for help if they want to find their origin, but the only answer I got,
To be clear: Verdonck did not have to decide on the final verdict. This was done by the Growing Up agency, in collaboration with the minister. "I had not anticipated that the decision would be so concrete," says the Bruges-Vietnamese. 'It is positive that the interest of the child prevails. Personally, I also found it positive that I was involved for the first time in my life and was allowed to contribute.'
No central database
In the Welfare committee, Bruno Vanobbergen, CEO of the Growing Up Agency, explained how the screening was done in consultation with European organizations, Unicef, the intercountry adoption services and adoptees from the country in question. He said that Vietnam does not have a central database on adopted children: there is insufficient insight into which and how many children have left. There is also no insight into the informed consent that parents can give or the financial transactions.
Growing up already had discussions on Tuesday evening with prospective adoptive parents who were on the list for adoption from Vietnam. The adoption services will look for an alternative together with them.
Four other countries of origin were examined. Cooperation may be continued for Portugal, Colombia and South Africa. Kazakhstan is still turning orange for the time being, which means that a site visit is necessary before a final decision can be made. After all, for the time being there was only very limited contact with the competent authorities in the country. A working visit should provide an answer to the question of whether a long-term cooperation relationship for adoption is possible, according to the Cabinet of Minister Crevits. Despite these doubts, the current cooperation with Kazakhstan will continue in the meantime.
In the coming months, the fifteen other countries of origin with which Flanders currently has an adoption relationship will also be examined. In the second round it is Haiti, India, Bulgaria, the Philippines and Gambia. Cooperation with China and Ghana is on hold.
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