Adoption - special restrictions: list of countries

Nepal

Title of order: The Special Restrictions on Adoptions from Nepal (Scotland) Order 2010
Date order in force: 3 May 2010

The Order places on a statutory footing the suspension of adoptions from Nepal that is currently in place.

UNICEF and Terre des Hommes joined forces in 2007 to collect information on intercountry adoptions in Nepal, following changes in Nepal to resolve serious issues of malpractice and the introduction of a new adoption Act. Their findings were published in 2008 and were intended to assist Nepal in improving its procedures and legal framework.

The Hague Bureau undertook a Technical Assistance mission to Nepal, which investigated whether the recommendations of UNICEF had been implemented and the issues raised addressed prior to Nepal acceding to the Hague Convention. The report, published in February 2010, is highly critical and found that most of the problems identified by UNICEF in 2008 had not been resolved. The most serious concerns include:

• the failure to adhere to the key principles of Article 21 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, such as the complete absence of the principle of best interests of the child
• a lack of procedures to establish if a child is adoptable
• no procedures to find a permanent placement for the child in Nepal
• no support for birth parents about the legal effects of relinquishing their child for adoption

Other concerns include

• an inadequate legal framework (despite recent legislation)
• falsification of documents
• lack of transparency and accountability for the money brought into Nepal from intercountry adoptions.

The Scottish Ministers are of the view that, because of practices taking place in Nepal, it would be contrary to public policy to further the bringing of children into the United Kingdom from Nepal as specified in section 62(1) of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007.