Vietnam’s Ministry of Health has just sent a dispatch on child adoption and infant trafficking prevention to stop profiteering cases. The ministry said it is aware of a number of rings that nominally adopt children but in fact traffic newborns, causing instability and unsafety for the society. Staff in medical facilities and hospitals are suspected to aid and abet the ring.
Overseas Vietnamese being the natural aunt of a child permanently residing in Vietnam may adopt that child in accordance with regulations on inter-country adoption of specific children. Photo: Internet
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Besides, the ministry asks to improve professional process and regulations on service management, official and employee supervision to ensure legal provisions.
In case babies are abandoned at health facilities, medical staff need to notify and hand over the babies to child protection agencies in accordance with the law. The medical staff are requested to work closely with authorities to detect and prevent infant trafficking.
Over the past years, Vietnam has greatly protected children’s rights and maximized social welfare for those disadvantaged adolescents through the Inter-country Adoption Service.
According to the French Institute’s data, Vietnam is home to roughly 1.4 million children living in extremely poor conditions, including 176,000 orphans and abandoned. Some 22,000 children are currently living in social protection shelters.
Vietnam is the first country of origin in terms of adoption for France. Meanwhile, the UNICEF’s work in Vietnam focuses on building and strengthening the child protection system, working with governmental partners, UN agencies, and civil society to ensure that a robust legal and policy framework is in place for the protection of children and to build capacity of the social welfare, justice and law enforcement sectors.
Former US Ambassador Ted Osius to Vietnam praised Vietnam’s efforts to enhance its child welfare system and develop a transparent and ethical inter-country adoption process under the Hague Convention.
