UN experts call for end to illegal intercountry adoptions

A group of UN experts just issued a joint statement declaring that “illegal intercountry adoptions may violate the prohibition of abduction, sale of or trafficking in children and the prohibition of enforced disappearances”, while “urging States to take action to prevent and eradicate such illicit practices”. With regards to the adoptees’ rights to identity, it is worth highlighting that the statement clearly recognises that, when illegal intercountry adoptions occur, “various human rights are violated, including the rights of every child to preserve their identity”, while refering to the consequences that such violations may have for adoptees. CHIP welcomes this joint statement, thanking the UN experts for their recognition of the serious consequences that such practices may have for adoptees’s identity and other rights. It is confident that the work and advocacy undertaken by adoptees has contributed immensely to this recognition, which focuses not only on preventing undue modifications and potential falsifications in intercountry adoptees’ identity but also on promoting the restoration of missing or falsified elements of their identity through a series of pro-active measures.

Source: Joint statement on illegal intercountry adoption, by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Committee on Enforced Disappearances, the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth, Justice and Reparation, the Special Rapporteur on the Sale and Sexual Exploitation of Children, the Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons especially Women and Children, and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.

See: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/09/illegal-intercountry-adoptions-must-be-prevented-and-eliminated-un-experts. Full statement available at: https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/ced/2022-09-29/JointstatementICA_HR_28September2022.pdf.