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300 infants illegally put up for adoption
Wed, 2008-07-16 23:08 - Niels
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from: vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn
July 15, 2008
NAM DINH — Around 300 under five-year-olds have allegedly been falsely put up for adoption abroad in the northern province of Nam Dinh since 2006, provincial police reported.
The heads of two communal healthcare centres were arrested last month under suspicion of forging State adoption documents and of making up bogus histories for the infants, said Nam Dinh Investigative Police Department.
Tran Ngoc Lam, who lives in Nam Dinh City, allegedly picked up abandoned children in the province and took them to healthcare centres in Yen Tien and Yen Luong communes. The centres’ directors, Vu Dinh Loi and Truong Cong Lich, allegedly forged fake birth certificates for the children so they could be put up for adoption.
The children were then sent to centres for disabled children in Y Yen and Truc Ninh districts.
It is believed Y Yen’s Centre for Disabled Children, which was established two years ago and which has a seasonal nursing staff of just four, had, by June 21, sold 100 infants to foreign child adoption organisations.
Meanwhile, Truc Ninh’s Social Protection Centre, which was established in early 2005, has allegedly put 221 infants illegally up for foreign adoption.
According to Nam Dinh’s Department for Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, inspectors found five heavily pregnant women staying at the centre when it was raided.
The investigation was launched following an anonymous letter that claimed the centres were engaged in child trafficking. There had also been rumours circulating among local residents that the centres were selling babies abroad.
The Department’s Child Care and Protection Division reported that they had found 11 infants, aged two to five months, at the Y Yen centre. They are now been taken care of at the provincial Social Protection Centre.
Nam Dinh Investigation Police Department was also looking into the case, said department director Nguyen Ngoc Kha. — VNS
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Justice chief responds to alleged wrongdoing in local adoptions
from: vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn
July, 16 2008
After the news that around 300 children have been put up illegally in Nam Dinh Province for adoption abroad, Vietnam News Agency spoke to director of the provincial Department of Justice Le Cao Tuyen.
Can you brief our readers on the recent adoption situation in Nam Dinh Province?
Since 2006, there have been 254 children in the province put up for adoption. All of them networked through centres for disabled children in Nam Dinh City, Y Yen and Truc Ninh districts. Of those, 253 of them were from two centres in two districts. The adoptive parents were from France, Italy and the US.
The provincial Department of Justice helps with administrative procedures by receiving applications and transferring them to the above centres.
We then fill out all necessary documents for submission to provincial authorities and the Ministry of Justice. Finally, we organise the exchange between the centres and the adopters.
Local police examine children’s origins and review residential registers. The final approval for adoption eligibility is signed by the chairman or deputy chairman of the provincial People’s Committee.
The Centre for Disabled Children in Truc Ninh District has been operating since February of 2005. Why doesn’t the Department of Justice have the centre’s adoption statistics for the 2005-06 period?
We didn’t compile statistics because there were too few cases.
Police investigations show that the two centres in Truc Ninh and Y Yen districts forged adoption certificates for the children. What do you think about this as the leader of the provincial justice sector?
The justice sector has a responsibility to work with relevant sectors to organise adoption abroad. In this case, we have followed all legal procedures based on Government decrees. If we make a mistake, we will accept punishment.
All the documents and certificates for children are under the management and examination of the centres and the police.
The justice sector only takes responsibility for receiving adoption applications. We don’t examine the documents.
Does that mean the Department of Justice just acts as a transition agency for adoption abroad?
No. We are directly involved in the administrative process and consult with the provincial People’s Committee about policies and procedures related to foreign adoption.
So who will take the responsibility for wrongdoing?
I just want to stress that we have strictly followed all legal procedures. As of now, I cannot respond to any accusations. We should wait for the police investigation.
What do you think about claims that bribes were issued during the adoption process?
I am sure that there has been no bribery during the administrative procedures at the Department of Justice. The fee for the process is set at VND2 million (US$117), as per regulation. Eighty per cent of the money goes to taxes. The remainder is used for processing documents and organising meetings. — VNS
Adoption gang members held
from: vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn
July 25, 2008
NAM DINH — Nam Dinh Police have arrested two more suspects for their alleged involvement in an illegal adoption ring, according to Nguyen Ngoc Kha from the provincial Investigation Police Department.
Vu Dinh Khan, director of Truc Ninh District’s Social Protection Centre and head of Viet Hung Commune’s healthcare centre, and his son, Vu Van Kiem, an accountant at Khan’s social protection centre, are suspected of having forged State adoption documents.
The father and son allegedly picked up 242 children, mostly infants of unknown origin, from throughout the province and took them to Truc Ninh’s Social Protection Centre since its establishment in February 2005.
Khan allegedly co-operated with some directors of other communal healthcare centres in the district to forge documents identifying the children’s origins before putting 221 of them up for adoption abroad.
Nam Dinh Police arrested three other suspects in relation to the case last month, including Tran Trong Lam, a Nam Dinh City resident, Vu Dinh Loi from Yen Tien Commune’s healthcare centre in Y Yen District, and Truong Cong Lich from Yen Luong Commune’s healthcare centre in Y Yen District.
Kha said the case was under further investigation and more suspects could be arrested.
Some 100 children under 5 years old have allegedly been illegally put up for adoption abroad since 2006. The northern province is situated about 90km south of Ha Noi. — VNS