Malawi activist expresses concern over Madonna’s adoption application
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Malawi activist expresses concern over Madonna’s adoption application
APA-Lilongwe (Malawi) Malawi’s Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC), a network of 80 locally-based civil rights organisations, has expressed concern regarding the second adoption of a local child by US pop star Madonna, who has submitted her application to adopt three-year old Mercy James, an infant from an orphanage.
HRCC chairperson Undule Mwakasungura told local and international journalists Monday in Lilongwe that Malawi’s laws prohibited international or inter-country adoption of its citizens.
This is due to the fact that if such conduct is left unchecked it could culminate into bigger legal problems, where adoption agencies and institutions could use the same channel to send Malawian children abroad.
\"People like Madonna are using their financial power to override rules and force legitimisation of child abuse in the country,\" he said.
If this practice is left unchecked by government, more celebrities and other families would continue to take the country’s children away under the guise of inter-country adoption, a development which may create loopholes and be prone to child trafficking, he added.
He noted that it was not only the material needs that mattered for the normal upbringing of a child, but that children also need to be taken care of within their natural environment.
Mwakasungura therefore urged government to expedite the process of reviewing the country’s child adoption laws and policies to discourage international adoptions.
APA-Lilongwe (Malawi) Malawi’s Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC), a network of 80 locally-based civil rights organisations, has expressed concern regarding the second adoption of a local child by US pop star Madonna, who has submitted her application to adopt three-year old Mercy James, an infant from an orphanage.
HRCC chairperson Undule Mwakasungura told local and international journalists Monday in Lilongwe that Malawi’s laws prohibited international or inter-country adoption of its citizens.
This is due to the fact that if such conduct is left unchecked it could culminate into bigger legal problems, where adoption agencies and institutions could use the same channel to send Malawian children abroad.
\"People like Madonna are using their financial power to override rules and force legitimisation of child abuse in the country,\" he said.
If this practice is left unchecked by government, more celebrities and other families would continue to take the country’s children away under the guise of inter-country adoption, a development which may create loopholes and be prone to child trafficking, he added.
He noted that it was not only the material needs that mattered for the normal upbringing of a child, but that children also need to be taken care of within their natural environment.
Mwakasungura therefore urged government to expedite the process of reviewing the country’s child adoption laws and policies to discourage international adoptions.
2009 Mar 31