FOREIGNERS ADOPT SOME 350 BULGARIAN KIDS ANNUALLY

[07] FOREIGNERS ADOPT SOME 350 BULGARIAN KIDS ANNUALLY

Sofia, July 9 (BTA) - Since

the beginning of this year, foreign nationals have filed 172 applications for adoption of Bulgarian children, Ognyan Bakalov, Head of the Justice Ministry's International Legal Cooperation and International Legal Assistance Department, told a news conference. Three hundred and forty-five Bulgarian kids were adopted by foreigners in 1994, and 349 in 1995. A large part of the Bulgarian children adopted by foreigners are not ethnic Bulgarians, and a very big proportion of them have medium or serious handicaps. Mr Bakalov stressed that he can cite a number of cases in which terminally ill children have miraculously recovered when taken abroad. Would-be adopters are mainly from Italy (52 applications this year), France (49 applications) and the US (41 applications). Those countries' legislation and practice of are stable, and if requirements are complied with there are no risks to the future of Bulgarian children, Mr Bakalov said. Bulgarian children are also adopted by citizens of Sweden, Cyprus, Greece, Switzerland and Germany. The procedure for adoption of Bulgarian kids by foreigners is complicated and involves administrative and judicial components. Only children whose adoption in Bulgaria is impossible are available. Once an application is filed, foreigners have to obtain the consent of the head doctor or principal of the institution which has custody of the child. The adopters have to submit the required documents to the Ministry of Health which gives an opinion. If the Minister of Justice grants his consent, the court delivers a determination on adoption.

Mr Bakalov said that adoption is denied in very rare cases. This year there have been ten denials. The court fee which foreign candidate adopters are charged is 160,000 leva (some 800 US dollars). Until recently the fee was 80,000 leva. "It is an open secret that there exists trafficking in people, but we cannot call into question the integrity of foreigners and agencies working in this field, once they follow the legal procedures for adoption," said Mr Bakalov, who has been involved in this sphere for three or four years. Representatives of the Central Service for Organized Crime Control emphasized that there is no evidence of Bulgarian children being smuggled abroad for adoption. They reacted to recent allegations by representatives of SOS- Kinderdorf that children belonging to the minorities are illegally taken out of Bulgaria and offered for adoption abroad.