Us Department of State: Vietnam Adoption Alert

Adoption Alert

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Bureau of Consular Affairs

Office of Children’s Issues

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

October 1, 2008

[excerpt related to trafficking - complete article in attachment]

The United States Embassy in Hanoi has confirmed with the Government of Vietnam that local officials have been arrested and charged with creating fraudulent documentation and trafficking in children. Vietnamese media has reported 24 arrests in the provinces of Dong Thap, Ha Tay, Hoa Binh, Nam Dinh, Ninh Binh, and Vung Tau. We do not have official confirmation of many of the details reported by the media. Further, it appears unlikely that specific case details will be officially released or confirmed until the Vietnamese investigation has been completed or further action is taken in accordance with Vietnamese law.

Provincial Officials have confirmed that these cases occurred at orphanages from which foreign nationals have adopted children and that their investigations may involve cases of children who were or are pending international adoption. In one instance local authorities have placed a hold on a pending adoption and requested that the U.S. Embassy suspend processing of that case until their investigation is completed. The Embassy has notified the Prospective Adoptive Parent in this case. At present, the Embassy has no information linking these arrests to any other specific intercountry adoption cases. However, the Government of Vietnam has told us that these investigations are on-going and that, depending on the results of these investigations, they may request the suspension of other adoption cases. At this time, it would be inappropriate to speculate on the outcome of these cases or the possible impact on intercountry adoption cases currently in process with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service or the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy.