KATHMANDU (AFP) — Nepal needs stricter regulations for foreigners wishing to adopt children from the impoverished country, the UN said Friday.
International adoptions were suspended in June 2007 after reports of widespread corruption and middlemen charging prospective parents up to 20,000 dollars, in a country where the annual per capita income is 350 dollars.
"An industry has grown up around adoption in which profit rather than the best interests of the child takes centre stage," said Gillian Mellsop, the country director for UNICEF at the launch of a report.
The 62-page report found "abuse such as the sale, abduction and trafficking of children is taking place."
Many of the centres where around 12,000 abandoned or orphaned children are placed for adoption provided inadequate care and protection, the report said.
In addition, most of the children questioned over the six-month research period had relatives who they could live with instead of being put up for adoption.
In May, Nepal's government announced new rules for international adoption, but they do not go far enough, said Marlene Hofstetter, from child rights group Terre Des Hommes, which jointly produced the report with UNICEF.
"Even these these new terms and conditions can be circumvented. The whole process needs to be controlled from the government from the very beginning," she said.
Government figures show 2,201 children have been adopted by foreigners in the past seven years.
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