Adoption Council of Canada/ Conseil d'Adoption du Canada

GOVERNMENT STANCE ON HELPING TSUNAMI ORPHANS

(Jan. 10, 2005) Authorities have responded to the many queries from the public on how Canadians can help children affected by the Asian tsunami disaster. Here are some of the positions taken by the federal and provincial governments, and non-governmental organizations.

FEDERAL - CIC

The following summary of the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) position is drawn from "Sponsoring or Adopting a Child Affected by the Tsunami Disaster - January 7, 2005", at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/tsunami.

Sponsoring

The immediate focus for the government of Canada is reuniting children with their parents or extended families within the affected countries. However, immigration law allows Canadian citizens and permanent residents to sponsor their brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews and grandchildren, who are orphaned and under 18, to come to Canada as family members. This provision does not involve adoption, but is based solely on the child’s status as an orphan with a close family member in Canada.

CIC has put in place special immigration measures to help reunite close family members of Canadian citizens and permanent residents who have been affected by the tsunami disaster. For more information on the CIC measures, email tsunami@cic.gc.ca or call toll-free 1-800-457-5035 (in Canada only).

Adopting

The first priority is to reunite children with family inside the country affected by the tsunami disaster.
Adoption can proceed only when children have been identified as orphans who are legally available for intercountry adoption. It will take the countries most affected by the tsunami some time to determine which children may be adopted.
Any adoption from abroad must meet international standards for intercountry adoptions. The provinces are responsible for the process of adoption, e.g. conducting a home study of the adopted parent is conducted, and ensuring that the child is available for adoption and the adoption follows the laws of the child’s country. Once an adoption is approved by the province, CIC processes the immigration application if satisfied that all immigration regulations have been met and there is no evidence of child trafficking.
Canadians thinking of adopting a child may wish to consider whether it would be better to give financial aid to agencies working to provide the basic necessities of life and to reunite children with their families.

FEDERAL - IAS

Inter-country Adoption Services (IAS), located in the federal government's Department of Social Development, is Canada’s federal central authority in adoptions. IAS has posted its position statement at http://www.sdc.gc.ca/en/hip/sd/08_interAdopt.shtml. The main points:

Before intercountry adoptions can take place the affected countries must determine which children are orphans with no possibility of being cared for in their country of residence. Relatives often come forward to care for orphaned children within the extended family.
Accepted international practice is to try to find a home for orphaned children in their own country before uprooting them to a foreign country and culture. UNICEF is starting to coordinate with non-governmental organizations and government authorities to develop systems to identify children and reunite them with parents and other relatives.
Should any country decide that intercountry adoption is in the best interest of children from the tsunami-stricken areas, then once the children are legally available for adoption IAS will work closely with the country to arrange the adoptions as quickly as possible.

PROVINCIAL - B.C.

The British Columbia Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCF) has posted its fact sheet "Tsunami Disaster in Asia" at http://www.mcf.gov.bc.ca/adoption/alerts_fact_sheets/asiatsunami.htm. It echoes the IAS approach to adopting tsunami orphans and adds:

"This approach is consistent with the principles and guidelines of:
* the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption and
* the Office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees’ Policy On Adoption of Refugee Children.

"The federal government and all provincial/territorial governments are working together so that each province/territory has measures in place to accept children orphaned by the disaster once they are legally available for adoption. Canada will then continue to work closely with the countries involved, within the parameters of each country’s legislation and policies, to arrange the adoptions as efficiently as possible. This will be done in accordance with all established intercountry policies and relevant laws."

PROVINCIAL - QUEBEC

Quebec's Secrétariat à l'adoption internationale has posted its response, in French, at "Adoption des enfants victimes du tsunami en Asie", http://www.adoption.gouv.qc.ca/fr. It reiterates the need to reunite children separated from their families. It could take up to one or two years to clarify the status of each child. People are invited to contribute financially to the various groups working to help the affected countries.

ADOPTION COUNCIL OF CANADA

The position of the Adoption Council of Canada on adopting children orphaned by the Asian tsunami disaster is available at http://www.adoption.ca/news/050107tsunami.htm.

Canadians should not forget that there are thousands of children right here in Canada who need permanent homes. To find out more about adopting in Canada, consult Canada's only national photolisting web site, "Canada's Waiting Kids", run by the Adoption Council of Canada. It shows photos and profiles of children in the care of Canadian child welfare agencies and waiting for permanent adoptive families.
For a description of how the web site works, see "Canada's Waiting Children Program Finds Permanent Homes For Kids."

ABOUT ACC

Based in Ottawa, the Adoption Council of Canada is a federally chartered, charitable organization which aims to inform and educate Canadians about all aspects of adoption, and encourage the adoption of children needing permanent homes.

One of ACC's long-standing goals has been to recruit adoptive families for waiting children across Canada. In 1997, six years after becoming incorporated, ACC earned its first grant from the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption (www.davethomasfoundation.org) and Wendy's Restaurants of Canada, which made the Canada's Waiting Children program (and the "Canada's Waiting Kids" web site) possible. Thanks to their ongoing support, ACC has been able to devote considerably more time and effort to finding families for Canadian children without a permanent home.

For definitions of adoption terms, go to http://www.adoption.ca and click "Glossary".

Source: Adoption Council of Canada, www.adoption.ca

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phone: 613-235-0344. e-mail: acc@adoption.ca