From The Irish Times:
The chairman and newly appointed chief executive of the Adoption Authority left Ireland at the weekend for a three-day visit to Vietnam to examine the progress made by that country in improving its standards for intercountry adoptions.
Geoffrey Shannon and Elizabeth Canavan will be seeking information on the measures Vietnam intends to take with regard to implementing the Hague Convention on intercountry adoption.
Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald welcomed the visit, and said: “We hope this visit will provide further clarity on the current situation in Vietnam.
Adoptions from Vietnam into Ireland were suspended in January last year, following a report from the United Nation’s International Social Services.
Among the issues raised in the report were: the concern that intercountry adoptions from Vietnam were essentially influenced by foreign demand rather than the needs of “abandoned and orphaned children; the circumstances under which babies become “adoptable were unclear and disturbing; and an “unhealthy relationship existed between mediating agencies and specific residential institutions.
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