China Steps Up Anti-Trafficking Efforts

“Enhancing the role of orphanages in the adoption process will better protect the rights of children and curb trafficking, Ji Gang, director of the domestic adoption department of the China Center for Children’s Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA), told China Daily.

The draft of the rules, due to be introduced by the end of the year, will force adults to go through official channels and reduce the demand for abducted children, he added.

The Registration Measures for the Adoption of Children by Chinese Citizens has been in place since 1999. It stipulates that a citizen can adopt a child from sources other than an orphanage if the applicant does not have any offspring and meets certain requirements in terms of age, health and financial status.

As a result, children have been adopted through various routes, such as hospitals and friends.

This was a system that allowed certain people to profit from adoptions.

According to the revised rules, to be worked out jointly by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and CCCWA, all abandoned infants and young children should be sent to orphanages for adoption, Ji said.”

Statistics Show Abductions for Childless Couples

“But tackling unregistered adoptions will not be easy as the practice is deep-rooted, especially in poor areas, Ji admitted.

Illegal adoption is prevalent in rural and economically less-developed areas, Ji said, citing a study conducted by CCCWA in 11 regions and municipalities.

The study shows that from 1992 to 2005, about 19,800 children were adopted illegally in Chongqing municipality, while the number of legal adoptions registered with the local civil affairs departments was only 5,100.”

“Chen Shiqu, who heads the anti-trafficking office at the Ministry of Public Security, said that most of the abducted children were sold to childless couples to carry on the family line and guarantee security in old age.

Only a small portion of trafficked children were forced to beg on the streets, Chen said.

Official statistics show that the police have rescued 14,613 abducted children throughout the country since 2009.”
China to tighten adoption measures
[China Daily 8/16/11 by He Dan and Guo Anfei]

“Ji Gang, director of the domestic adoption department of the China Centre for Children’s Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA), an organisation involved in drafting the new rules, said these would be submitted to government this year.

“We are hoping to change legislation so that in the event an abandoned child is discovered, no matter by an organisation or a person, they should immediately report the child to the police,” he told AFP.

“The police will then check the child’s identity and send them to the orphanages. In this way we feel that the child’s rights are more protected.”

Other proposed measures include denying household registration permits — crucial for a Chinese person’s education and employment — to children taken in from dubious sources, in a bid to further deter parents from illegal adoption.”

China considers clampdown on illegal adoptions
[My Sinchew.com 8/16/11]

“On Monday, eight people were convicted of kidnapping or murdering children in five separate cases. In one case, three men who lured children in Xinjiang into their trafficking ring were convicted for beating a young boy into a coma, then throwing him into a river.”

China Steps Up Anti-Child Trafficking Efforts
[Voice of America Blog 8/16/11]

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