Congo Call for Adoptive Families, Adoption Service Providers, and Adoption Stakeholders to Meet with Democratic Republic of the Congo Authorities UPDATED
Dos announced this notice on April 7,2014:Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo authorities will be visiting the United States April 16-26, 2014 to meet with U.S. officials regarding the U.S. intercountry adoption process and U.S. social welfare options for adopted children. The visit is designed to address the Congolese authorities’ concerns regarding the welfare of children adopted from the Democratic Republic of Congo by U.S. citizen parents. Addressing these concerns could have a significant impact on Congolese authorities’ perspectives on intercountry adoptions to the United States, and on the future of intercountry adoptions from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the United States.
Invitation to adoptive families: Adoptive parents who have completed adoptions from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and whose Congolese adoptive children are present in the United States, are invited to bring their children to meet with the Congolese delegation on the following dates and times:
Washington, DC: Friday, April 18, 2:45-4:45 p.m.
Minneapolis, MN: Friday, April 25, 3:00-5:00 p.m.
Adoptive families must confirm their participation in advance via email to the Department of State, Office of Children’s Issues at AskCI@state.gov no later than noon ET April 10, 2014. The email should specify (1) which meeting the family will be able to attend, and (2) the names, dates and places of birth, and driver’s license or passport numbers for all family members who will attend the meeting. The email should be titled “RSVP to DRC – Families Meeting.” The Office of Children’s Issues will provide further logistical details directly to participating adoptive families via email by April 11, 2014.
Adoptive families who elect to meet with the Congolese delegation are encouraged to bring photos, and if possible, videos to give to the Congolese officials illustrating the conditions in which their adopted children are residing and how they are adjusting in the United States.
Invitation to ASPs: ASPs who currently offer services in adoptions from the Democratic Republic of the Congo are invited to meet with the Congolese delegation on the following dates and times:
Washington, DC: Monday, April 21, 11:00 a.m. -12:30 p.m.
Minneapolis, MN: Wednesday, April 23, 9:30-11:30 a.m.
ASP representatives must confirm their participation in advance via email to the Department of State, Office of Children’s Issues at AskCI@state.gov no later than noon ET April 10, 2014. The email should specify (1) which meeting the ASP will be able to attend, and (2) the names, dates and places of birth, driver’s license or passport numbers, and email addresses of up to two representatives who would represent the ASP during the meeting. The email should be titled “RSVP to DRC – ASP Meeting.” The Office of Children’s Issues will provide further logistical details directly to participants via email by April 11, 2014.
Invitation to adoption stakeholders: U.S. adoption stakeholders with an interest in intercountry adoptions from the Democratic Republic of the Congo are invited to a meeting with the visiting Congolese delegation. Please note this meeting is for stakeholder organizations and is not open to ASPs. The stakeholder meeting with the delegation will be held in Washington, DC at the following date and time:
Monday, April 21, 2:00-3:30 p.m.
Adoption stakeholders must confirm their participation in advance via email to the Department of State, Office of Children’s Issues at AskCI@state.gov no later than noon ET April 10, 2014. The email should specify (1) which meeting the stakeholder will be able to attend, and (2) the names, dates and places of birth, driver’s license or passport numbers, and email addresses of up to two representatives who will represent the stakeholder organization during the meeting. The email should be titled “RSVP to DRC – Stakeholder Meeting.” The Office of Children’s Issues will provide further logistical details via email directly to participants by April 11, 2014.
Please direct questions related to this notice, or a specific adoption from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the Department of State, Office of Children’s Issues at 1-888-407-4747 within the United States, or 202-501-4444 from outside the United States. Email inquiries may be directed to AskCI@state.gov”
“Democratic Republic of the Congo Authorities Postpone Visits to United StatesOn April 15, 2014, the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) informed the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa that due to unforeseen circumstances, the DRC delegations are unable to participate in two trips to the United States previously scheduled for this month. The MFA explained that this is necessary in order to give the DRC government time to address: (1) the April 14 arrest of a Belgian woman, charged with child smuggling after attempting to bypass the DRC’s exit controls and leave the country with her adopted child; (2) the death of a Congolese dignitary; and (3) the controversial deportation of over 1,000 Congolese from the Republic of Congo over the past week. The Department of State regrets that the delegations are not able to come to the United States as planned and looks forward to receiving proposed new dates for the delegations’ travel.
The Congolese MFA, General Direction of Migration (DGM), Ministry of Social Welfare, and Children’s Court participants were scheduled to visit the United States this month to meet with U.S. federal and state officials regarding the U.S. intercountry adoption process and U.S. child welfare protections for adopted children. The Department of State also arranged meetings with U.S. adoptive families whose Congolese children are already in the United States, U.S. adoption service providers, and U.S. stakeholder organizations. These meetings were designed to address the Congolese authorities’ concerns about the intercountry adoption process and the welfare of children adopted from the DRC by U.S. citizen parents.
Invitation to families to provide photos and videos: The Department of State regrets that the many U.S. adoptive families who were willing to travel to meet with the delegation will no longer be able to demonstrate in person how well their children are faring in their new homes. Adoptive families whose Congolese children are in the United States are welcome to send the Department of State photos and videos on CDs illustrating the conditions in which their adopted children are residing and how they are adjusting in the United States. Adoptive parents are encouraged to send the CDs to the Department of State at the below address by May 9, 2014. The Department of State will then present the CDs to Congolese officials.
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
CA/OCS/CI – SA-17, 9th Floor
Washington, DC 20522-1709
U.S. Government engagement: The announcement of the suspension on exit permit issuances for adopted Congolese children was followed by extensive engagement by U.S. government officials, including U.S. Ambassador Swan, with Congolese authorities in a variety of Ministries, including at the highest levels within those ministries. Those conversations were initially very productive and resulted in the DGM agreeing to grandfather some cases, as outlined in the Department of State’s October 23 Adoption Alert. We continue to persistently raise the exit permit suspension in meetings with all Congolese officials who have a role in any part of the Congolese adoption process. The U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa’s staff has also raised the suspension with prominent local NGOs and the embassies of other countries also affected by the suspension. USAID in Kinshasa also continues to engage with Congolese officials and local NGOs on child welfare issues. In addition, the Department of State engaged the DRC’s Ambassador to the United States, which resulted in reversing a Congolese decision to suspend the issuance of visas to U.S. adoptive parents wishing to travel to the DRC.
Senior U.S. government officials both in Washington and at the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa will continue to actively encourage the lifting of the suspension on exit permit issuances so that children may travel to join their families in the United States. The issue of intercountry adoptions is a very sensitive subject for the Congolese people and government. The government has asked all affected countries to give them the time necessary to review its adoption policies and processes following the growing Congolese concerns of fraud, corruption, and child-buying in the adoption process. Given these sensitivities and concerns, Congolese government officials have not responded favorably to perceived foreign coercive pressure. We are aware of families from other receiving countries who were prohibited from remaining in the DRC with their children and who have not been allowed to visit the children after their governments took a more confrontational stance on the issue of adoptions.
This Adoption Notice is the sixth public announcement published on Adoption.State.Gov since the suspension came into effect on September 25, 2013, and the Department of State remains committed to providing continued updates as soon as information becomes available. Please direct questions related to this notice, or a specific adoption from the DRC, to the Department of State, Office of Children’s Issues at 1-888-407-4747 within the United States, or 202-501-4444 from outside the United States. Email inquiries may be directed to AskCI@state.gov.”
Three Articles
“In a letter to the president and prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday, Senator Bob Corker, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, joined congressional leaders in requesting an end to delays in processing the adoptions of 460 Congolese children by American families. The bipartisan letter, signed by more than 170 lawmakers from the Senate and House of Representatives, asks the Congolese government to expedite the process for children with health risks and to issue exit permits for adoptions that were approved prior to September 25, 2013 or were finalized on or after that date.”
Corker Seeks End To Delays In U.S. Adoptions From Democratic Republic of Congo[The Chattanoogan 4/18/14]
“Iowa families in the process of adopting children from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are hopeful their pleas for help are being heard.
Lawmakers believe there are approximately 460 families — at least a dozen of whom are in Iowa — who are in the process of adopting children from the DRC.
Fifty of those families, including the Peat family in Dubuque, have legally finalized the adoptions, but their children are stuck in the DRC after Congolese officials quit issuing exit letters.
The exit letters are required documentation for children leaving the country.
For weeks, families stuck in this international adoption process have called on Secretary of State John Kerry to help bring these children home.
This week, Kerry is headed to Kinshasa, the capital city of the DRC.
While his agenda doesn’t specify if he’ll address the standstill of hundreds of international adoptions between the U.S. and the DRC, a spokeswoman for his office said late Tuesday afternoon that Secretary Kerry will discuss a “number of topics of interest to the people of the United States.”
KWWL obtained a statement issued by Nicole Thompson from the U.S. Department of State late Tuesday afternoon. It reads as follows:
“State Department officials regularly engage their international counterparts on a range of topics, including international adoption. It is expected that during his upcoming diplomatic engagements in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Secretary Kerry will discuss a number of topics of interest to the people of the United States.
“The announcement of the suspension on exit permit issuances for adopted Congolese children was followed by extensive engagement by U.S. government officials, including U.S. Ambassador Swan, with Congolese authorities in a variety of Ministries, including at the highest levels within those ministries. Those conversations were initially very productive and resulted in the Congolese Ministry of Interior and Security, General Direction of Migration(DGM) agreeing to grandfather some cases, as outlined in the Department of State’s October 23 Adoption Alert. We continue to persistently raise the exit permit suspension in meetings with all Congolese officials who have a role in any part of the Congolese adoption process.
“The U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa’s staff has also raised the suspension with prominent local NGOs and the embassies of other countries also affected by the suspension. USAID in Kinshasa also continues to engage with Congolese officials and local NGOs on child welfare issues. In addition, the Department of State engaged the DRC’s Ambassador to the United States, which resulted in reversing a Congolese decision to suspend the issuance of visas to U.S. adoptive parents wishing to travel to the DRC.
“Senior U.S. government officials both in Washington and at the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa will continue to actively encourage the lifting of the suspension on exit permit issuances so that children may travel to join their families in the United States.
“The issue of intercountry adoptions is a very sensitive subject for the Congolese people and government. The government has asked all affected countries to give them the time necessary to review its adoption policies and processes following the growing Congolese concerns of fraud, corruption, and child-buying in the adoption process.
“Given these sensitivities and concerns, Congolese government officials have not responded favorably to perceived foreign coercive pressure. We are aware of families from other receiving countries who were prohibited from remaining in the DRC with their children and who have not been allowed to visit the children after their governments took a more confrontational stance on the issue of adoptions.”
According to an earlier press release from the U.S. Department of State, Kerry will travel to Addis Ababa, Kinshasa and Luanda April 29 – May 5.
Meanwhile, Representative Bruce Braley, who represents the Peat family’s district in Iowa, said he’s encouraging Secretary Kerry to discuss the issue of international adoptions.
“I’ve urged Secretary Kerry to discuss this issue directly with the Congolese government and I’m very hopeful he’ll do exactly that on his upcoming trip,” Braley said. “Families like the Peats that have made the decision to welcome a child into their home deserve a resolution to this heart-breaking situation.””
Jenny Marrs, an unethical PAP, who doesn’t even meet the criteria to adopt a Congolese kid (she has 3 kids already, DRC law allows only TWO for foreign adopters) is bragging that:
1) she got a DGM exit permit for her likely trafficked Congolese girl and
2) paid an ESCORT to bring her to the US!!
http://www.blessingsandraindrops.com/2014/07/he-is-faithful.html
Er… from what I can tell she has TWO other kids, making the total three after this adoption.
Let’s just hope she can cope with a traumatized toddler who’s been torn from her homeland and everyone she knows, and is faced with restarting her language acquisition from scratch. And the reality that the child’s actual personality may not match the fantasies she wove around her photos.
Not to mention that her only-slightly-older biokids may not cope with their dethronement graciously when a flesh-and-blood tantrumming toddler replaces the undemanding photograph as their “new sister”.
Nope — two boys plus ONE biological baby girl:
http://www.blessingsandraindrops.com/2014/06/a-whole-month.html
The Congolese girl will be kid #4!
Thanks for the clarification– I missed that.
I’m not sure where DRC adoption law stands on “getting pregnant after the adoption process began” (and possibly after the adoption was legally approved; they were already waiting on the exit letter when the suspension came down in September 2013).
Either way, that makes this an out-of-birth-order adoption now– with all the risks of a hurting child showing aggression toward the smaller child soaking up the time and attention that little Sylvie should receive to help her bond with her new parents.
The chances of a successful adoption resulting from this placement just nosedived. Poor Sylvie! 🙁