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跨国领养儿童在国际上已经有近40年的历史,这种行为本来是个善举,可以使那些没有生育能力的父母得到一个小宝宝,也可以使那些无家可归的孤儿们获得一个温暖的家。但由于领养程序复杂且缺乏有效监管,加上利益的驱使,它往往很容易成为滋生犯罪的土壤——不少人贩趁机从中牟取暴利。2009年5月,英国政府有关机构披露了77名华人儿童被贩卖的消息,引起国内舆论高度关注。为了那些可怜而无辜的孩子,也为了那些充满希冀且富有爱心的准养父母们,国家间应当通力合作,加快规范跨国领养儿童行为,并对领养程序加大监管力度。
MADONNA seems like a person used to2)getting her own way. So the pop star must have been dismayed when a court in 3)Malawi refused to her request to adopt a three-year-old girl, James. The reason was that Madonna had not fulfilled residency requirements. The last time Madonna tried to adopt a Malawian child she met with more success and 4)a heap of criticism.
By 5)plucking David Banda from 6)grinding poverty in Malawi in 2006 she provoked mixed reactions. Some praised the singer for offering a child an escape from a life of misery. Others suggested that the pop queen might have used her wealth and 7)stardom to bypass usual procedures and 8)jump the queue. 9)Detractors also suggested that it was wrong to take David away from his country of birth and his remaining family. The criticisms grew louder when it emerged that David was not, in fact, an orphan.
That circumstance is not particularly uncommon. Children given up for adoption often do have a surviving parent but one who cannot provide adequate care. David’s father was still alive but gave him up to an orphanage where he hoped his offspring would have a better life.
According to 10)UNICEF, the number of families from rich countries wanting to adopt children from poor countries has grown substantially in the past 30 years. Demand is strong, and there is little shortage of children who need additional help. In 2005 UNICEF estimated that there were 132 million children who had lost at least one parent in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Around 13 million of these had lost both parents, although most of them lived with extended family.
But difficulties abound. Parents (or would-be parents) typically want to adopt a healthy, young, orphan, usually a small baby. Older children, or those who suffer11)chronic illnesses, are not in demand. Some countries do have many young orphans. For example in China, after decades of a “one-child” policy that 12)put a great premium on male children, huge numbers of girls are available for adoption. But China makes it difficult to 13)whisk its daughters away. Instead many prospective parents go to countries such as 14)Guatemala or Vietnam, where the adoption process has, in the past at least, been easier.
Governments are understandably uneasy about outsiders removing their citizens. And as demand for children to adopt has grown, so have examples of abuse, including cases of children who have been 15)abducted or parents who have been 16)coerced or bribed. The absence of effective international regulation also allows middlemen to profit from the demand for children to adopt.
17)The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions is intended to regulate international adoptions. It states that these can only go ahead if the parents’ 18)consent, where applicable, has been obtained without any kind of payment or compensation. Costs and expenses can be paid, and a reasonable fee may go to the adoption agency involved, but nothing more. The document is clear: 19)wads of cash may not 20)change hands in return for poor motherless 21)mites.
These rules look fine on paper but are difficult to enforce. Incidents abound of vulnerable children being whisked away with profit in mind rather than their 22)well-being. In 2007, Zoe’s Ark, a French charity, was accused of kidnapping more than 100 children from 23)Chad and 24)Sudan for adoption in France. In 2008, a 25)scam was uncovered in which children in India were kidnapped, given new identities and dispatched to new parents in the West.
The process of adoption is difficult to 26)police. When corruption becomes clear in the adoption process in one country, and agencies are shut down, those involved look around for another country that is not so 27)fussy. The result is that individual countries increasingly toughen their laws on adoption. Ensuring that only legitimate candidates for adoption find their way to the West will be 28)tricky when such powerful human instincts as those of the childless seeking a baby are involved. But getting more countries to sign up to The Hague Convention would probably help.
麦当娜似乎是个习惯于随心所欲的人。所以,面对马拉维法庭拒绝让她领养三岁大的女孩詹姆斯,这位流行巨星一定非常惊愕。法庭拒绝麦当娜的理由是她不符合居留要求。上一次她试图收养一名马拉维孩童比这次要成功,但一大堆批评也随之而来。
对于麦当娜2006年将大卫·班达从马拉维贫苦不堪的生活中拉出来的举动,外界反应不一。一些人称赞这位歌手让一个孩童脱离了苦海。另一些人则说这位流行天后可能利用她的财富和地位,绕过常规程序,插队领养。对她落井下石的那些人还指出,将大卫带离其祖国和仅剩的家人身边是错误的。当大卫并非孤儿的真相被揭露后,批评声更加猛烈。
这种情况并不太罕见。通常,被领养的弃童的确有健在的父母,但他们并没有能力充分照料孩子。大卫的父亲仍然在世,却把他送到了一家孤儿院,期望他的孩子能过上更好的生活。
根据联合国儿童基金会的数据,过去30年来,来自富有国家,想从贫穷国家领养孩子的家庭数量大大增加了。需求很旺盛,而需要额外帮助的儿童也很多。2005年,据联合国儿童基金会估计,在撒哈拉沙漠以南的非洲、亚洲、拉丁美洲和加勒比海地区,共有一亿三千两百万儿童至少失去了双亲中的一位。其中大约有一千三百万孩子父母双亡,尽管他们大多数和亲戚们住在一起。
但领养过程困难重重。养父母(或是准养父母)通常想领养的是一个健康而年幼的孤儿,通常是幼小的婴儿。稍年长的儿童或是患了慢性病的儿童,并不在被领养之列。一些国家的确有许多年幼的孤儿。例如在中国,几十年的独生子女政策下,“重男轻女”的观念甚嚣尘上,因而有大量女孩可供领养。但中国的政策使这些女童们很难被领养。于是,许多准养父母转而前往危地马拉或越南这样的国家,那里的领养程序相对简单些,至少在过去如此。
政府对外来人带走本国公民存有疑虑是可以理解的。何况随着领养儿童需求的增长,有关领养的负面个案也在增多,包括儿童诱拐事件和父母在威逼利诱下放弃孩子等案例。有效的国际法规的缺失也为中间人从孩童领养需求中牟利提供了可乘之机。
《海牙跨国领养公约》旨在规范国际领养。公约规定,凡于适用处,只有获得父母的允许,且不给予他们任何形式的报酬或补偿时,领养才能进行。领养者可以支付费用及开支,相关的领养中介也可以得到一笔合理的酬金,但仅此而已。这份文件清楚地指明:不准用大把的现金去转手买卖失去母亲的可怜小孩。
这些法规光是从字面上看很好,但却很难执行。脆弱的孩子们被迅速送走及领养往往不是出于对他们幸福快乐的考虑,更多的是涉及金钱利益,这样的事件屡见不鲜。2007年,一家名叫“佐伊方舟”的法国慈善机构,被指控以领养之名从乍得和苏丹诱拐了100多名孩子到法国。2008年,一场诱拐印度儿童,赋予其新身份并将他们分派到西方各国的新父母身边的骗局被揭露。
整个领养程序难以监管。当在一个国家里,领养程序中的腐败现象被暴露,相关的代理机构被关闭时,当事人就会去找另外一个领养手续不那么繁琐的国家。结果就是各国有关领养的法规越来越严格。当涉及到那些无子女的人们想要寻找一个婴儿这种强烈的人类本能时,如何确保只有合法的领养人才能成功把孩子带到西方就成了很棘手的问题。不过,让更多的国家签署《海牙跨国领养公约》也许能有所帮助。
MADONNA seems like a person used to2)getting her own way. So the pop star must have been dismayed when a court in 3)Malawi refused to her request to adopt a three-year-old girl, James. The reason was that Madonna had not fulfilled residency requirements. The last time Madonna tried to adopt a Malawian child she met with more success and 4)a heap of criticism.
By 5)plucking David Banda from 6)grinding poverty in Malawi in 2006 she provoked mixed reactions. Some praised the singer for offering a child an escape from a life of misery. Others suggested that the pop queen might have used her wealth and 7)stardom to bypass usual procedures and 8)jump the queue. 9)Detractors also suggested that it was wrong to take David away from his country of birth and his remaining family. The criticisms grew louder when it emerged that David was not, in fact, an orphan.
That circumstance is not particularly uncommon. Children given up for adoption often do have a surviving parent but one who cannot provide adequate care. David’s father was still alive but gave him up to an orphanage where he hoped his offspring would have a better life.
According to 10)UNICEF, the number of families from rich countries wanting to adopt children from poor countries has grown substantially in the past 30 years. Demand is strong, and there is little shortage of children who need additional help. In 2005 UNICEF estimated that there were 132 million children who had lost at least one parent in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Around 13 million of these had lost both parents, although most of them lived with extended family.
But difficulties abound. Parents (or would-be parents) typically want to adopt a healthy, young, orphan, usually a small baby. Older children, or those who suffer11)chronic illnesses, are not in demand. Some countries do have many young orphans. For example in China, after decades of a “one-child” policy that 12)put a great premium on male children, huge numbers of girls are available for adoption. But China makes it difficult to 13)whisk its daughters away. Instead many prospective parents go to countries such as 14)Guatemala or Vietnam, where the adoption process has, in the past at least, been easier.
Governments are understandably uneasy about outsiders removing their citizens. And as demand for children to adopt has grown, so have examples of abuse, including cases of children who have been 15)abducted or parents who have been 16)coerced or bribed. The absence of effective international regulation also allows middlemen to profit from the demand for children to adopt.
17)The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions is intended to regulate international adoptions. It states that these can only go ahead if the parents’ 18)consent, where applicable, has been obtained without any kind of payment or compensation. Costs and expenses can be paid, and a reasonable fee may go to the adoption agency involved, but nothing more. The document is clear: 19)wads of cash may not 20)change hands in return for poor motherless 21)mites.
These rules look fine on paper but are difficult to enforce. Incidents abound of vulnerable children being whisked away with profit in mind rather than their 22)well-being. In 2007, Zoe’s Ark, a French charity, was accused of kidnapping more than 100 children from 23)Chad and 24)Sudan for adoption in France. In 2008, a 25)scam was uncovered in which children in India were kidnapped, given new identities and dispatched to new parents in the West.
The process of adoption is difficult to 26)police. When corruption becomes clear in the adoption process in one country, and agencies are shut down, those involved look around for another country that is not so 27)fussy. The result is that individual countries increasingly toughen their laws on adoption. Ensuring that only legitimate candidates for adoption find their way to the West will be 28)tricky when such powerful human instincts as those of the childless seeking a baby are involved. But getting more countries to sign up to The Hague Convention would probably help.
麦当娜似乎是个习惯于随心所欲的人。所以,面对马拉维法庭拒绝让她领养三岁大的女孩詹姆斯,这位流行巨星一定非常惊愕。法庭拒绝麦当娜的理由是她不符合居留要求。上一次她试图收养一名马拉维孩童比这次要成功,但一大堆批评也随之而来。
对于麦当娜2006年将大卫·班达从马拉维贫苦不堪的生活中拉出来的举动,外界反应不一。一些人称赞这位歌手让一个孩童脱离了苦海。另一些人则说这位流行天后可能利用她的财富和地位,绕过常规程序,插队领养。对她落井下石的那些人还指出,将大卫带离其祖国和仅剩的家人身边是错误的。当大卫并非孤儿的真相被揭露后,批评声更加猛烈。
这种情况并不太罕见。通常,被领养的弃童的确有健在的父母,但他们并没有能力充分照料孩子。大卫的父亲仍然在世,却把他送到了一家孤儿院,期望他的孩子能过上更好的生活。
根据联合国儿童基金会的数据,过去30年来,来自富有国家,想从贫穷国家领养孩子的家庭数量大大增加了。需求很旺盛,而需要额外帮助的儿童也很多。2005年,据联合国儿童基金会估计,在撒哈拉沙漠以南的非洲、亚洲、拉丁美洲和加勒比海地区,共有一亿三千两百万儿童至少失去了双亲中的一位。其中大约有一千三百万孩子父母双亡,尽管他们大多数和亲戚们住在一起。
但领养过程困难重重。养父母(或是准养父母)通常想领养的是一个健康而年幼的孤儿,通常是幼小的婴儿。稍年长的儿童或是患了慢性病的儿童,并不在被领养之列。一些国家的确有许多年幼的孤儿。例如在中国,几十年的独生子女政策下,“重男轻女”的观念甚嚣尘上,因而有大量女孩可供领养。但中国的政策使这些女童们很难被领养。于是,许多准养父母转而前往危地马拉或越南这样的国家,那里的领养程序相对简单些,至少在过去如此。
政府对外来人带走本国公民存有疑虑是可以理解的。何况随着领养儿童需求的增长,有关领养的负面个案也在增多,包括儿童诱拐事件和父母在威逼利诱下放弃孩子等案例。有效的国际法规的缺失也为中间人从孩童领养需求中牟利提供了可乘之机。
《海牙跨国领养公约》旨在规范国际领养。公约规定,凡于适用处,只有获得父母的允许,且不给予他们任何形式的报酬或补偿时,领养才能进行。领养者可以支付费用及开支,相关的领养中介也可以得到一笔合理的酬金,但仅此而已。这份文件清楚地指明:不准用大把的现金去转手买卖失去母亲的可怜小孩。
这些法规光是从字面上看很好,但却很难执行。脆弱的孩子们被迅速送走及领养往往不是出于对他们幸福快乐的考虑,更多的是涉及金钱利益,这样的事件屡见不鲜。2007年,一家名叫“佐伊方舟”的法国慈善机构,被指控以领养之名从乍得和苏丹诱拐了100多名孩子到法国。2008年,一场诱拐印度儿童,赋予其新身份并将他们分派到西方各国的新父母身边的骗局被揭露。
整个领养程序难以监管。当在一个国家里,领养程序中的腐败现象被暴露,相关的代理机构被关闭时,当事人就会去找另外一个领养手续不那么繁琐的国家。结果就是各国有关领养的法规越来越严格。当涉及到那些无子女的人们想要寻找一个婴儿这种强烈的人类本能时,如何确保只有合法的领养人才能成功把孩子带到西方就成了很棘手的问题。不过,让更多的国家签署《海牙跨国领养公约》也许能有所帮助。