Letter to US Legislators

I'm sorry for the lack of posts about the adoption for those of you who check for updates... it's just that nothing is happening... and there's nothing encouraging to say about the process right now. Below, you'll find a pretty good synopsis of the situation.

The following letter is one composed by our adoption coordinator to our US legislators. We have been given permission to post it and to copy and send it to our representatives in the Congress and Senate. If you have any interest in sending it on our behalf, just to raise awareness of the issue within government offices, we would be grateful.

Here is a link to the contact information for your representatives:
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/




As one of your constituents, I am writing to request that you contact Ruth Lincoln at the State Department and Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield at the US Embassy in Monrovia, Liberia for answers about when Liberian children who were matched with adoptive families before the current moratorium will be allowed to finalize their adoptions and come home to their US families.
In January 2009 during her annual address to the legislature, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf put a halt to all adoption activity in Liberia citing concerns with two adoption agencies and corruption by Liberian officials who were asking for bribes from American families. However, eight months later, little action has been taken by the Liberian government to process adoptions again, and the same officials who were accused of corruption continue to sit on President Sirleaf’s Adoption Committee. Furthermore, to date, the two adoption agencies who were accused of abuses have been cleared, one by the Liberian court system and one by members of President Sirleaf's Adoption Committee. Meanwhile over 25 children who have court decrees of adoption, making them the children of American parents “as if they were born to them,” remain in institutions and foster care in Liberia. In addition, over 75 more children who were matched with American families before the moratorium also continue to wait as President Sirleaf’s unannounced halt left these children and US citizens without recourse.
Adoption service providers as well as adoptive families have been in contact with the US Embassy in Monrovia for advice and assistance as they have waited to bring children home. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield and former Consular Alma Gurski provided little help in these matters. For six months, service providers were told that adoptions would resume as soon as new adoption laws were passed in Liberia. In the spring, the House of Representatives in Liberia did pass a Child Act that contained revised adoption laws. However, the legislation stalled in the Senate while President Sirleaf and her Adoption Committee decided to ratify the Hague. While ratification of the Hague is a worthy goal, it is a process that took fourteen years (1994-2008) for the US to accomplish. The Liberian children who were matched with US adoptive families before this moratorium cannot wait for a process that could take decades in a developing country.
Adoption service providers have continually warned the US and Liberian governments in meetings and through the Liberian media that the consequences of delaying action on this issue would be tragic for the American families and Liberian children involved. Eight months into this halt we have lost three children to death who desperately needed medical attention. This medical attention was blocked by the Liberian Ministry of Health in one of these cases. The basic human rights that these children have to survive and be raised in a family, rights that are outlined by the Hague Convention and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, are being violated. The United States cannot stand by and allow such violations when it enjoys a close partnership with Liberia.
In a recent speech by Secretary Clinton, she said:
“Whether in Latin America or Lebanon, Iran or Liberia, those who are inspired by democracy, who understand that democracy is about more than just elections – that it must also protect minority rights and press freedom, develop strong, competent and independent judiciaries, legislatures and executive agencies, and commit for democracy to deliver results – these are the people who will find that Americans are their friends, not adversaries. As President Obama made clear last week in Ghana, this Administration will stand for accountable and transparent governance, and support those who work to build democratic institutions wherever they live.”
As seen in the way the adoption issue has been handled, Liberia has not yet taken the necessary steps to become an accountable or transparent government. I encourage you to keep this in mind as a legislator who is responsible for voting on millions of dollars in aid to Liberia each year.
In addition, I would like your assistance in making sure that the children who were matched with families before the moratorium was announced on January 26, 2009 are allowed to come home to their families quickly. Remember that out of approximately 100 children who are part of this group, three have already died in the past eight months. It is dangerous enough to survive as a young child in Liberia. It is even more life threatening to be a child without a family to raise you in Liberia. That is why it is imperative that a resolution be reached quickly.
Thankful for your assistance,