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US, Vietnam adoptions resume

September 16, 2014

American families will be allowed to resume limited adoptions of children from Vietnam, authorities have said. The move ends a six-year ban amid allegations of baby-selling and fraud.

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Symbolbild Adoption Lesbisches Paar
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

Vietnam's Ministry of Justice on Tuesday presented licenses to two American adoption agencies, the United States Embassy in Hanoi said. The adoptions will be limited to children over the age of five, sibling groups and those with special needs.

US adoptions from Vietnam were halted by Washington in 2008 amid concerns that many adoptees had been trafficked or given up after their families were coerced. An investigation found that adoption agencies were using forged documents and obtaining the children from their mothers through payment, coercion or deception, and sometimes without the consent of the parents.

Vietnam denied the allegations, but agreed to suspend adoptions with the US. The country has since ratified the 1993 Hague Convention on international adoption, and revised its domestic law on the practice.

"The United States welcomes Vietnam's efforts to enhance its child welfare and intercountry adoption system," the embassy in Hanoi #link:http://vietnam.usembassy.gov/highlight-091614.html:said in a statement#.

The US named Dillon International and Holt International Children's Services as the two American agencies permitted to start adoptions in Vietnam.

The director of the international adoption department at Vietnam's Ministry of Justice, Nguyen Van Binh, confirmed to the AFP news agency that the licenses had been granted to the US agencies. He added that there are currently 36 foreign adoption agencies active in Vietnam from countries including France, Italy and Sweden.

dr/mz (AFP, dpa)