Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Adoption revamp in offing by Oz: report

Adoption revamp in offing by Oz: report

Adoption revamp in offing by Oz: report

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott is overhauling his nation’s overseas adoption system and wants to get Cambodia involved in the process, according to Australian media.

Abbott requested Attorney General George Brandis pursue fresh agreements and adoption negotiations, including with Cambodia, Bulgaria, Latvia and Kenya, the Sunday Telegraph reported this weekend.

The attorney general’s office did not respond to request for comment yesterday, a holiday in Australia.

However, the Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh nixed the idea that adoptions might resume in the near future.

“As noted on the Australian Embassy website, the moratorium on foreigners adopting children from Cambodia under intercountry adoption arrangements, which came into force on 3 December 2009, remains in place,” an embassy spokesperson said via email.

In fact, Cambodia reversed its freeze on adoptions by foreigners living outside the country in 2013. Shortly thereafter, Italy became the first – and so far only– country to re-up its agreement with Cambodia, according to the Ministry of Social Affairs.

Australia’s MoU lapsed in 2001, shortly after the US banned inter-country adoptions from the Kingdom due to fears of child trafficking and a perceived failure to uphold international laws.

“It’s not like that anymore; now adoptions go through strict laws and background checks” said Reung Rithiroth, chief of the adoption administration at the Social Affairs Ministry.

Rithiroth said that he would welcome negotiations with Australia, but has not yet been contacted.

MOST VIEWED

  • Wing Bank opens new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004

    Wing Bank celebrates first anniversary as commercial bank with launch of brand-new branch. One year since officially launching with a commercial banking licence, Wing Bank on March 14 launched a new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004. The launch was presided over by

  • Girl from Stung Meanchey dump now college grad living in Australia

    After finishing her foundational studies at Trinity College and earning a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Melbourne in 2022, Ron Sophy, a girl who once lived at the Stung Meanchey garbage dump and scavenged for things to sell, is now working at a private

  • Ministry using ChatGPT AI to ‘ease workload’; Khmer version planned

    The Digital Government Committee is planning to make a Khmer language version of popular artificial intelligence (AI) technology ChatGPT available to the public in the near future, following extensive testing. On March 9, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications revealed that it has been using the

  • Wat Phnom hornbills attract tourists, locals

    Thanks to the arrival of a friendly flock of great hornbills, Hour Rithy, a former aviculturist – or raiser of birds – in Kratie province turned Phnom Penh tuk tuk driver, has seen a partial return to his former profession. He has become something of a guide

  • Ministry orders all schools, public and private, to close for SEA Games

    From April 20 to May 18, all public and private educational institutions will be closed to maintain order and support Cambodia's hosting of the 32nd SEA Games and 12th ASEAN Para Games, said a directive from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport. Cambodia will host the

  • Almost 9K tourists see equinox sunrise at Angkor Wat

    Nearly 9,000 visitors – including 2,226 international tourists – gathered at Angkor Wat on March 21 to view the spring equinox sunrise, according to a senior official of the Siem Reap provinical tourism department. Ngov Seng Kak, director of the department, said a total of 8,726 people visited Angkor Wat to