T he Government is preparing formally to lift a two-year-old ban on the adoption

of Cambodian children by foreigners, the press reported Monday.

Eight

orphans have already been allowed to leave Cambodia this month, in the runup to

final approval of a new draft law, the Cambodia Daily said citing an official

from the Social Action Ministry.

International adoptions were first

allowed in 1989 but were then stopped in 1992, as the government felt it could

not adequately monitor the number of children being adopted, which exceeded 100,

the paper said.

Under the new law, the family seeking to adopt a child

must first be approved by their own government and then by the ministries of

social action, foreign affairs and interior, the paper said.

Social

Action Ministry official Touch Samon said the government still favored internal

adoptions as once a child left the country it was very difficult to ensure he or

she was being properly taken care of, the paper said.-AKP