By Kristy Tridhavee
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Asia

HANOI, Vietnam – In a recent report from the US Embassy in Vietnam, Vietnam orphanages are accused of paying parents for their children and accepting babies that were not given up knowingly.

The report describes adoption brokers coercing poor mothers in small villages, hospitals selling babies whose parents cannot pay their medical bills, and a grandmother giving her grandchild up for adoption without the parents knowing.

Some brokers offer $450 to birth mothers for their babies, which is a year’s salary for most. In another instance, hospital officials turned over a baby for adoption because a mother could not afford to pay her $750 hospital bill. The large medical bill was purposely inflated by the hospital. In one case, a grandmother, who was taking care of her grandchild for weeks while the mother worked in another province, gave the child up for adoption.

The corruption and fraud in the Vietnamese adoption system stems from the donations foreign adoption services provide the local orphanages. Vietnamese law requires foreign adoption services provide funding to Vietnamese orphanages in exchange for adoption referrals from that orphanage. Typically, there is a set proportion of children for donations.

The report alleged that cash and in-kind donations from adoption services have been diverted by local orphanage officials to personal uses—such as private cars, jewelry, and a commercial real estate development.

The US Embassy report comes at a time when adoptions from Vietnam have jumped. In the last 18 months 1,200 Vietnamese children were adopted. Eight hundred and twenty-eight of the children were adopted by American families, which is a surge of more than 400 percent from the year before.

US law requires that the children be knowingly put up for adoption or be reported as abandoned. If the child is reported as abandoned, it is impossible to know if the children are genuine orphans. In 2003, 20 percent of adoptions were reported as abandonments. Now they make up 85 percent of adoptions.

The United States is asking for stronger regulations that include DNA tests for birth mothers and permission for surprise investigations in provinces that arrange US adoptions. Vietnamese officials, however, say that those regulations are unacceptable because adoption in Vietnam is a very private matter, and Vietnamese authorities should take part in any investigation.

Vu Duc Long, director of the Department of International Adoptions, commented, “The American side is trying to make it seem like this agreement is ending because of violations by the Vietnamese side. It’s not fair for them to blame us.”

For more information, please see:

AP – US Alleges Baby-Selling in Vietnam – 25 April 2008

TOP News – US Reports Adoption Fraud Widespread in Vietnam – 25 April 2008

VOA News – US Finds Fraud in Vietnam Adoptions – 25 April 2008

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – A Chinese ship that was carrying three million rounds of assault rifle ammunition, 3,000 mortar rounds and 1,500 rocket-propelled grenades to Zimbabwe is being brought back to China, the Chinese government said today.  The ship, identified as the An Yue Jiang and belonging to COSCO, a state-owned shipping firm, was forced to abandon plans to unload in the South African port of Durban last week.

The news comes after the United States urged countries in southern Africa — particularly South Africa, Mozambique, Angola and Namibia — not to allow the ship to dock or unload.  It also asked China to withdraw the weapons shipment and halt further arms shipments to Zimbabwe until the post-election crisis is resolved.

However, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said, “The cargo was not unloaded because the Zimbabwe side failed to receive the goods as scheduled, so the Chinese company made the decision according to this situation.”  She also reiterated the shipment was a purely commercial transaction that did not break any laws or international obligations and had nothing to do with the ongoing political crisis.

The Chinese ship has sparked international condemnation for attempting to transport weapons to Zimbabwe that could be used to crackdown on Zimbabwe’s political opposition. China’s decision to turn the ship around was welcomed by the dockworkers, trade unionists, religious leaders, Western diplomats, and human rights workers.

China is a major supporter of Zimbabwe’s ruler Robert Mugabe, who has touted a “look East” policy of closer cooperation with China.  However, Beijing has shown signs of increasing embarrassment over its association with Mugabe.  Last year, China said that it had decided to halt all assistance to Zimbabwe except humanitarian aid. It was unclear if the contract of the weapons trade was signed before that pledge.

For information, please see:

AFP – Chinese arms shipment to Zimbabwe turning back: Beijing – 24 April 2008

AP – Zimbabwe arms deal is off – China – 24 April 2008

New York Times – Zimbabwe-Bound Ship Heads Back to China – 24 April 2008

Reuters – China says arms bound for Zimbabwe to be recalled – 24 April 2008

Wall Street Journal – China defended its arms shipments to Zimbabwe – 24 April 2008

XinHua – China arms trade conforms to laws, int’l obligations – 24 April 2008