Statement from SOS Children's Villages Canada on international adoptions from Nepal

OTTAWA, Ont (April 30, 2015) - Everyone in Canada has been troubled by images of children affected by the devastating Earthquake in Nepal.

SOS Children’s Villages Canada is concerned about the plight of nearly 2.8 million Nepalese children who are affected in some way by the Earthquake. And we are in particular concerned for the children who are currently unaccompanied and without the care of parents or family. No child should be alone in this crisis.

Naturally, many Canadians may be inclined to consider adopting children from Nepal who have been affected by this disaster. As well-meaning as this intention may be, SOS Children’s Villages believes that international adoption is not a viable option. There are several reasons for this:

• It cannot be assumed that unaccompanied children have no living parents or extended families that can take care of them. That’s why SOS Children’s Villages has prioritized efforts to reunite children with their families in Nepal.
• We agree with the United Nations Guidelines on the Alternative Care of Children that until all efforts have been exhausted to trace families, no action should be taken that may hinder family reintegration. Expediting international adoptions would be a hindrance.
• Taking children away from their communities often compounds the trauma they are suffering and hinders their recovery. SOS Children’s Villages believes it is in the best interests of the child to keep them in the communities they come from; furthermore, SOS will support those communities to ensure that any affected child remains safe and well cared for in the long term.
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SOS Children’s Villages is committed to seeing that no child is left alone in Nepal.  We will be assisting children to locate their families and we will be caring for them in the interim.  Since the start of the emergency, SOS has offered child-friendly spaces that protect both accompanied and unaccompanied children. These measures are intended to keep children safe in Nepal both now and into the future.

More on SOS’ emergency work in Nepal can be found at www.soschildrensvillages.ca/NepalEarthquake