U.S.-Vietnam Relations

Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Janice Jacobs
Interview with Vietnam Net

February 12, 2009 – Hanoi, Vietnam

Vietnam Net:  The first question is, prior to the termination of the U.S./Vietnam agreement on adoption in September 2008, most licensed foreign adoption agencies in Vietnam were American ones.  Forty-two out of 69 such agencies were American.  When the agreement was terminated these American agencies had to cease operations.  How do you see the demand for Vietnamese adopted children from American families right now?  And why do American families tend to choose Vietnamese children for adoption?

Assistant Secretary Jacobs:  I think I should start off by saying that the whole issue of inter-country adoptions is one of great interest to the United States.  There are many groups within the United States who are interested in inter-country adoptions as one of many options to provide a loving home for children in need.

Because of the strong interest in international adoptions we did sign a bilateral agreement with Vietnam in 2005 if I remember correctly.  But at the time we signed that agreement we expressed our great hope that Vietnam would eventually become a member of the Hague Convention on International Adoptions.

We stressed the Hague Convention because we strongly feel that it provides transparency and also the standards provided for in the Hague Convention really promote the best interests of the child, of the adoptive parents, and also of the biological parents of the child.

The transparency I talk about is extremely important and it applies in several different areas. For example, the fees that are charged to adoptive parents.  We ask that countries publish a schedule of the fees.  Normally those fees are based on the cost to the government of providing services, administrative costs, sometimes also the cost to orphanages or other places for supporting abandoned children.  That is a very important part of the transparency.

The other important part is for us to be sure that the child is eligible for adoption.  That means that we have to know without any doubt where the child came from.

After we signed the agreement there was a lot of interest in adopting children from Vietnam, and as you mentioned, we had a lot of U.S. adoption service providers working in the country.  In fact we issued hundreds of visas to adopted babies.  But over time we began to notice some irregularities that really concerned us.  We did some investigations into cases and we found cases where in fact the parent of the child was given money, the child basically was sold; or sometimes the child was put in an orphanage to be adopted without the parent even knowing that the child was going to be adopted.

Because of these concerns we decided not to renew the agreement when it ran out in September of last year.  We have raised our concerns with the Vietnamese government, and I’m happy to say that in fact some of these cases now have been investigated and there have even been some arrests.

So we see that as a very encouraging sign.  Also during the Prime Minister’s visit to America last year, he mentioned that Vietnam was interested in signing the Hague Convention on Adoption.  So we see both of those as very encouraging signs.

We want to work with Vietnam on getting to a point where they can sign on to the Hague Convention.  And I’m also happy to say that this is not just a U.S. effort, but that there are other embassies here in Hanoi who are working with us as we try to work with the government, and also to offer technical assistance in order to take the necessary steps to join the Hague.

We have good cooperation with Vietnam in many areas right now, so we’re very hopeful that we’re going to be able to move ahead in a positive way on adoptions.

Vietnam Net:  The U.S. first decided to terminate the agreement on adoption cooperation with Vietnam, and after that Vietnam issued a similar decision making the cooperation in this field to come to an end on September the 1st, 2008.  As far as I know the two sides are discussing the possibility of a new agreement, which is expected to make adoption activities clearer, more transparent, and in line with the Hague Convention?  Is the discussion part of your agenda in Vietnam during this trip?

Assistant Secretary Jacobs:  I will be talking to the Ministry of Justice and other officials about adoptions.  We are not going to be discussing a new agreement right now, but I have great hope that we will be able to work together towards a new agreement that will help make Vietnam conform with the Hague Convention.

Vietnam Net:  Vietnam is developing a legal framework on adoption.  It is expected that the Vietnamese National Assembly will pass an adoption law in May 2010.  As a long time partner with Vietnam in the adoption area, does the U.S. have any recommendation to help Vietnam build a strong legal framework for adoption activities?  Does the U.S. have any plan to provide Vietnam with technical assistance in Vietnam?

Assistant Secretary Jacobs:  That’s a very good question.  Yes, we do.  We look forward to seeing the proposed legislation and not just the U.S. but I believe UNICEF and other governments who either adopt here or are planning to do adoptions in Vietnam will be very interested in seeing that bill as well.  If we’re offered the chance to offer recommendations we will certainly do that, but all of us want to work together to provide Vietnam with technical insistence in order to not just pass the bill, but also do capacity training and provide other types of technical assistance that will help Vietnam put the infrastructure in place that’s needed to be compliant with the Hague Convention.

Vietnam Net:  I was told that the U.S. at least once mentioned the possibility of providing technical assistance to Vietnam and actually I remember that your predecessor who came here last year did mention it.  So what was the reaction from the Vietnamese side?  Because the cooperation in adoption, international adoption, Vietnam has with the U.S. and it has this kind of cooperation very early.  So the U.S. has a lot of experience in this area and it can provide assistance in doing the legislation needed.  So what did Vietnam react to the U.S. offer?

Assistant Secretary Jacobs:  I think Vietnam has been very receptive to any offers of assistance that we’ve provided.  We actually have a number of ways that we can help.

I just heard today for the first time that we have the biggest voluntary visitor program here in Vietnam in the world.  That’s a program whereby people who have an area of interest can travel to the United States, and then we prepare a program for the people to meet with counterparts.  For example, getting people ready for the Hague Convention, we can bring judges to the United States where they can talk to other judges, social welfare workers, and people involved with the child welfare system.  We can bring those types of people to the United States and let them have a program where they can talk to people in the United States.

Basically this program works by having the people from Vietnam pay for the international travel, but once they arrive in the United States the U.S. government covers all of the expenses.

That’s just one example of the type of assistance.

We can also work with our partners in USAID to see what kind of assistance they can provide and try to set that up.  So there are any number of ways that we can help.

We also, of course, work through UNICEF and the Hague Permanent Bureau to provide assistance regarding the Hague Convention.

Vietnam Net:  Do you have any expectation about when the two sides could enter into a new agreement on adoption cooperation?  If a new agreement is to be signed, Vietnam expects that only about 20 American adoption agencies will be operating in this country.  Will the U.S. choose which agencies to be operational in Vietnam to assure the quality of their services?

Assistant Secretary Jacobs:  The answer to the first part of the question is we don’t really have a timeline for signing a new agreement.  It really is something where we have to sit down and talk about some of the problems and figure out solutions so that we can, whatever agreement we have is a step towards getting to sign the Hague Convention.  So we will take whatever time is necessary to get that right.

Regarding the number of adoption service providers, I think it’s probably a wise idea to limit the number.  And we have talked in the past with other countries who are not a member of the Hague about using only the adoption service providers that we have accredited under the Hague, so that could be a possibility for Vietnam as well.  They would only use adoption service providers that have been accredited by the U.S.

Vietnam Net:  Thank you.

Assistant Secretary Jacobs:  Thank you very much.