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Country Status
Kyrgyz Republic is currently processing adoptions
on a
LIMITED
basis.
For a list of Joint
Council agencies working in Kyrgyz Republic, please consult our
Country Programs page.
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September 16, 2009
Joint Council is working closely
with Representative Bachmann's
Office and the Congressional
Coalition on Adoption Institute
(CCAI) to secure a meeting
between the Kyrgyz Prime
Minister and Members of Congress
when the Prime Minister is in
the United States next week.
Members of Congress are very
interested in meeting the Prime
Minister in order to discuss
ways that Congress and the
United States Government can
assist in positively resolving
issues related to intercountry
adoption, child protection and
child welfare. Members of
Congress plan to send a letter
to the Kyrgyz Embassy requesting
a meeting. In order to ensure
that as many Congressional
Offices have signed the letter
requesting the meeting and are
in attendance at the meeting
Joint Council is initiating a
Call to Action requesting the 65
families contact their Senators
and Congressmen. Joint
Council requests that all
families contact their U.S.
Senators and Congresspersons
today, September 16th and and
tomorrow, September 17 to ensure
the letter arrives at the Kyrgyz
Embassy by Friday, September
18th. The purpose of your call
is to request they sign the
letter being sent to the Kyrgyz
Embassy and, if a meeting
occurs, the Member of Congress
attend the meeting.
Either today or tomorrow we
request that you do the
following:
1) Call both of your U.S.
Senators and your
representatives in the U.S.
House of Representatives:
You can find your Senators'
phone numbers and email address
at
www.senate.gov
You can find your
Representatives' phone numbers
and email address at
www.house.gov
2) Include the following in
your calls and emails:
"As constituents, I/we urge
the Senator/Congressperson to
sign the letter to the Kyrgyz
Embassy sponsored by Rep.
Bachmann's office and attend the
potential meeting with the
Kyrgyz Prime Minister should it
occur."
If they have not heard about
the letter or the potential
meeting, ask them to contact
Blair Bjellos from Rep.
Bachmann's Office, the
Congressional Coalition on
Adoption Institute or Joint
Council at (703) 535-8045.
3) Send an email to everyone
you called:
The email is important, but the
phone call should be placed
first.
Additionally, feel free to
forward this request to your
friends and family, asking them
to contact their Senators and
Congresspersons requesting they
attend the meeting.
Thank you!
June 4, 2009
During the meetings with the Kyrgyz
delegation last week the delegation
requested a comprehensive list of the
approximately 65 prospective adoptive
families, the children they have been
referred and the name of the orphanage
that the referred child currently
resides.
As part of Joint Council's ongoing
Kyrgyzstan Initiative we will, along
with the assistance of adoptive mother
Shannon Fenske, be collecting the names
of families, children, orphanages, and
agencies. Please e-mail the following
information to
shannymb@yahoo.com by Monday, June 8
at 9am Eastern:
-
Family
-
E-mail address
-
Child referred (Kyrgyz name)
-
Orphanage
-
Agency
Please feel free to contact either
myself (rebeccah@jcics.org)
or Shannon if you have any questions.
June 1, 2009
As part of our ongoing Kyrgyzstan
Initiative, Joint Council facilitated a
series of meetings between a three
member delegation of the Kyrgz
government, 21 Congressional offices,
the U.S. Department of State and six
potential adoptive families on Thursday,
May 28, 2009. Thes six famlies traveled
to Washington, at their own expense, and
represented 65 children and families
currently unable to complete their
adoption due to the current suspension
of intercountry adoption. We extend our
appreciation to the Congressional
Coalition on Adoption Institute for
their facilitation of the meeting with
Congressional Offices and to the Joint
Council Krygyz Working Group for their
invaluable contributions to these
meetings.
Meetings with the Kygyz delegation were
made possible through the U.S.
Department of State International
Visitor’s Program (IVP). Joint Council
strongly advocated for the inclusion of
a Kyrgyz delegation as part of the IVP
and for a meeting between the potential
adoptive parents, Members of Congress
and the U.S. Department of State. We
extend our thanks to DOS, the Kyrgyz
delegation and the 21 Members of
Congress who participated in the
meetings.
In addition to the meetings noted above,
a group of 11 families who have adopted
Kyrgyz children, traveled to Washington
at their own expense, to support the
lifting of the suspension, the potential
adoptive famlies and the children in
need. This group, along with the
country coordinators of Christian World
Adoption and Nightlight Adoptions met
with the delegation and Kyrgyz Embassy
officials at the Kyrgyz Embassy. This
gathering was especially effective in
assuring the Kyrgyz delegation of the
safety, happiness, cultural heritage and
loving families provided through
intercountry adoption.
The Kyrgyz delegation also held
extensive meetings with the U.S.
Department of State, the Congressional
Coalition on Adoption Institute and
other key stakeholders.
The meetings were very productive
particularly the presentations by the
potential adoptive families. The
meetings not only addressed intercountry
adopiton but also the problems
associated with foster care and other
detrimental forms of temporary care. At
the conclusion of the meeting with the
families, the Kyrgyz delegation
expressed their commitment to ‘do the
possible and the impossible’ to ensure
that the children are able to complete
their adoptions.
April 15, 2009 -
CALL TO ACTION: Kyrgyzstan
Given the current
situation in Kyrgyzstan Joint
Council believes that now is the
time to advocate for a U.S.
Congressional letter to the Kyrgyz
President. As a family who is in
the process of adopting from
Kyrgyzstan we request that you
please email your name, zip code,
and the names of your Congressional
Representatives (if known) to
rebeccah@jcics.org. Once the
list of Congressional Districts
involved is compiled Joint Council
will send further information to
prospective adoptive families
regarding dates and times to contact
their Representatives. Joint
Council will be working in tandem
with the Congressional Coalition on
Adoption Institute to facilitate the
process of the Congressional letter.
Further,
following the conference call with
the 65 prospective adoptive parents
with referrals Joint Council will be
collecting "stories" of the children
who have been referred to families.
Given the possible privacy issues at
play a number of item need be worked
out prior accepting stories.
Therefore, further information about
submitting stories will be sent out
to families in the coming days.
Thank you!
April
8, 2009 -
It is
Joint Council's understanding that
Nikolai Bailo presented the findings of
the parliamentarian commission
investigating intercountry adoption and
accession to the Hague Convention to
three parliamentary committees today,
April 8th, 2009. It is our understanding
that the remarks were quite balanced and
included strong statements against
corruption and child trafficking. He
urged the prosecution of government
officials and orphanage directors
involved in child trafficking.
Further,
Joint Council
understands that Vice-Premier Uktomkhan
Abdullaeva informed committee members
that according to reports and photos
provided to her (referencing the Kyrgyz
Adoptee Stories collected by Joint
Council and distributed throughout the
Kyrgyz Government) that children adopted
by U.S. citizens were in the care of
safe, permanent and loving families.
Further she urged the tracking of
post-adoption reports. Joint Council
urges all adoptive families and adoption
service providers to ensure all
post-adoption reports are filed.
It is Joint
Council's understanding that the
committee will recommend to the
parliament the ratification of the Hague
Convention. The issues of intercountry
adoption, the Hague Convention and the
65 pending cases should be discussed in
the coming week. The fate of the 65
children whose cases are currently
pending is still unknown.
Finally, after
Joint Council's continued advocacy
with the U.S. Dept of State, Office
of Children's Issues it is our
understanding that there will be a
conference call for key stakeholders
- including the 65 adoptive
families, adoption service providers
and Joint Council - on Wednesday,
April 15, 2009. The Office of
Children's Issues will be hosting
the call and contacting individuals
directly in the coming days.
Joint Council
will continue to advocate for the
children of Kyrgyzstan and the
potential adoptive families who wish
to adopt them. We will continue to
monitor the situation and update
stakeholders, both through email
updates and updates to our website,
as needed. Also of note, due to
economic hardships Joint Council's
offices are currently drastically
understaffed and we respectfully
request that potential adoptive
families understand that we may be
unable to answer individual
questions and comments. However, as
noted above, as soon as further
information is available we will
update all stakeholders via email
and our website.
March 3, 2009 - Joint Council is
pleased to confirm that U.S. Embassy
officials in Kyrgyzstan met late last
week with the Vice Prime Ministers
Office regarding the 65 in-process
intercountry adoption cases and the
future of intercountry adoptions from
Kyrgyzstan. At this time Joint Council
cannot confirm the exact contents of the
conversation.
Further, we can confirm that police
investigations are occurring in
Kyrgyzstan in regards to accusations
surrounding child buying for
intercountry adoption. No further
information on this subject is available
at this time. As soon as more
information is available Joint Council
will release it on our website.
February 17, 2009 - The U.S.
Department of State does not recommend that
U.S. citizens consider adoption from
Kyrgyzstan at this time. Currently, no
adoption cases are being processed,
including at least sixty-five adoption cases
by U.S. citizens already in progress. In
addition, the Kyrgyz government is
considering significant changes to its
adoption regulations.
The Kyrgyz Government has formed an adoption
commission that includes officials from the
Vice Prime Minister’s office, the Ministries
of Education, Social Protection and Labor,
Foreign Affairs, Internal Affairs, and
Justice, as well as the General Prosecutor’s
office. This commission is responsible for
drafting new adoption policy and
legislation, with special emphasis on
clarifying the roles and responsibilities of
the different agencies involved. The
commission will recommend whether the Kyrgyz
Republic should join the Hague Convention on
Intercountry Adoption. The commission plans
to report to Parliament by March 20; the
Parliament will then choose what action it
will take on these proposals. The Kyrgyz
government does not intend to process any
adoption cases, new or pending, until the
adoption commission issues its report and
Parliament has taken action on its
recommendations.
Although the new legislation likely will not
affect existing cases of children already
matched with adoptive parents, it will allow
the Ministry of Education authority to
resume processing these adoption dossiers.
New adoption cases would be subject to any
new requirements established by Parliament.
The U.S. Embassy continues to monitor the
situation and will provide clarification as
soon as it is received.
This notice has also been posted at Adoption.State.Gov/news/notices.html.
February 13, 2009 - On February 12,
2009, Consul Valerie Chittenden met with the
newly-appointed Deputy Minister of Education
(MOE), Umutkhan Tynalieva. This was the first
official discussion we have had with Kyrgyz
officials since the halt in adoptions.
The Kyrgyz
Government has formed an adoption commission
that includes officials from the Vice Prime
Minister’s office, the Ministries of Education,
Social Protection and Labor, Foreign Affairs,
Internal Affairs, and Justice, as well as the
General Prosecutor’s office. This commission is
responsible for drafting new adoption policy and
legislation, with special emphasis on clarifying
the roles and responsibilities of the different
agencies involved. The commission will
recommend whether the Kyrgyz Republic should
join the Hague Convention on Intercountry
Adoption. According to the Deputy Minister, the
commission plans to report to Parliament by
March 20. The Parliament will then choose what
action it will take on these proposals. New
legislation Parliament may pass will NOT affect
existing cases other than to allow the Ministry
of Education to resume processing adoption
dossiers again. New adoption cases would be
subject to any new requirements established by
Parliament.
If Deputy
Minister is correct, this is not good news for
families who are hoping that their cases will
soon move forward. The Kyrgyz government
does not intend to process any adoption cases,
new or pending, until the adoption commission
issues its report, expected March 20, and
Parliament acts on these recommendations.
It is our understanding that:
It is
unlikely that families with cases already
pending will have to re-apply or pay additional
fees.
The new
adoption commission may consider waiving or
shortening the thirty day waiting period for
those pending cases.
Only children
with urgent medical care or special needs
(medical conditions not treatable in Kyrgyzstan)
can be considered for expeditious processing,
that is, before the new regulations have been
promulgated. (Developmental delays and related
conditions are considered treatable in
Kyrgyzstan.) So far, only one case among the 65
pending cases has met this definition, and that
case has been approved for processing.
Additional cases would be considered on a
case-by-case basis.
Families who
believe that their children have urgent medical
condition that cannot be treated in Kyrgyzstan
should have their local adoption agency contact
the Ministry of Education directly. The Embassy
is aware that some local agencies have already
started this process for some cases.
Adoptive
parents who have been matched with children are
allowed to receive updates on their children
from the orphanages and to visit.
The Embassy
is seeking additional meetings with other
officials, many of whom are also newly-appointed
to their positions in order to learn more about
the Kyrgyz Government’s plans and to urge that
the children who have been matched with adoptive
families be allowed to join their permanent
families as soon as possible.
February 13,
2009 -
Following the conference
call with the Dept of State and prospective adoptive
parents with referrals from Kyrgyzstan, Joint
Council has initiated a call for Kyrgyz adoptee
stories. This will be a part of Joint Council's
continued Global Awareness Campaign which aims to
show the plight of children in need and the
successes of children who have been placed in
permanent care. If a family has adopted from
Kyrgyzstan and would like to share their story as
part of the Campaign they should send their story to
Cindy LaJoy at
cyndiLJ@aol.com.
Cindy is an adoptive mother of three children, one
of who was adopted from Kyrgyzstan. The stories can
be a maximum of 250 words and must have
photos included. Families will need to
submit an electronic release of information
with their story. A
copy of Joint Council's release can be found by
clicking
here.
Stories must be submitted to Cindy by
Monday, February 23rd. Joint Council would
like to thank Cindy for the donation of her time for
this Campaign.
Two examples of stories
in the required format are included
here and
here.
Please note that these stories were submitted as
part of a similar Campaign for Russia.
January 23, 2009 -
It is Joint
Council's understanding that 17 high ranking officials
of teh Kyrgyz government, including the Minister of
Education and the Vice-Minister of Education, have been
removed from their positions. Obviously this will have
an effect on in-process intercountry adoptions. It is
currently unclear excactly how the changes will effect
in-process cases. As more information becomes available
Joint Council will update the website.
January
14, 2009
- In consultation with the Joint Council Kyrgyzstan Task
Force, it is our assessment that prospective adoptive
parents should not initiate new adoption cases in
Kyrgyzstan. Additionally, we recommend that Adoption
Services Providers not accept new applications. If a
family is in the process of adopting from Kyrgyzstan but
does not yet have a referral they may want to discuss
other adoption options with their adoption service
provider. No intercountry adoption cases are being
processed in Kyrgyzstan at this time and there is no
indication of when processing will be reinitiated.
Further we ask that adoption service
providers with programs in Kyrgyzstan send
rebeccah@jcics.org
the following information:
- Prospective
Adoptive Parents' names;
- Email addresses of prospective adoptive parents;
- Name of child(ren) referred and date of referral
(if applicable);
- Name of ASP they are working with to adopt from
Kyrgyzstan.
-
What stage of the adoption process the family is in
and date - for example, "Dossier submitted in August
2008" or "Waiting for court date since April 2008"
or "Waiting for referral since September 2008."
Joint Council
respectfully requests this information for
every family who has a dossier complied for
Kyrgyzstan and has submitted it to the Kyrgyz
Embassy.This information will be used to
define the scope of the issues in Kyrgyzstan and
will be shared with the U.S. Dept of State and the
U.S. Embassy in Kyrgyzstan. Prospective adoptive
parents are encouraged to request that their
adoption service provider send their information
directly to Joint Council.
Joint Council, through
the efforts of our Kyrgyzstan Task Force, is
composing a letter to be sent to the Prime Minister
in Kyrgyzstan and the Ministry of Education.
Details of this letter and other updates on the
intercountry adoption crisis in Kyrgyzstan will be
made available as new information becomes available.
January 7, 2009 -
It is our understanding that the Kyrgyz Ambassador to the US
recently visited Kyrgyzstan, advocating for a resolution to the
current delays with the Prime Minister and the Ministry of
Education. Joint Council has further confirmed that the US State
Department continues its advocacy efforts with the US Embassy in
Kyrgyzstan and the Kyrgyz Embassy in Washington, DC. Although
there seems to be progress at this time there is no indication
of when the issues in Kyrgyzstan will be resolved. Joint Council
will continue to advocate for the children of Kyrgyzstan and a
resolution to the current situation.
December 12, 2008 -
Joint Council has received
an update from the U.S. Department of State on adoptions from
Kyrgyzstan. It is recommended that new cases not be initiated at
this time. Please see the release for
more information.
December
3, 2008 - Joint Council has confirmed that the U.S.
Embassy in Kyrgyzstan has been requesting further information on
the current state of intercountry adoptions from the Kyrgyz
government. At this time, it is our understanding that the
Kyrgyz Parliament has concerns regarding the governmental
control of Adoption Service Providers in the republic.
In meetings
with Kyrgyz officials, the US Embassy stressed that the current
actions are causing fiscal and emotional distress to potential
adoptive parents. Kyrgyz officials have been unwilling to
comment as to the processing of cases already in
progress. However, a governmental working group will be forming
in the coming weeks. We do not expect any official statement to
come from this working group before the end of 2008.
November 14,
2008 - The Department of State recommends adoptive parents
and agencies exercise caution in pursuing an intercountry adoption
from Kyrgyzstan. A number of prospective adoptive parents have
reported that their cases are not being processed. The U.S. Embassy
has requested official clarification, but no formal announcement has
been made.
According to local
experts, few if any cases are being processed at this time.
Further, the government of Kyrgyzstan appears to be making moves to
strengthen its internal controls of and develop new legislation on
adoptions. It has been reported that Kyrgyz citizens may have been
denied the opportunity to adopt during the past year, even while
some intercountry adoptions by non-citizens were being approved. At
this time it is not clear what action will be taken on pending cases
or if the Government of Kyrgyzstan will accept any new cases.
The U.S. Embassy
continues to monitor the situation and will provide clarification as
soon as it is received.
August 14, 2007 -
For more information about adopting from Kyrgyz Republic, please
review the country-specific adoption flyer for
Kyrgyz Republic offered by the U.S. Department of State.
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