After police rescue children, they are brought to a welfare institution to be cared for in the absence of their parents. (Photo : China Human Rights)
Children who have been trafficked, abducted and rescued by police can now be legally adopted, instead of being stuck in welfare institutions waiting for their parents to be found.
According to a notice jointly released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security, children can be adopted after 12 months of searching for their parents or other guardians has failed.
The family adopting these children must sign an agreement that they must return the child if the birth parents are located.
However, if the parents are found to have purposely abandoned or sold the child, then the adoption will remain valid, according to the notice.
Previously, authorities allowed abducted children to be kept by the families that bought them, provided they could properly care for the child. However, this practice stopped in 2011 because it encouraged traffickers to abduct and sell more children.
The Ministry of Public Security said that around 67,000 abducted children were rescued between 2009 and last year. Of these rescued children, only 3,800 were returned to their families after being matched through a database with their biological parents with DNA testing.
Wang Jinhua, a senior official at the Ministry of Civil Affairs, said that the current situation of children who are stuck in welfare institutions without possibility of adoption is not what is best for them.
"Welfare institutions cannot replace families, so these children cannot enjoy a normal life even after they are rescued," said Wang.
The two ministries have expressed their intention to increase efforts to find the birth parents of trafficked children. This includes the plan to launch a new online platform, Baby Comes Home, which will carry information about children who have been rescued.
"Only 3 percent of these lost children can be found. So many factors prevent parents from finding their children. Many cases cannot be filed if parents do not provide specific evidence to show their children were abducted. Besides, many children don't know if they were abducted," said Zhang Baoyan, founder of the platform.
But Zhang said that the situation has improved recently thanks to advances in technology.
