Committee is likely to be asked to consider some 5000 cases. Very
few orphans have been identified. Those who have no parents tend to
be absorbed into family groups, usually of relatives. In such
circumstances, adoption is not usually considered to be the
best option for the child. There has only been one case of adoption of a Vietnamese child in recent years. [I am sorry therefore to
disappoint you with the news that there are no children available
for adoption. If you are nevertheless interested in adopting a
child from abroad, you should write in the first instance to the
Immigration and Nationality Department of the Home Office (address
Lunar House, 40 Wellesley Road, Croydon, CR9 2BY) who will explain
the various steps involved.]
Children whose parents are already in the West would rejoin them under family reunion arrangements. Those whose parents are still in
Vietnam have often been sent out in the hope that they will be
resettled in the West and will thereby establish a foothold from
which the rest of the family can be drawn in. If they have no
genuine claim to refugee status, they will be returned to their parents: the practice of sending children out of Vietnam (alone' carries high risks for the child and is something we would wish to
discourage. Ultimately, we hope that all people who wish to leave
Vietnam will choose to do so by means of the Orderly Departure
Programme, rather than by making the journey to Hong Kong.
I hope it will reassure you to know that much thought has been put into arrangements for unaccompanied children among the boat people.
no We are confident that there is no chance that Children will be sent
back to Vietnam unless they have a family to return to; and that the
in the best interests of the children right solution will be carefully sought in all cases, We will nevertheless be monitoring closely the work of the UNHCR Committee.
thenadors.