France adopts Vietnamese infants

Wed, 04 Jul 2001 | Source: AFP

HANOI (AFP): A first batch of Vietnamese infants have arrived in France after Paris lifted an adoption ban imposed in 1999 following a public outcry over baby trafficking and other abuses, embassy officials said on Tuesday.

"Adoptions have resumed. We're still just at the beginning, but the first Vietnamese children adopted under the new system are now with their adoptive parents in France," ambassador Serge Degallaix said.

"We've already received more than 1,000 adoption applications," he said. "Nearly 300 have been passed on to the Vietnamese authorities."

The two governments signed a bilateral agreement in February last year bringing Vietnam's adoption procedures into line with international norms.

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