At a meeting of the National Commission on Combating Human Trafficking and Forced Labor on 4 December, it was reported that the crime of child trafficking is on the rise.

According to the report, bureaucracy and other obstacles in the legal adoption process are contributing to the escalation of child trafficking.

In January-August this year, the guardianship and trusteeship authorities placed 2,747 children deprived of parental care and in need of social assistance for adoption, 3,954 for guardianship, 1,534 for sponsorship and 288 for patronage.

An average of 220-230 children a year are adopted through orphanages and children’s camps.

“The share of children brought up in orphanages and children’s camps among children adopted through guardianship and trusteeship bodies is less than 10%. In more than 90% of cases, adoptive parents find each other through intermediaries.

The demand for child adoption is high in the country. Because we love children. But in the current situation, those who want to adopt have to wait in line for an average of 18 years.

The current adoption procedure in the country is very complicated. There are so many nuances. There is no transparency, no electronic system. It is impossible to know when the turn will come. This will lead to the circumvention of the existing order, the formation of corrupt relations and the increase in child trafficking,” Tanzila Narbayeva said.

According to Deputy Minister of Public Education Dilshod Kenjayev, the number of children being sent to orphanages has decreased. Currently, there are 2,047 children in orphanages.

“There are a lot of people waiting for their turn to adopt a child. In the last three years, their number has reached 10,000 families. There are those who have been waiting longer than that.

However, it should be noted that only 15% of the 2,047 children in the orphanage – 316 of them – are real orphans. The remaining 85% are persons deprived of parental care, that is, they are children of low-income families, families with disabilities, children of those who are deprived of liberty and half-orphans (either their father or mother died).

We cannot allow the adoption of children who have parents. Currently, only 15% of children can be adopted. 96% of the 10,000 families in the queue want to have a baby – children under the age of 3. There are only 564 children of this age in the country. Of these, 246 are disabled. They don’t normally get adopted,” Kun.uz correspondent quotes the deputy minister as saying.

The ministerial representative listed the documents required for child adoption:

• Salary certificate;
• Recommendation from the workplace;
• Medical commission’s conclusion on the couple health;
• Medical certificates (from narcology, dermatology, neurology, tuberculosis, AIDS dispensaries);
• Certificate of no previous conviction;
• If they have children, their birth certificate;
• Copy of homeownership documents;
• Certificate of examination of the living conditions of the citizen by the guardianship and trusteeship authority;
• Final conclusion of the guardianship and trusteeship authority.

In addition to the above documents, a foreign citizen will have to apply to the Ministry of Public Education through the embassy of the relevant state.

“Due to the introduction of e-systems for data exchange between agencies, work is underway to reduce some of these documents,” Kenjayev added.