SWAZILAND'S DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER TO SUSPEND INTER-COUNTRY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MBABANE 000052

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR CA/OCS/CI SHAFFER AND CA/OCS/ACS RAUGUST
JOHANNESBURG FOR RCO KENT MAY

E.O. 12356: N/A
TAGS: CASC KOCI PREL PGOV SOCI WZ
SUBJECT: SWAZILAND'S DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER TO SUSPEND INTER-COUNTRY
ADOPTIONS


1. (SBU) On February 3, Ambassador Irving and ConOff Murphy met
with Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Themba Masuku, and Principal
Secretary (PS) Khangeziwe Mabuza to discuss the Swaziland
international adoption program and, specifically, the prolonged
processing of three U.S. cases. DPM Masuku expressed regret with
the current delays and promised to prioritize the cases.
Nevertheless, he said that current miscommunications on procedures
within his department require him to suspend further adoptions until
he can implement improvements. END SUMMARY

BACKGROUND
--------------


2. (U) The number of adoptions by U.S. citizens in Swaziland have
increased from one in 2006 to nine in 2009 and to 10 already in

2010. Swaziland is not a party to the Hague Convention on
Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect to Inter-country
Adoption, but the Department of Social Welfare (DSW),under the
DPM's Office, and the Deputy Prime Minister himself have expressed a
desire to become a signatory to the Convention before year's end.
Masuku indicated that Swaziland's Department of Foreign Affairs and
International Cooperation has the lead on pushing the ratification
vote through parliament has not done so to date. Inter-country
adoption in Swaziland is governed by the Adoption of Children Act of

1952. Under this law, an adopted child cannot be removed from the
Kingdom of Swaziland within one year of adoption unless permission
has been obtained, in writing, from the DPM. This permission is
typically granted for U.S. families adopting from the U.S.
Approximately 10 percent of the Swazi population consists of
orphans, and orphan care and proper adoption procedures are of
utmost stated importance to the Swazi government. To underscore its
sincerity, the government moved Department of Social Welfare moved
from the Ministry of Health to the higher profile Office of the
Deputy Prime Minister in 2008.


3. (U) Until April 2009, all aspects of Swazi adoption cases were
processed in Johannesburg. Prospective adoptive parents (PAPs)
filed their petitions with Department of Homeland
Security/Citizenship and Immigration Services (DHS/CIS)and then,
ultimately, applied for the child's immigration visa with the
Consulate. In an effort to limit the number of trips the families
had to make to Johannesburg and reduce the stress inherent in the
process, DHS determined that Mbabane could process
clearly-approvable adoption (and other immediate relative) petitions
at post. The immigrant visas are still adjudicated in Johannesburg,
as before.


4. (U) In August 2008, the GKOS signed a Memorandum of
Understanding for international adoption with a U.S. adoption
agency, Hawaii International Child (HIC),and a Canadian adoption
agency, Sunrise. The first adoptions were processed through DHS/CIS
in Johannesburg with no Embassy Mbabane involvement. In the
subsequent months, HIC continued to submit prospective family
adoption dossiers to DSW which, in turn, continued to pair orphans
with the PAPs. Due to lack of clear information from DSW and
stressful and challenging experiences by HIC clients in Swaziland,
the HIC Executive Director made 10 visits to Swaziland in the two
and a half years the program has been in operation. Typically, the
director makes only one visit per year to monitor international
adoption programs.

PROCESS FOR A SWAZI INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION
--------------


5. (U) The process of inter-country adoption in Swaziland is
appropriately straight-forward, and the procedures to establish
orphan status are aptly rigorous. Swazi children who are in
government-approved care homes or who come to the attention of the
Swazi government due to lack of parental or guardian care may be
considered for inter-country adoption. Once a U.S. family has been
pre-approved for international adoption and an eligible and
confirmed orphan has been identified, DSW invites the PAPs to
Swaziland to bond with the child and receive final approvals. Once
the adoption is declared full and final by the Swaziland High Court,
the family applies for new birth certificates and international
passports, obtains final adoption approval from the Embassy, and
applies for immigrant visas in Johannesburg.


6. (U) When the inter-country adoption program began in Swaziland,
PAPs received the court adoption decree and final U.S. government
approval within two weeks of arriving in country. For reasons
inexplicable, the process has stretched to more than 12 weeks.
There are currently two adoptive families who have been in Swaziland
since mid-November, still waiting for final court approval. A third
PAP arrived in mid-January whose case has not received any official
attention. It is on their behalf that the Ambassador and Consular

MBABANE 00000052 002 OF 003


Chief met with the DPM and PS.

THE STALLED CASES
--------------


7. (U) Melanie Fullingim arrived in Swaziland per DSW's invitation
on November 19, 2009 to adopt three older orphaned siblings who had
been living in the Manzini Halfway House for the past two years.
Mrs. Fullingim, who after ten weeks is still in Swaziland, has
received almost no updates on her case throughout her stay, even
with repeated attempts from the ConOff to obtain information from
DSW. The children were abandoned by their father and their mother
is unknown, so there is no question regarding their orphan status.
The case has been languishing on the desk of the Director of Social
Welfare since January 18 for no known reason.


8. (U) John Messerly arrived in Swaziland per DSW's invitation on
November 23, 2009 to adopt two orphaned children who had been living
at the ABC Ministries for over a year. Mr. Messerly has experienced
similar challenges to Mrs. Fullingim, though his case has progressed
slightly further. The court case for the daughter was completed a
week ago, but the son's case was declined pending written consent
from either birth parent. Before inviting Mr. Messerly to
Swaziland, DSW conducted an exhaustive search, including the
required newspaper and radio ads, for any relative to claim the
children, and no one came forward. It is unclear why the court is
again questioning the orphan status of the child - particularly
considering the child has bonded with and been in the custody of the
Messerly family for over two months. According to a very recent
communication with Mr. Messerly, maternal grandparents have come
forward today, after 3.5 years, and may oppose the adoption at this
late stage.


9. (U) Dr. Nilou Ataie arrived in Swaziland per DSW's invitation on
January 16, 2010 to adopt an infant child whose birth mother
specifically requested that her yet-unborn child be placed
immediately with a PAP rather than be put in an institution.
Although DSW approved this arrangement in advance of Dr. Ataie's
arrival in Swaziland, the department reneged on the agreement and
placed the newborn in Manzini Halfway House, which is not equipped
to care for infants. Dr. Ataie has received no word as to when she
will be granted custody of the child.

DECISION OF THE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
--------------


10. (U) In the meeting at the office of the Deputy Prime Minister
February 3, 2010, the Ambassador and ConOff detailed the cases and
expressed their concern for the hardships being endured by the U.S.
families to the DPM and PS, who conveyed genuine regret and
embarrassment that their process had kept the PAPs in the country
for so long. DPM Masuku indicated that his subordinates did not
properly inform him of the cases until several weeks into the
process. (Note: This has not been an issue in the previous
adoptions. He is typically informed of the adoptions when he signs
the permission for the child to leave Swaziland. End Note).


11. (U) Masuku said he needed to personally and carefully review
the process and, for that reason, temporarily would suspend further
inter-country adoptions once he secures cabinet approval, possibly
as early as February 4. However, he indicated that the pending
American cases would not be suspended, but rather would be handled
separately and on a priority basis. The DPM also expressed an
interest in meeting with the PAPs face-to-face to stress that they
must allow the children an on-going relationship with Swaziland so
they do not forget where they come from.


12. (SBU) DPM Masuku affirmed that he feels passionate about
children, and frankly prefers local foster care to foreigners
adopting Swazi children. He considers the adoption system in
Swaziland as "spun out of control," and he needs to rein it in
before any more adoptions are approved. He expressed concern that
the press might misconstrue his actions in moving expeditiously on
cases as colluding in trafficking in persons. Finally, he said he
learned from police intelligence that some unspecified
non-governmental organization was bringing money into the country in
connection with adopting Swazi children. He did not know their
motive, but suspected it was something sinister. (Comment: To our
knowledge, this claim is unsubstantiated. Certainly, the PAPs have
had to bring in substantial funding to support themselves and their
families during the long waiting periods. End Comment).


13. (SBU) The DPM promised that the PS would contact the ConOff
within the next couple of days with updates on the cases. He
further guaranteed to handle them expeditiously, but did not say
when the cases would actually move forward.

MBABANE 00000052 003 OF 003



COMMENT
--------------


14. (SBU) Post has worked vigorously to develop trusting
relationships within the DPM's office, and this has expedited the
successful completion of valid adoptions within the last year. We
speculate that the convergence of several factors has led to the
suspension of adoptions -- the much-publicized concern about Haitian
children being "sold," an increase in requests for adoption of Swazi
children by foreigners, and Swaziland's passage of rigorous
Anti-Trafficking legislation, which many people do not understand
and equate with inter-country adoption. End Comment.

IRVING