By Loubna Flah
By Loubna Flah
Morocco World News
Casablanca, Oct 30, 2012
The ministry of Justice and Liberties issued a circular earlier this month banning non- residents couples from adopting Moroccan children. The restriction addressed all adoption applicants who do not live permanently in Morocco.
According to the Moroccan weekly La Vie Economique, the ministry granted the right of parenting Moroccan children through the system known as “ Kafala” exclusively to applicants who have a permanent residency status in Morocco.
The associative network severely condemned this measure. They argue that the ban on foreigner applicants is “likely to deprive a large number of children from better life prospects.”
On the other hand, the ministry maintains that “the adoption judges are unable to overhaul the ability of adoptive parents to cater for the child’s needs according to the Islamic principles in the case of non residents parents.”
Article 9 of the Kafala law stipulates that the adoption judge should ascertain that the applicant couple has the financial resources to bring up the adopted child. Other criteria are taken into account such as the couple’s age, moral integrity and health condition.
The adoption judge is also required to oversee the parents on a regular basis to make sure that the adoption criteria are still fulfilled.
Many civil associations operating in the adoption of orphans and abandoned children disparaged the ministry’s decision to ban non-residents applicants from adopting Moroccan children.
The “Kafala Collective” a congregation of 6 active associations signed a public petition against the circular. They pinpoint that the ban is likely to affect the lives of thousands OF children in desperate need of a shelter and a nurturing families.
The figures reveal that 24 new born babies are abandoned every day in Morocco. The number of abandoned children amounts to 6000 children per year.
The associations emphasize that the applicants who live in Morocco cannot meet the large demand for adoption, adding that the orphanage hosting capacity is overwhelmed, which affects acutely the quality of services provided to hosted children.
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