Unlimited guardianship – Newspaper Kommersant No. 9 (7454) dated 01/19/2023

The Ministry of Education proposed to postpone the draft law, which provides for a ban on the adoption of orphans from Russia by citizens of states that are on the list of unfriendly. Conceptually, the agency supports the initiative, but the adoption of the document may lead to the loss of the possibility of accompanying (controlling the residence in the family) already adopted children abroad. The Ministry of Education emphasizes that in 2022 not a single consent of the guardianship authority was issued to introduce foreign adoptive parents to Russian orphans. Social activists believe that in the conditions of a military conflict, international adoption will be frozen even without amendments to the legislation.

The Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation proposed to postpone consideration of a bill banning citizens of unfriendly countries from adopting children from Russia. We are talking about a document that in August 2022 was introduced to parliament by the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party Leonid Slutsky, as well as deputies Boris Chernyshov (LDPR), Dmitry Pevtsov (New People), Nina Ostanina (KPRF) and Yana Lantratova (SRZP). In May 2021, the government approved a list of foreign states “committing unfriendly actions” against the Russian Federation, its citizens or legal entities. The United States and the Czech Republic are included. In March 2022, the list was expanded against the backdrop of actions in Ukraine – it now includes 49 countries. The explanatory note to the bill states that the ban on adoption can be lifted without making changes to the Family Code of the Russian Federation if one or another country ceases to commit unfriendly actions against Russia.

“The idea embodied in the bill is certainly supported by the ministry,” Deputy Minister of Education Andrey Korneev said on Wednesday. “It could not be otherwise, because the ministry systematically advocates the priority of adoption by citizens of the Russian Federation.” However, Mr. Korneev pointed out, the adoption of the document may lead to the loss of the possibility of accompanying already adopted children abroad. Russia has ratified adoption agreements with Spain, France and Italy. The agreement with Israel has not been ratified, the deputy minister recalled. The adoption of the bill, he said, will create a conflict: one federal law allows adoptions in these countries, while others will be prohibited.

“Now we are considering an appeal regarding the denunciation of these four treaties,” Andrey Korneev added. “Why are we now so careful about total denunciation? Because the treaties establish procedures for monitoring adopted children. We receive relevant reports from the authorized bodies of these foreign states for each child: placement in a family, life. That is, we see and control. Accordingly, if we denounce these agreements, then we will lose the thread of communication with our children, who were given up for adoption.”

The Deputy Minister revealed another important detail: in 2022, not a single consent of the guardianship and guardianship authority was issued to introduce foreign adoptive parents to Russian children. “Everyone understands what is happening in the world, what the situation is,” he explained. “In fact, we can state that foreign adoption has come to naught.” He also cited statistics according to which 69 orphans were adopted by foreign citizens in 2021, 38 in 2020, 300 in 2017, and 3,000 in 2010.

Recall that the tightening of rules in the field of adoption in Russia began with the adoption by the State Duma in December 2012 of the so-called law of Dima Yakovlev, which introduced a ban on the adoption of Russian children by US citizens. The law was adopted as a response to the American Magnitsky Act.

“The state is reinsuring itself,” Ksenia Penkova, president of the Common Children charity organization (Voronezh), comments on the statistics. Now they understand that adoption will be more problematic.”

Elena Alshanskaya, head of the Volunteers to Help Orphans Foundation, points out that the number of adoptions by foreign citizens has been declining in recent years due to prohibitive legislation that is not formulated in the interests of the child. The expert calls for its correction. In particular, concrete steps should be fixed to support the child’s birth family, related family arrangement, and active work to place the child in a family in the country. “And only if nothing happened at all levels, you can raise the question of international adoption,” says Elena Alshanskaya. “But our children’s profiles just hang in the data bank. And if no one applied, then it is considered that this is the observance of the priority of the internal Russian structure. However, no active work on the child during this time may well not be carried out.

Anna Vasilyeva