VZCZCXRO6230
PP RUEHJO
DE RUEHMB #0052/01 0351450
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 041450Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY MBABANE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3905
INFO RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 2791
RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 0430

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