Gov't blamed for neglecting adoptees abroad
A group of adoptees stand with Rep. You Seung-hee, fifth from left, and Rep. Kim Kyung-hyup, to her right, from the Democratic Party of Korea, Friday, at the National Assembly in Seoul, during a forum on adoptees. / Korea Times Photo by You Soo-sun
By You Soo-sun
Korean adoptees denounced the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Friday, when an official said that the ministry was not aware of the issues surrounding some adoptees’ deportations. The statement came after adoptees urged for the immediate naturalization of some 19,000 Korean American adoptees and an investigation into all their birth and adoption records, many of which have been falsified or have gone missing.
The meeting was held in response to the recent suicide of Phillip Clay, 42, a deported Korean American adoptee. Participants claimed this shows the negligence of the Korean government in following up and supporting the 167,000 Koreans adopted abroad over the past six decades. In the U.S. ― besides Clay ― about 19,000 do not have U.S. citizenship due to their adopted parents’ failure to register them. As a result they are at risk of being deported.
However, only the Ministry of Health and Welfare has been working on adoptee-related policies according to foreign affairs ministry official. Her remarks drew fierce criticism from a panel of adoptees at the meeting.
“August 24, 2002 was the first time the Korean media reported about a deported Korean American adoptee,” said Simone Eun Mi, representative of KoRoot, a nongovernmental organization supporting returning adoptees.
“It’s been 15 years since that happened.”
“There’s no way they couldn’t have known. It’s ridiculous,” said Adam Crapser, 42, referring to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Deported to Korea in 2016, Crapser’s story has been widely covered by the media.
Representatives of adoptee support groups and individual adoptees present at the meeting urged the foreign affairs, and health and welfare ministries to cooperate in handling issues surrounding inter-country adoption, including the naturalization of all adoptees, managing birth and adoption records, and following up with adoptees abroad.
They also expressed frustration that a health and welfare ministry representative was not present at the meeting.
According to a staff member at the National Assembly, the representative canceled at the last minute, after agreeing to participate beforehand.
“I think it’s just convenient for the Ministry of Health and Welfare not to show up. And for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to just say they didn’t know,” commented Crapser, a few hours after the meeting.
“These are not just sad stories,” Crapser said.
“They are the results of failure in government policies.”
Adoptees at the meeting demanded justice for Korean adoptees, claiming their human rights have been violated. They also called on the Moon Jae-in administration to tackle the issue.
“As the new president and a human rights lawyer, he should be the first to treat us as Koreans and not as foreigners,” said Simone.
“Not as a mercy, but as a right,” she added.