presented to the State Duma law projectTo prohibit the adoption and custody of Russian orphans by citizens of “hostile” countries. The ban is also proposed to cover children left without parental care.
The authors of the document were Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the international relations committee and head of the LDPR faction, Boris Chernyshov, deputy LDPR, Nina Ostanina, head of the family, women and children committee, Dmitry Pevtsov, deputy LDPR. Proxy from the New People and Just Russia-For party. real” Yana Lantratova.
Why is a new law needed?
The authors of the document stated that the adoption of Russian orphans by citizens of “unfriendly” states “does not meet the national interests” of Russia. At the same time, deputies refer to the words of Russian President Vladimir Putin that the country’s national interests are “the preservation and development of traditional Russian spiritual and moral values.”
“If you want to beat people, raise your children.” In the explanatory note of the bill, transferring our children to be raised in ‘unfriendly countries’ is a blow to the future of the nation.
The authors of the document also stated that “for many years, the “collective West” has replaced the concepts of good and evil, destroying traditional family foundations and moral values.
According to them, the ban on the adoption of Russian orphans by US citizens (called the “Dima Yakovlev law”) was the “right decision”.
“All the children who needed to be adopted by the Americans were placed in the families of Russian citizens. The attacks of the opposition that foreign nationals are rescuing our orphans and adopting mainly disabled children are not supported by statistics.
Opportunity for foreign adoption
The authors of the document emphasized that the draft law does not impose a complete ban on foreign adoption and does not exclude cooperation with other states in all matters relating to children already adopted.
In addition, the document will not specify specific countries whose citizens are subject to the ban, but will refer to a list of “non-hostile” foreign states approved by the government.
The explanatory note to the document states that if the country ceases to commit “unfriendly acts” against Russia, the adoption ban can be lifted without changes to the Family Code.
In early March 2022, the Russian government approved the list of “non-enemy” countries. It covers 49 countries including all EU countries, USA, UK, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Ukraine and others.
“We cannot control life and destiny”
Yana Lantratova, one of the authors of the initiative, said in an interview with socialbites.ca that the bill is necessary to control the fate of orphans cared for by outsiders.
“In Russia, when a child is placed in custody or adoption, the guardianship authorities periodically look after this family so that the child is alive and healthy and there are no crimes against him. And when we give in there, lucky or unlucky”
He pointed to Lantratova. According to him, information came that adopted children fell into sexual slavery, were used as slave labor.
“Of course there are very positive stories. But there were many stories that as soon as a child crosses the border, we cannot control his life and destiny,” he said.
“As soon as a person crosses the border of another state, we cannot affect anything, even if some kind of crime has been committed. But these are our children. It’s not the kind of thing and we don’t have the right to risk their lives, ”the deputy continued.
According to Lantratova, a ban on the adoption of Russian children is necessary for citizens of “non-hostile” countries, because because of the sanctions, the guardianship authorities “will not be able to control anything”.
“Our Children Should Be Raised in Russia”
Deputy Dmitry Pevtsov, co-author of the initiative, explained to socialbites.ca the need to accept the document.
“We live surrounded by enemies, and giving our children to enemies is not the best way to protect our state. Our children should be raised in Russia,” he said.
“We live in a country that can raise orphans. And healthy children and people with disabilities! Pevtsov believes that this is what must become one of our national tasks in the context of the demographic crisis. He noted that the transfer of an orphan child to be raised in foreign families is not in the interests of our country.
The deputy noted that the share of foreign adoptions “is already falling every year”, and almost half a million orphans are brought up in Russia.
“Support for adoptive parents, especially families receiving children with disabilities, needs to be strengthened, and the government here needs serious research,” Pevtsov said.
Dima Yakovlev Law
On January 1, 2013, the law “On measures of influence on persons violating fundamental human rights and freedoms, rights and freedoms of citizens of the Russian Federation” (known as the “Dima Yakovlev law”) came into force.
It also banned the adoption of children from Russia by US citizens. In January 2017, the European Court of Human Rights found this law discriminatory. Forced to stop the adoption of Russian children due to the adoption of the law, 45 American applicants sued the Russian authorities.
According to the above data, at the beginning of 2021 there were about 17.5 thousand orphans in the care of foreign families.