The fate of five Belarussian orphaned children who were brought to Ireland for life-saving operations now depends on whether an agreement can be reached between that country's Ministry of Education, the Chernobyl Children's Project in Cork, and the Irish Adoption Board.
The children were placed with families in Waterford, Dublin and Cork after their operations, which were performed here 18 months ago. Each of the youngsters was suffering from radiation-related diseases caused by the Chernobyl nuclear accident more than a decade ago.
Earlier this month, Ms Adi Roche, who founded the Cork-based Chernobyl
Children's Project, travelled to Belarus to discuss adoption procedures with the
Belarussian authorities. Ms Roche was optimistic before leaving Ireland that an agreement would be reached, securing the future of the five children already here, and paving the way for future adoptions of Belarussian children by Irish families.
Instead, she was met by red tape and officialdom, despite the fact that the
Irish Adoption Board and the Chernobyl Children's Project had taken advice from
Belarussian lawyers to ensure that the legal formalities complied with
Belarussian law. Earlier this summer, Ms Roche led the largest aid convoy to leave Ireland for Belarus, but found that because of bureaucracy more than
£2.5 million worth of medical supplies were held up for weeks.
Eventually, the aid got through and last week a senior official of the
Belarussian government wrote to the project in Cork expressing his thanks on behalf of the nation and acknowledging the role of "ordinary Irish citizens" in helping to alleviate the suffering of the Chernobyl victims.
When Ms Roche contacted The Irish Times from Belarus after her meeting with the authorities she was disappointed at the lack of progress but indicated that she intended to persevere.
"We have received a flood of inquiries from Irish families who are interested in giving a new life to Belarussian orphans," she said. "We are committed to ironing out the difficulties we are experiencing with the Belarussian authorities, and we hope to be able to do so. The meeting was something of a setback, but it is by no means the end of the road." According to Ms Helen
Faughnan, the national co-ordinator of the project, the Belarussian authorities have no experience of foreign adoption, and recent legislation in this area has made the process even more complex. The Irish side believed all the necessary requirements had been met before the meeting, she added, and had gone as far as consulting local lawyers to ensure compliance with Belarussian law. Despite this, however, there were problems of interpretation as well as procedural difficulties concerning paperwork. Ms Faughnan said the project team hoped there would be further meetings and that, if necessary, officials of their
Ministry of Education, some of whom have been to Ireland, would return for more talks.