Review of Approved Adoptions following News of Indonesian Ring Trafficking Babies to Singapore

2 Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Minister for Social and Family Development in light of recent news of an Indonesian trafficking ring transferring babies to Singapore (a) how many approved adoptions are being reviewed further; (b) how is the Ministry ensuring that affected families can obtain clarity and resolution expeditiously; and (c) whether the Ministry is considering providing interim assistance to these families, particularly where the adoptees have not obtained Singapore Citizenship.

The Minister of State for Social and Family Development (Mr Goh Pei Ming) (for the Minister for Social and Family Development): Investigations by the Indonesian authorities into the alleged trafficking of Indonesian babies are underway. The Singapore Government is currently working closely with our Indonesian counterparts to review these allegations. The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) is unable to comment on the number of cases currently under review at this stage.

Child trafficking is a serious matter as it exploits children’s vulnerabilities, violates their rights and separates them from their biological families for personal gain or criminal purposes. It also affects the children’s long-term well-being and development.

MSF has been engaging affected families to provide more information on processes and to address their concerns as information becomes available. We are also working closely with the relevant authorities to ensure that cases are reviewed expeditiously, while safeguarding the welfare and best interests of the children involved.

MSF takes these matters seriously and will continue to work with relevant authorities to ensure appropriate safeguards, transparency and support for affected families.

Mr Speaker: Ms Lim.

Ms Sylvia Lim (Aljunied): Thank you, Speaker. I have three supplementary questions for the Minister of State. He mentioned that the investigations by the Indonesians are underway, and I think our Government is cooperating with them, something along those lines. Is he able to give any indication of the timeline as to how long this will take? I have constituents affected by this situation and they have already been caring for these babies for more than a year and this uncertainty is a torture to them. So, would the authorities in Singapore be able to give any indication of how long this is going to take – months or years. This is really quite devastating.

The second question is, there is an issue of, perhaps, public confidence in the adoption process. These parents in Singapore are innocent parties that have done every step in accordance with the law. And I think the MSF officers and their partners have also looked into each adoption case before recommending to the Court whether the case could be supported and, on that basis, the adoption orders were given. So, my question is, was there any possibility that the MSF officers or its partners could have discovered any suspicious circumstances before the orders were made?

And the third question actually concerns expenses in child raising. In the case which I know of, the adoption order has been given but the child's application for citizenship is on hold now because of this investigation. Because of this, the parents will have to incur childcare expenses and so on, based on the foreign nationality of the child. Given this unique situation, where the parents are innocent, really, can the agencies give a special exception to allow these expenses of these affected families to be incurred on a Singapore child basis, to take into account the fact that they have applied for citizenship and it is on hold because of something outside of their control. I would like to ask the Minister of State these questions.

Mr Goh Pei Ming: I thank the Member for the questions. Let me take the three questions, one by one.

MSF empathises with the parents and we understand that the uncertainty may cause a little bit of anxiety for the affected families. Investigations are still underway and we are trying our very best to work closely because this involves not just within Singapore, but also with the Indonesian authorities. Therefore, we are trying to proceed as expeditiously as possible and to give the families resolution. We are unable to comment on a timeline at this juncture.

In terms of public confidence in the process and especially in terms of whether there are certain things that we are looking into the process or the agencies involved, I think adoptive parents are informed of the process and they proceed with adoption under the framework that has been put out. There are certain processes in place to ensure that agencies abide by certain procedures to ensure the babies are of the correct origin, appropriate sources. But at the same time, agencies which parents approach for such child-matching services, many of them – in fact, all of them – operate on a commercial basis. Therefore, the onus is on adoptive parents to try their best and ensure that children are identified, matched and placed in accordance with the prevailing laws of both Singapore as well as the child's origin country.

For the third question in terms of process, I would just like to explain that we recognise that navigating both the adoption process as well as the citizenship process can be a long process, especially because we understand that the parents would have already made commitment, enduring commitment and it is also an emotional commitment to the child.

I would just like to explain that we keep the adoption process and the citizenship process separate because they are governed by different legal frameworks and policy considerations. Adoption establishes the legal parent-to-child nexus and it is assessed primarily based on the child's welfare and suitability of the adoptive parents. Whereas the citizenship process, on the other hand, establishes the immigration considerations and evaluates based on that.

Without adoption, there will be no legal nexus for the Singapore parent and the foreign child; whereas an adoption is necessary to formally establish that relationship in the eyes of the law before we can proceed with establishing the legal status of the child and applying for citizenship for the child. Not all adoption applications will get approved for citizenship.

All prospective adoptive parents are also informed of this process during the social investigation procedure, MSF will inform them of that – that the adoption and the citizenship processes are actually delinked processes and the granting of citizenship is not automatic following the adoption order. We also inform them that the citizenship process can take up to 12 months. This is to ensure that the families proceed with a clear understanding of the processes and the potential outcomes.

Having said so, MSF recognises the emotional stress and especially the financial strain, like what the Member has highlighted. If the adoptive parents do need financial assistance, they may approach MSF and we will assess every case based on the circumstances.

Mr Speaker: Ms Lim.

Ms Sylvia Lim: Thank you, Sir. Perhaps, one more supplementary question. I am not sure whether I heard the Minister of State correctly. When I asked about whether the agencies could have uncovered the suspicious circumstances earlier, he mentioned something to the effect that the parents engaged the adoption agencies on a commercial basis. So, is he saying that there is nothing more that the agencies can do to try to prevent this kind of thing from happening again? I mean, the parents, really, what can they do?

Mr Goh Pei Ming: Allow me to clarify. I mentioned that the agencies operate on a commercial basis. However, we do have guidelines telling the agencies what they can and cannot do, and what is due diligence on their part. If we do uncover that agencies are aware that the children they are bringing in are of unknown and suspicious origin and despite so, bring them in, they will be taken to task. We will take the necessary actions against those agencies. We expect the agencies to do due diligence and to bring in children of correct background and origin, having done all the due checks prior to bringing them in.

Having said so, there may still be cases whereby something may have been done in the country of origin, with the agencies in Singapore not knowing of what that background may be. I do not think we should comment further specific to this case. It is under investigation. We should let the investigation run its course, before I comment further.