Canberra wants courts to rule on stolen Indian children

MELBOURNE: The Australian government believes the courts are best placed to determine the fate of Indian children stolen  from their parents and adopted in Australia.
       
It is believed at least 30 children adopted in Australia may have been stolen from their parents by a child trafficking ring operating in India between 1998 and 1999.
       
Australia has been in touch with authorities in New Delhi to raise concerns about the allegations.
       
"This is clearly a tragic set of circumstances for the parties - and particularly the children - involved," Attorney-General Robert McClelland told Parliament.
       
"In working to resolve these issues, we must not lose sight of the best interests of the child and the need to be sensitive to the concerns of both the Australian adoptive families and the birth families in India."
       
McClelland said birth parents had rights under the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Inter-Country Adoption to seek the return of their children.
       
The adoptive parents also had rights "to meet any such application" but the primary concern was "the best interest of the child", he said.
       
"These aren't issues for politicians to deliberate on; they are heart-wrenching issues for a court to deliberate on and that is (what is) appropriate," McClelland said.