Human trafficking has received increased contemplation over the last 10 to 15 years both in terms of public and political arenas. Human trafficking also termed trafficking in persons or modern slavery, is the term that has been used interchangeably for referring to a variety of crimes that are associated and linked with the economic exploitation of people. Human trafficking has very often been associated with various transnational organized crime groups and local gangs thereby leading to the violation of labor and immigration laws and also government corruption.

The aspect of transnational adoption has been adopted by the criminals that have been the major cause of human trafficking in recent centuries. Globalization has had a significant impact on human trafficking, widening the divide between the rich and the poor, making it easier for traffickers to recruit, relocate, and trade victims. In basic terms, the consequence of globalization has tremendously benefited and expanded international crimes. The current global conditions have created and increased the demand for cheap labor, thereby leading to migration, and henceforth increasing the crimes of human trafficking and smuggling. The increased trade of the individuals at the national and international level is because of globalization and has subsequently led to increasing the economic disparities in the developed countries and the developing countries.

The first transnational adoption was recognized in the nation-state of the United States with the end of the Second World War, and officially it was after the end of the Korean War that the international adoption to the United States was institutionalized. Child trafficking is a term that expressly claims that the intercountry adoption system frequently confiscates children illegally from their respective birth parents and then uses the official processes of the adoption and legal systems to launder and trade them, referring to them as legally adopted children as a defense mechanism. As a result, the adoption system handles children and humans in a similar way to a money-laundering criminal organization that acquires cash unlawfully but then launders the children and human beings through a legitimate business.

Understanding the Concept of Transnational Adoption

Transnational adoption or intercountry adoption can be a frustrating, complex, complicated, and emotional process for many of the families who have been attempting to adopt unparented children from around the globe. The process is currently experiencing turmoil as it has been misused by the people mainly the opportunistic individuals and the governments with an aim for exploiting children and all the well-intending families for profit-oriented purposes. Adoption is referred to as a complex social phenomenon that is intimately knitted into the legal framework of family law and is shaped by pressures affecting the family in its social context.

Adoption is the voluntary acceptance of the responsibility for protecting, nurturing, and promoting the development of the children of another as long as the child attains adulthood. Adoption is an act that brings that child into the family of the adopter with all the implications for the sharing in the name of the family, home, assets, and kinship relationships that are thereby entailed. The process of adoption i.e., the chance of giving a new life to the children, and the right of this adoption are being given to both the Indian nationals and to the foreign nationals. The process of adoption that gives the right to the people for adopting children outside their national jurisdictions i.e., the foreign nationals, is referred to as the transnational adoption.

It is the acquisition of a child in one jurisdiction by citizens resident and domiciled in another, who either adopt the children in their own country or return with the children and begin adoption processes, which is neither unusual nor exceptional. International adoption and intercountry adoption are the two terms that can be used interchangeably. Corruption and over-regulation plague the international adoption system. Overregulation of the international adoption system is allowing the process to be infiltrated by corrupt businesses and individuals and simultaneously is keeping the children institutionalized for prolonged periods. Over-regulation is also causing the cost of international adoption financially burdensome for some of the prospective adoptive families. 

Human Trafficking and Transnational Adoption

Human trafficking is one of the world’s most rapidly expanding criminal offenses. Human trafficking has sparked widespread public and political concern in recent years. It’s been characterized as the involvement of a wide range of crimes and abuses related to the recruitment, movement, sale, and trafficking of individuals into exploitative conditions all over the world. The new white slave trade, transnational organized crime, an illegal migration problem, a threat to national sovereignty and security, a labor issue, a violation of human rights, and a composite of all of these terms have been used to describe it. It has been estimated that 35.8 million people have been victims of human trafficking.

The countries that have the highest number of cases related to human trafficking are India, China, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and Russia. The transnational adoption has been under extreme scrutiny because of the wrongful accusations of cultural deprivations, abuse, kidnappings, and most frequently human trafficking. There have been reports that have mentioned that adopting children from different countries in the world is harmful to both the child, birth parents, and others that are involved in the process of adoption. The children who are adopted from third-world countries are frequently stolen and kidnapped from their birth parents and then are processed as orphans through the process of adoption systems. These humans and children are then trafficked in the form of bonded labor, sex trafficking, organ trafficking, child abuse and child marriage, and debt bondage. These act as a violation of the basic human rights of individuals. 

Legislative Framework for Adoption

Human trafficking in any of the forms is a violation of human rights. The consolidation of human rights had gathered momentum from the latter half of the twentieth century through the proliferation of the institutions related to human rights and the rise in the international efficacy of human rights as the principles of justice and equity to all individuals. Hence, human trafficking in the form of transnational adoption acts as a violation of basic human rights as per the convention of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

It violates the basic human rights of the individuals namely the right to be free from slavery or servitude; right to free movement; right to life, liberty, and security; right to health, and right to free choice of employment.  Then there is a convention at the global level mentioned as the Convention on the Rights of the Child that sets basic standard rules and regulations on adoption. Intercountry adoption is regulated by the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption.

The Convention has been ratified by the 90 member nation-states and deals with the aspects related to international adoption, child laundering, and child trafficking, and for protecting the individuals and children from the criminal offenses of corruption, abuses, exploitation, and trafficking. The Convention has been introduced in compliance with the principles underlined under Article 21 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Convention has acted as an umbrella shield for the individuals and the children in terms of adoption, and have laid down various principles that should be considered of primary importance, which can be stated below:

• According to the Convention, the child’s best interests should be regarded first in terms of adoption, citing Article 3 and Article 21 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
• The second is the concept of subsidiarity, which holds that it is within the parties’ jurisdiction to recognize that children must be reared inadequate living conditions by their birth family or extended family.
• The third aspect is that the Convention has established procedures and methods for preventing the abduction, sale, trade, and trafficking of individuals and children for adoption to protect birth families from exploitation and undue pressure, as well as to prevent them from any improper financial gain and other forms of corruption.
• The Convention has also provided for a system of centrally organized authorities with the jurisdiction of various general obligations such as cooperation among all concerning intercountry adoption, elimination of the obstacles for the application of Convention, and deterring all the illegal practices.

Recommendations

• The member nation-states should take steps for ensuring that the children would receive the nationality of their adoptive parents.
• There must be more stringent laws, regulations, conventions, and treaties for governing transnational adoption and intercountry adoption for preventing illegal international adoption.
• It is crucial and essential that the policymakers must deregulate intercountry adoption and for streamlining the process of an international adoption with the main purpose of placing the children with their respective adoptive families. 
• The nation-states must adopt a vigilant approach during emergencies for preventing any kind of abuses, and violations of international obligations.
• The procedure of immigration for the adopted children must be done carefully in compliance with the legal rules and regulations for preventing human trafficking.

Conclusion

The intercountry or the transnational adoption has become vitiated with a substantial degree of human trafficking. This human trafficking is not an inevitable feature of the system but exists and has poisoned the system because of the specific failings of law and system within the current system. The already existing international laws, treaties, and conventions have hindered the process of transnational adoption. These regulations are in a dire need of modernization i.e., redacted and streamlined for deinstitutionalizing orphans and making efforts for finding them homes with adequate living conditions.

The growing criticism of an intercountry system with so many abuses related to kidnapping and trafficking can predict the failure of the intercountry adoption system. Therefore, three alternatives can be adopted namely, continuing the current system and allowing systematic human trafficking, eliminating the systems, and reforming the system as a whole. Thus, it is the responsibility of the developed nations and the developing nations for taking efforts and ensure that children are safe and have sustainable living conditions.

---

Editor’s Note
This article discusses one of the most contemporary issues of human trafficking in light of the concept of transnational adoption. The author has firstly explained the concept of transnational adoption. The author has further explained the emerging issues of human trafficking arising with the increase in transnational adoption. The author has also touched upon the legislative framework related to transnational adoption and human trafficking. Lastly, the author has given certain recommendations as to how to tackle the issue of human trafficking in transnational adoption more effectively. The author has concluded by saying that it is the duty of both developed as well as developing nations to ensure that children are provided with safe and sustainable living conditions.