Truth and Reconciliation for the Adoption Community (TRACK)*

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Truth and Reconciliation for the Adoption Community (TRACK)*

*Truth and Reconciliation for the Adoption Community (TRACK) is a Korean civil society organization that advocates for the full knowledge of past and present Korean adoption practices to protect the human rights of adult adoptees, children, and families. TRACK is a member of Child Rights Connect, the UBR Working Group, and Make Mothers Matter.

Article 18 (2) – Birth registration

1.  The current birth registration system of the Republic of Korea (ROK) is in reality a voluntary birth “reporting” system, whereby parents must register their child at a city district office within 30 days after the child's birth.[1]The birth certificate given at the hospital (sometimes without the name of the child) is not a state or legal document. This issue is of particular concern as the number of children with disabilities available for adoption has increased. Infants, especially those with disabilities and/or those born to unwed mothers, may be reported as the biological children of adopters. This may happen when a either a delivering doctor or adoption agency arranges the adoption because parents may write down whatever they want on the birth “reporting” form at the city office. Moreover, a birth certificate is not required for the voluntary report at the city office, which is the legal document that provides future identification for the child. This voluntary family reporting system is a vestige of the past, when home births were common.[2]

2.  Unmarried women are already heavily discriminated as reported in the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Concluding Observations,[3] and the birth of a disabled child, couple with discrimination, only adds to the difficulty both mother and child must confront. While more unwed mothers are raising their children (29% in 2010 to 35% in 2012)[4], this figure remains extremely low due to a combination of discrimination and a lack of family support. The ROK has yet to enforce court rulings for child support[5]; unmarried mothers receive less than USD 75 per month from the central government[6], and may face job discrimination, which can lead to abandonment and exclusion from birth registration for disabled children. The Ministry of Health and Welfare reported that in 2013, out of 236 children sent overseas for adoption, 59 (25%) had disabilities, and 228 (96.6%) were children of unwed mothers. Although the MHW does not show which percentage of children may be categorized simultaneously as both children of unwed mothers and children with disabilities, due to the high percentage of unwed mothers’ children sent for adoption, it follows that children born with disability to unwed parents are especially at risk of family separation.[7] The Korean government uses a system to rank the severity of disability. This same system should be used to report the level of disability of children sent for adoption so there is an idea of the number of children with light or correctable disabilities (some of which are corrected before the child is sent for adoption) and a number of those with severe disabilities.

3.  It should also be noted that birth registration is not practicably or consistently available for persons in refugee, asylum-seeking or irregular migration situations. With an estimated 17,000 unregistered children born to undocumented migrants living in the ROK, this lack of registration prevents them from obtaining health care, leaving those with disabilities especially vulnerable.[8]

4.  Because children in the ROK are voluntarily registered, and this is not always done immediately after birth, and in light of the discrimination and lack of support for unmarried mothers, children with disabilities, especially those born to unwed mothers, suffer a higher risk of their documents being falsified for adoption; Such a document shows that a child is registered as the only member of her/his family.

5.  In 2011, the Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed concern, recommending that the ROK, in accordance with Article 7, ensure that all children are registered and that registration is verified to ensure it accurately indicates the biological parents.[9]

6.  These concerns were repeated in 2012 in the UN Universal Periodic Review when nine states issued recommendations for the ROK to revise its birth registration to ensure immediate birth registration for all children.[10]

Article 23 – Abandonment of children with disabilities

7.  Article 272 of the Criminal Act criminalizes the abandonment of children.[11]Despite this, a baby boxy (also known as a “hatch”) has been operating in Seoul since 2009. Two more recently opened in the city of Gunpo, where 13 children have been abandoned from May 8 to July 15 this year, while another is planned for the city of Busan.[12] The Committee on the Rights of the Child has opposed such mechanisms for violating the rights of the child and is strongly urging State Parties to end such practices.[13] However, the ROK Government has yet to enforce its domestic law and international obligations by either ending this program or offering alternatives for confidential birth.

8.  According to statistics from the church operating the baby box in Seoul[14], the number of children with disabilities abandoned there is:

2010 – 2 out of 4 children had disabilities

2011 – 11 out of 37 children had disabilities

2012 – 8 out of 71 children had disabilities

2013 – 18 out of 184 children had disabilities

Although the church keeps its own records, the disability should be confirmed by a doctor and reported to the city of Seoul and the national government. However, these statistics are not available.

9.  The increase in abandonment of children without disabilities in 2012 and 2013 can be attributed to the media inaccurately informing the public that the Special Adoption Law, which went into effect in August 2012, made birth registration mandatory.[15] This led many unmarried mothers to abandon their babies in the baby box to avoid discrimination. Therefore, taking this factor into account and based on the statistics before 2012, the proportion of children with disabilities abandoned in the hatch was significant (50% in 2010 and 30% in 2011).

Recommendations:

In consideration of these issues, we request that the Committee urge the Republic of Korea

1.  To ensure that all children, especially those with disabilities, are registered immediately after birth.

2.  To provide adequate support to parents, particularly single mothers, with children with disabilities

3.  To provide awareness-raising and public education, including training to health and public professionals, social workers, and those working with children, to eliminate discrimination and negative attitudes towards children with disabilities. This should include anti-discrimination campaigns for single parents with children with disabilities as they may be especially vulnerable to family separation.

[1]A/HRC/WG.6/14/KOR/3, para 55

[2] Kim, C. (2013, Nov. 8). Research on Birth Registration: Findings and Recommendations. Presentation given at 2013 Conference on Statelessness and Birth Registration, Seoul, Korea.

[3] A/HRC/WG.6/14/KOR/3, para 28

[4] KBS news, May 12, 2014. “Last year, adoption of children decreased greatly …. Unwed mother support an urgent issue.” http://news.kbs.co.kr/news/NewsView.do?SEARCH_NEWS_CODE=2861263&ref=A

[5] A body to enforce child support rulings was legislated in 2014 and will go into effect in 2015.

[6] Depending on her age, status of her family, place of residence, etc., an unwed mother may receive more support. However, the 75,000 KRW is the only aid given to “single parents” by the central government without any consideration about other qualifications. Korea also has some universal benefits for pregnant women, but these benefits are insufficient to cover the entire cost of prenatal care and raising a child.

[7] Korea Adoption Services, domestic and overseas adoption current situation, 2013. Accessed August 22, 2014 from https://www.kadoption.or.kr/board/board_view.jsp?no=147&listSize=10&pageNo=1&bcode=06_1&category=%ED%86%B5%EA%B3%84

[8] Minority Rights Group International. (2013). State of the World's Minorities and Indigenous People 2013 - South Korea. Retrieved March 23, 2014, from http://www.refworld.org/docid/526fb73014.html; also refer to Save the Children Korea's OHCHR submission on birth registration at http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Children/BirthRegistration/SaveChildrenKorea.docx

[9] Para. 37, CRC/C/KOR/CO/3-4

[10]Para 124.29 A/HRC/22/10

[11] Article 272 (Abandoning Baby) of the Criminal Act states, "A lineal ascendant who abandons a baby in order to avoid disgrace or for fear of not being able to bring the baby up or for some other extenuating motives, shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than two years or by a fine not exceeding three million won." (Amended by Act. No. 5057, Dec. 29, 1995).

[12] Jeong, G. (2014). Closing babyboxes is difficult, frustration: Seoul, Busan, Gunpo local governments' position is that they are illegal. Retrieved August 22, 2014 from http://www.ibabynews.com/News/NewsView.aspx?CategoryCode=0010&NewsCode=201408041755197790001863

[13] Para. 50, CRC/C/CZE/CO/3-4; Para. 31, CRC/C/DEU/CO/3-4; Para. 23, CRC/C/LTU/CO/3-4

[14] Morrison, S. (2013). Baby Box Statistics. Retrieved April 2, 2014, from http://mpakusa.blogspot.kr/2013/10/baby-box-statistics.html

[15]The Family Registration Act, not the Special Adoption Law, covers birth registration. Refer to: Kim, Soo-jung. (2013). The Importance of the Birth Registration System. Paper presented at the The 3rd Single Moms’ Day International Conference, National Assembly Meeting Hall. http://www.scribd.com/doc/142024568/2013-Single-Moms-Day-booklet-English-only