This time last week, Fred and Shelly Muntau were in a hotel room in Brussels, waiting for word that their adopted son, Pedro, would finally be allowed to go home with them to Surrey, British Columbia.
Instead, they returned home without him this week, yet again.
The Muntaus have been waiting for three years to bring Pedro home from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). They are among 11 Canadian families that have found themselves caught in bureaucratic limbo while trying to legally adopt children from the DRC.
It’s a process that, in some cases, has taken years and cost the families tens of thousands of dollars. Last July, the Muntaus found themselves caught in the middle: the Congolese government said it couldn’t issue an exit letter for Pedro until the Canadian government issued him a visa. However, officials here said they couldn’t do that without the exit letter.
What’s more, DRC officials issued a moratorium on international adoptions. Families said they believed it would have been lifted after a year. It wasn’t.
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Further complicating the situation is that, according to Canada’s Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship department, the African nation has “expressed concerns about the integrity of its intercountry adoption program” and has indicated “its intent to introduce new legislation to address the concerns.”
Just what that new legislation entails is still unclear, but talk of it is what prompted the Muntaus and others to launch a social media campaign, urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to call DRC President Joseph Kabila and intervene.
WATCH: Congo adoption woes
“They are legally adopted and should be allowed to be with their forever families. At this point, our greatest hope is that Justin Trudeau will call Kabila and ask for their release,” said Adrien Stevens, who has been waiting since June 2013 to bring their adopted son, Camille, home.
Canadian officials are “monitoring the situation closely.”
To date, there has been no response from Prime Minister Trudeau, however in an email to Global News, a spokesperson with IRCC said officials are doing what they can, but their powers are limited.
“IRCC is working to balance the needs of the adoptive families with the requirement to operate in a manner that respects the decision of the DRC to temporarily suspend its intercountry adoption program, as well as Canada’s international obligations related to the best interests of the child,” said Jessica Seguin, a spokesperson with the department.
The email goes on to say the Canadian government, Global Affairs Canada and the Canadian Embassy in Kinshasa are monitoring the issue closely.
“Canada is not alone in this,” wrote Seguin. “All countries involved in intercountry adoptions with the DRC are impacted by the Congolese government’s decision.”
Those countries include France, Belgium, Italy and the United States.
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