1.This Act may be cited as
the North Korean Refugee Adoption Act
of 2011
.
2.It is the sense of
Congress that—
(1)thousands of
North Korean children do not have families and are threatened with starvation
and disease if they remain in North Korea or as stateless refugees in
surrounding countries;
(2)thousands of
United States citizens would welcome the opportunity to adopt North Korean
orphans living outside North Korea as de jure or de facto stateless refugees;
and
(3)the Secretary of
State and the Secretary of Homeland Security should make every effort to
facilitate the immediate care, family reunification, and, if necessary and
appropriate, the adoption of any eligible North Korean children living outside
North Korea as de jure or de facto stateless refugees.
3.In this Act:
(1)The term foreign-sending country—
(A)means—
(i)the
country of the orphan’s citizenship; or
(ii)if
the orphan is not permanently residing in the country of citizenship, the
country of the orphan’s habitual residence; and
(B)excludes any
country to which the orphan—
(i)travels
temporarily; or
(ii)travels as a
prelude to, or in conjunction with, his or her adoption or immigration to the
United States.
(2)The term Hague countries means a country
that is a signatory of the Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation
in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, done at The Hague on May 29, 1993.
(3)The term non-Hague country means a country
that is not a signatory of the Convention on Protection of Children and
Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, done at The Hague on May 29,
1993.
4.Strategy on
adoption of North Korean children by United States citizens
(a)The Secretary of State, in consultation with the
Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Health and Human Services,
shall develop a comprehensive strategy for facilitating the adoption of North
Korean children by United States citizens.
(b)In
developing the strategy under this section, the Secretary shall—
(1)consider the
challenges that United States citizens would encounter in attempting to adopt
children from North Korea who are currently living in Hague countries and
non-Hague countries regardless of their legal status in such countries;
(2)propose solutions
to dealing with the situation in which a North Korean refugee child does not
have access to a competent authority in the foreign-sending country;
(3)propose solutions
to dealing with North Korean refugee children who are not considered habitual
residents of the countries in which they are located;
(4)evaluate
alternative mechanisms for foreign-sending countries to prove that North Korean
refugee children are orphans when documentation, such as birth certificates,
death certificates of birth parents, and orphanage documentation, is missing or
destroyed;
(5)provide
suggestions for working with South Korea to establish pilot programs that
identify, provide for the immediate care of, assist in the family reunification
of, and assist in the international adoption of, orphaned North Korean children
living within South Korea;
(6)provide
suggestions for working with aid organizations in Asia to identify and
establish pilot programs for the identification, immediate care, family
reunification, and international adoption of North Korean orphans living
outside North Korea as de jure or de facto stateless refugees;
(7)identify other
nations in which large numbers of stateless, orphaned children are living who
might be helped by international adoption; and
(8)propose solutions
for assisting orphaned children with Chinese fathers and North Korean mothers
who are living in China and have no access to Chinese or North Korean
resources.
(c)Not later than 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit a written report to
Congress that contains the details of the strategy developed under this
section.