Appogg has pending requests from 34 couples and five individuals who wish to adopt children, Justice Minister Chris Said said.
They are awaiting notification to attend a course as part of the process to prepare them for adoption.
Dr Said said that the costs due for the adoptions are paid to the country from where the children are adopted. The arrangements are made by the applicants while Appogg helps by processing the application for adoption and the provision of training, visas, home study reports and other reports, all without charge.
The minister gave the following statistics on adoptions from various countries:
|
Year 2008 |
|
|
|
||
|
COUNTRY OF BIRTH |
MALE |
FEMALE |
TOTAL |
||
|
Albania |
1 |
0 |
1 |
||
|
Bulgaria |
0 |
2 |
2 |
||
|
Cambodia |
3 |
0 |
3 |
||
|
Ethiopia |
4 |
5 |
9 |
||
|
Kazakhstan |
0 |
1 |
1 |
||
|
Malta |
1 |
1 |
2 |
||
|
Pakistan |
1 |
2 |
3 |
||
|
Philippines |
1 |
0 |
1 |
||
|
Russian Federation |
15 |
12 |
27 |
||
|
Grand Total |
26 |
23 |
49* |
||
|
Year 2009 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
COUNTRY OF BIRTH |
MALE |
FEMALE |
TOTAL |
|
|
|
Albania |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
Cambodia |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
Ethiopia |
3 |
2 |
5 |
|
|
|
Malta |
4 |
2 |
6 |
|
|
|
Pakistan |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
|
|
Russian Federation |
14 |
11 |
25 |
|
|
|
Grand Total |
22 |
18 |
40* |
|
|
|
Year 2010 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
COUNTRY OF BIRTH |
MALE |
FEMALE |
TOTAL |
|
|
|
Cambodia |
5 |
2 |
7 |
|
|
|
Ethiopia |
2 |
3 |
5 |
|
|
|
Malta |
5 |
4 |
9 |
|
|
|
Russian Federation |
5 |
5 |
10 |
|
|
|
Grand Total |
17 |
14 |
31* |
|
|
|
Year 2011 |
|
|
|
|
COUNTRY OF BIRTH |
MALE |
FEMALE |
TOTAL |
|
Albania |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
Bulgaria |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Cambodia |
7 |
4 |
11 |
|
Colombia |
0 |
2 |
2 |
|
Ethiopia |
5 |
3 |
8 |
|
Malta |
3 |
0 |
3 |
|
Russian Federation |
11 |
18 |
29 |
|
Grand Total |
27 |
28 |
55* |
*Amounts include both Original decree and Malta decree
Labour MP Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca in another question asked why prospective adoptive parents were made to wait more than a year to start the preparation course.
Dr Said said the output of the Adoption Service reflected available human resources, which was equivalent to five full-timers, whose work also included internal administration, talks on procedures with other countries and the fathering of statistics.
Each worker as of the end of December had a caseload of 32 persons each. The workers also drafted an average of 62 post-adoption reports per year.