Oz Opposition leader demands 'returning' of kidnapped Indian kids
23 Aug 2008, 1311 Hrs

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Melbourne, Aug 23 (ANI): Following reports of an active racket involved in kidnapping children from India and shifting them to Australia for adoption, Aussie Opposition leader Dr Brendan Nelson has demanded that the "kidnapped" children living in his country should be returned to their home country.

Any children kidnapped in an overseas adoption racket will likely have to be returned to their families, Nelson said.

Media reports over the past two days have suggested that at least 30 children adopted in Australia may have been stolen from their parents by a child trafficking ring operating in India between 1998 and 1999.

The Queensland Government and Indian investigators will soon begin working together to investigate the claims. "Let us hope that the inquiry, in fact, does not find that children have been effectively kidnapped," an AAP report quoted Dr Nelson as saying.

He added: "But. if they have, then we will have a moral responsibility to do the right thing. And, the right thing, we would expect in most cases, will be to look at returning them to their rightful families."

Dr Nelson also rejected suggestions Canberra should wrest control of adoption legislation from the states. "I don't think that we should have knee-jerk responses that suggest that the Commonwealth should automatically take it over. So, let's just wait until we get the outcome of the inquiry before people start to say: 'Well, if the Commonwealth takes it over that will solve all the problems'. Generally speaking, Government is the problem, not the solution." (ANI)