An investigation by international adoption law experts in November found documents were routinely falsified and children´s homes were largely unregulated, with the interests of the child often not considered at all. [break]
The lawyers, from intergovernmental organization The Hague Conference on Private International Law, urged authorities in Nepal to introduce new legislation to prevent such abuses.
"Inter-country adoption should not be considered independently of child protection," they said in a report seen by AFP on Thursday.
"A new law for inter-country adoption is needed. It should be integrated with a comprehensive law on child protection measures and national solutions for children without parental care."
Nepal suspended international adoption in 2007 after reports that foreigners were paying up to 20,000 dollars to adopt children, most of whom were not genuine orphans.
Child welfare campaigners say some were effectively trafficked out of the country by unscrupulous orphanages that falsified documents and lied to parents about where their children were being taken.
The government introduced new rules in 2008 and international adoptions restarted last year, but campaigners say abuses of the system continue.
The report by the Hague Conference, an intergovernmental organization based in the Dutch city, calls on Nepal to suspend international adoptions again while the system is overhauled to ensure children are better protected.
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