N° 210 – Responding to inherent risks linked to ‘expatriate adoptions’

Our globalised world has increasingly facilitated transnational mobility and free movement of workers. By 2017, global numbers are estimated to reach 56.8 million expatriates1. Expatriates are generally individuals living in a country other than their country of citizenship for various reasons (work, volunteering, education, etc.), often for a limited amount of time. Such work expatriations can create opportunities and challenges related to the private family sphere, including adoption issues. The ISS/IRC does not question the validity of every ‘expatriate adoption’, yet invites all actors to prevent and address the inherent risks linked to such adoptions when they arise.