Content
Skip to Main ContentAccessibility Help
The Current

How a controversial adoption ban on Pakistan kept a Canadian family in limbo for years

The Fifth Estate's Habiba Nosheen shares details into a year-long investigation that found Canada bans adoptions from Muslim countries saying Shariah law prohibits it. The Liberal government inherited the 2013 policy and it's still in effect.

Federal government states they intend to review the 2013 controversial policy

CBC Radio ·
A child lies in a crib in the nursery of a Pakistan orphanage.
For years, Canadian families could adopt orphaned or abandoned Pakistani children — until a 2013 ban made it impossible to do so. (Habiba Nosheen/CBC)

Read Story Transcript

After a year-long investigation by CBC TV's The Fifth Estate, the federal government has said they will re-examine the 2013 decision to ban adoptions from Pakistan.

The ban came without warning under the then-Conservative government affecting Canadian families who were in the middle of their adoption process, said The Fifth Estate's host Habiba Nosheen. 

"The Canadian government has been saying for the last five years that they cannot allow adoptions from Pakistan because Pakistan prohibits adoptions," Nosheen told The Current's guest host Laura Lynch.

Documents obtained through access to information found that according to the federal government, adoptions aren't permissible under Shariah law. 

Nosheen knew this wasn't true. In 2016, she adopted her daughter Sophie from an orphanage in Pakistan. In her case the process was relatively simple; she was living in the U.S. at the time.

Signs like this are posted above cribs placed around Pakistan to encourage mothers to bring newborns to an orphanage if they cannot be cared for.
Signs like this are posted above cribs placed around Pakistan by the Edhi Foundation, a non-profit social welfare program. (Habiba Nosheen/CBC)

For Shafiq Rehman and his wife, it was far from easy.

The Toronto couple left for Pakistan to adopt a baby in 2013. Their application was approved — just as the ban went into effect.

Rehman returned to Canada, while his wife stayed behind in Pakistan with their newly adopted baby girl.

"It almost took five years before the Canadian government finally sorted out Shafiq's case and allowed him to bring his daughter home," said Nosheen​.

After reviewing documents for the investigation, Nosheen​ said the Canadian government estimates 54 families were in the middle of their adoption process from adopting from Pakistan when the ban was announced.

Nosheen said it wasn't clear why Pakistan was the only Muslim country affected by the ban.

"But we found that families who had adopted from other Muslim countries like Morocco, Yemen, Iran, from time to time faced similar obstacles with the Canadian government," she added.

Federal immigration minister Ahmed Hussen declined to be interviewed by The Fifth Estate. His office instead emailed a response saying they would undertake a review of the policy.
Federal Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen declined to be interviewed by The Fifth Estate. His office instead emailed a response saying they would undertake a review of the policy. (John Badcock/CBC)

The Fifth Estate requested an interview with Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussein to clarify this policy, but Nosheen​ said he refused.

A spokesperson for the minister responded with a written statement.

"Harmonizing the laws of two countries can often be challenging and rather than trying to overcome these obstacles, the Harper government imposed a moratorium on all adoptions from Pakistan," it reads in part.

"We have asked the department to initiate a review of this policy and begin consultations with Pakistan to determine a path forward to regularize adoptions from Pakistan."

Click 'listen' near the top of this page to hear the full conversation.

Produced by Liz Hoath, Shanifa Nasser and Virginia Smart.

More from this episode