A can of worms !

The revelation that some children from India who have been legally adopted by Australian families were snatched from their poor parents and sold for profit opens an unimaginable can of worms.

Under the Hague convention Australia has an obligation to return those children to their rightful parents - and this is the only possible just decision - but at what cost ?

Most of the children abducted by criminal gangs were tiny babies and their only recollection of life involves a western society upbringing. They attend an Australian school, have Australian friends - and they don't speak the language of India.

Imagine their dismay to be wrested from such a life and returned to a country they do not know - to a language they do not speak - and to parents who live in a slum - have no sanitation or running water - and struggle to find daily food.

To the adoptee Australian parents it will be like a death in the family. To the child it will be the worst possible change of circumstances that a human can endure - and to their Indian parents - obviously joy to find their child alive - but sadness at what might have been their child's life.

This is an almost impossible dilemma for all concerned - and the Australian government should be generous in trying to solve a problem that was not of it's making.

It would be nice to offer the reunited parents of these children the opportunity to migrate to this country.

If they accept - they should go to the head of our annual migrant intake, and the government should provide initial support within a migrant centre while they acclimatise to a western way of life, learn the language - and gain skills to get a job.

Obviously the checking of children offered for overseas adoptions needs to be enhanced, and those Australian parents of children who have been returned to their Indian mothers should go to the head of the line for further selection.

There is no perfect answer to an imperfect problem, but with a bit of goodwill and a shredding of red tape an impossible situation can be made marginally better !