Cambodia alleges Australian passport scam for babies

CAMBODIA: The Australian embassy in Cambodia granted Australian passports to at least five babies born to surrogate mothers after being presented falsified documents, Cambodian authorities say.

Top Cambodian Interior Ministry official Chou Bun Eng has confirmed falsified documents were used in cases where Australians have taken babies from Cambodia in recent months.

‘‘The documents state that the husband is an Australian and the wife is Cambodian . . . and their child is Australian,’’ Bun Eng, ministry secretary of state, said.

But investigations by Cambodian anti-human trafficking police have revealed that the Cambodian surrogate mothers were already married and have previous children to Cambodian men, and there is no evidence they married the Australians.

Fairfax Media has obtained a copy of a birth certificate issued by a clinic in Phnom Penh which claimed that Charles Artman, a 27-year-old Ghana-born man travelling on an Australian passport, was the husband of surrogate mother Hour Vanny.

But 35-year-old Vanny has said she never married Artman and only met him briefly after a baby she delivered by caesarean section was taken from her at the clinic in August.

Artman, who paid US$50,000 (NZ$70,700) to take the baby from Cambodia, could not be located for comment.

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs refused to comment, citing privacy legislation.

The Australian government’s refusal to provide information about Australian biological parents to Cambodian investigators has strained ties with the Cambodian government.

Australia has a policy of not becoming involved with Australians negotiating surrogacy arrangements overseas.

But the policy has irked Cambodian officials who say Australia must not shirk responsibility for a human tragedy unfolding in the country.

Dozens of surrogate mothers carrying babies for Australians have gone into hiding, fearing arrest under a crackdown in the multimillion-dollar surrogacy industry.

But officials say surrogates will be treated as victims and are worried they are not receiving medical checkups and medicines.

Officials have appealed for an estimated 70 Australian biological parents who have entered into agreements in Cambodia to come forward to identify themselves and prove they are the real parents of babies carried by surrogate mothers. - Fairfax