Human rights groups in Malawi have raised objections to Madonna's intended adoption of one year old David Banda, saying that the proposed adoption is illegal, because the singer has not lived in the country. Children's pressure group Eye Of The Child says it will seek a court injunction if the government does not revoke that previously reported order approving the adoption, saying: "It's not like selling property", and adding that their actions were concerned with "safeguarding the future of a human being who, because of age, cannot express an opinion".
A second human rights organisation, the Civil Liberties Committee, have subsequently backed Eye Of The Child's stance on the matter. Justin Dzonzi, of the country's Human Rights Consultative Committee told the BBC: "The laws of Malawi are clear that if one wants to adopt a child one has to stay with the child for at least 18 months for assessment. If Madonna wants to adopt this baby she has to stay here".
Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie left Malawi last week without the child, but this is said to be because his passport is still being processed. As previously reported, the boy's father approved of the adoption, and the chief in the village where the baby was born also added his voice, saying "If we didn't send David away to the orphanage we would have buried him." The child's uncle, Pofera Banda, on the other hand, has spoken out against the adoption, saying: "We have seen other parents at the mission who have had their children adopted still living in their poverty. They have not seen their children - all they see is pictures sent to them. We don't want that to happen to this family".