- Compiled from the June 2010 issue of Adoption Today magazine.
Haiti
Haiti is now accepting adoption applications for children who were documented as orphans before Jan. 12 or who have been relinquished by thier birth parents since the the earthquake.
Kyrgyztan
All intercountry adoptions have been suspended and the U.S. State Dept. has issued a travel warning about traveling there.
Kazakhstan
All intercountry adoptions have been halted by Kazakhstan until the government implements a system that is in compliance with the Hague Adoption Convention (goal: September 2010). This does not affect adoptions that are already in process.
Liberia
Liberia has suspended all adoptions due to finding of corruption. It is not accepting any new applications nor making any referrals for existing applications.
For more information: http://adoption.state.gov/
Showing posts with label Haiti. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Haiti. Show all posts
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
The Joys And Struggles Of International Adoption
international adoption (the subject of a previous blog post, below) was a recent guest on NPR's Fresh Air. Listen to the interview or read the interview's highlights here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126777059&ps=cprs
A History of International Adoption and Adopting from Haiti
The Last Babylift
Adopting a child in Haiti.
Monday, April 26, 2010
40 percent decline in overseas adoptions by Americans since 2004
Idaho's Impact
Haiti scandal overshadows bigger threat to evangelical adoption efforts.
from Christianity Today
The high-profile legal saga of the 10 Idaho-based Baptists arrested in January for attempting to smuggle 33 Haitian children into the Dominican Republic is winding down. But evangelical adoption advocates wonder what the long-term impact will be.
Leading orphan care advocate Russell Moore suggested in the days following the arrests that the scandal might be a black eye to evangelicals' adoption efforts worldwide. But two months later, Moore said he is no longer worried about a fallout.
"In many ways, the controversy served as an opportunity to clarify what we mean and what we do not mean," said Moore, dean of the School of Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. "No one in the Christian orphan care community is calling for children to be adopted who are not in fact orphans. And no one is calling for children to be adopted apart from the legitimate processes."
A larger hurdle for international adoptions by evangelicals may be new restrictions on adoptions in countries where they have been most prevalent, including China, Guatemala, Russia, Vietnam, and Liberia.
China, which has traditionally accounted for the majority of adoptions to the U.S., rewrote its qualifications for adoptive parents in 2007. Guatemala, the second-largest source of American adoptions, completely shut down its program in 2008 due to widespread corruption, though it will launch a new adoption system this June. Since 2004, these and other restrictions have resulted in a 40 percent decline in overseas adoptions by Americans—from an all-time high of almost 23,000 in 2004 to fewer than 12,800 in 2009, according to the U.S. State Department.
Read the complete article here: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/may/2.14.html?start=1
Haiti scandal overshadows bigger threat to evangelical adoption efforts.
from Christianity Today
The high-profile legal saga of the 10 Idaho-based Baptists arrested in January for attempting to smuggle 33 Haitian children into the Dominican Republic is winding down. But evangelical adoption advocates wonder what the long-term impact will be.
Leading orphan care advocate Russell Moore suggested in the days following the arrests that the scandal might be a black eye to evangelicals' adoption efforts worldwide. But two months later, Moore said he is no longer worried about a fallout.
"In many ways, the controversy served as an opportunity to clarify what we mean and what we do not mean," said Moore, dean of the School of Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. "No one in the Christian orphan care community is calling for children to be adopted who are not in fact orphans. And no one is calling for children to be adopted apart from the legitimate processes."
A larger hurdle for international adoptions by evangelicals may be new restrictions on adoptions in countries where they have been most prevalent, including China, Guatemala, Russia, Vietnam, and Liberia.
China, which has traditionally accounted for the majority of adoptions to the U.S., rewrote its qualifications for adoptive parents in 2007. Guatemala, the second-largest source of American adoptions, completely shut down its program in 2008 due to widespread corruption, though it will launch a new adoption system this June. Since 2004, these and other restrictions have resulted in a 40 percent decline in overseas adoptions by Americans—from an all-time high of almost 23,000 in 2004 to fewer than 12,800 in 2009, according to the U.S. State Department.
Read the complete article here: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/may/2.14.html?start=1
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
An Editorial on Adoption from Christianity Today
210 Million Reasons to Adopt
Haiti's devastating quake reminds us that orphans matter to God.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/april/13.55.html?start=1
Two years ago, a Christian couple from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, fell in love with an abandoned toddler, born with a disability and living in an orphanage in rural Haiti. Already adoptive parents of a Liberian child, Katy and Josh Manges decided to adopt the toddler, Malachi, who has a treatable bone disorder.
Then the January 12 earthquake that crushed so much of Port-au-Prince, costing an estimated 230,000 lives, put the prayerful plans of the Manges family in limbo. It also laid bare before the world how badly orphans and vulnerable children may be treated when they get caught up in red tape, corruption, and political correctness.
For the Manges family, the outcome was success. In late February, Malachi arrived in Miami into the welcoming arms of his new family. Yet the adoption required two years of effort, delayed by local politics and requiring a personal signature from Haiti's prime minister. At the last minute, rioters at Port-au-Prince's airport derailed Malachi's departure, falsely alleging that he and other adoptees had phony paperwork.
This episode stands alongside another, the still-unfolding saga of the Idaho Baptists who were arrested on suspect charges of child trafficking. The latter may have a long-lasting chilling effect on inter-country adoption just when adoptive parents are needed more than ever. There are 210 million orphans worldwide, and adoptions to the U. S. have dropped 45 percent since 2004.
The greater problem isn't with potential adopting parents. It's with a system that is severely broken. Christian leaders and churches have much to offer in advocating for the reform of confusing adoption laws, stronger enforcement of international norms, and making adoption more affordable, more visible, and a more honored practice.
Jedd Medefind, president of the Christian Alliance for Orphans, recently told Christianity Today that immediately after Haiti's quake, many agencies fielded waves of calls from people with a strong impulse to take Haitian orphans into their homes. Rather than dismiss or belittle this impulse, Medefind encouraged them to consider the many ways of supporting the children, recognizing that adoption is a long and uncertain process. Family reunification, orphanages, extended family care, and child sponsorship all have a role to play in meeting the needs of vulnerable children in crisis or chronic need.
But Medefind is quick to note that powerful political and cultural barriers often make adoption an arduous process that takes too long and costs too much. "The reality is that there are thousands of children, before and after the earthquake, who are genuinely in need of parents," he says. "To the extent that parents can't be found, we should not relegate children to living on the streets or [in] orphanages. The political and cultural factors often become unspoken reasons why children are forced to remain in institutional care or on the streets, which is a profound tragedy."
The political and cultural barriers stem from warped ideas about what is in a poor child's best interest. It isn't in the best interest of abandoned children to grow up destitute and barely literate, regardless of the imagined cultural benefit of remaining in their home country. Haiti itself is a vivid example of injustice. The government tolerates a modern form of child slavery by allowing 225,000 children ages 6-14 to work as restavecs (unpaid, indentured domestics).
Adoption, domestic or inter-country, should not be looked down upon as inferior at best or as a last resort. The 150,000 South Korean orphans adopted worldwide (99,000 to the U.S.) since the 1950s testify well to the durable difference a loving adoptive family can make.
For Christians, the biblical basis for adoption bears repeating. The Book of James beckons every true follower of Christ to become involved in the lives of orphans (and widows). It's not for married couples only. Godly, never-married singles have successfully adopted, and most readily affirm the ideal that each child should live with a mother and father—whenever possible. So, Christian singles should not be automatically excluded from the pool of possibilities for adoption.
Adoption experts provided CT with four ways churches can increase their involvement:
CT recently talked with a never-married woman who adopted a young girl from Kazakhstan into her home (at a personal initial cost of $36,000). For her, the question was, "Are we talking about live souls?" Not mere "victims" or "political symbols" or "the needy," but children for whom Christ died, who need a home where the love of God is lived and shared with the least of these.
Haiti's devastating quake reminds us that orphans matter to God.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/april/13.55.html?start=1
Two years ago, a Christian couple from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, fell in love with an abandoned toddler, born with a disability and living in an orphanage in rural Haiti. Already adoptive parents of a Liberian child, Katy and Josh Manges decided to adopt the toddler, Malachi, who has a treatable bone disorder.
Then the January 12 earthquake that crushed so much of Port-au-Prince, costing an estimated 230,000 lives, put the prayerful plans of the Manges family in limbo. It also laid bare before the world how badly orphans and vulnerable children may be treated when they get caught up in red tape, corruption, and political correctness.
For the Manges family, the outcome was success. In late February, Malachi arrived in Miami into the welcoming arms of his new family. Yet the adoption required two years of effort, delayed by local politics and requiring a personal signature from Haiti's prime minister. At the last minute, rioters at Port-au-Prince's airport derailed Malachi's departure, falsely alleging that he and other adoptees had phony paperwork.
This episode stands alongside another, the still-unfolding saga of the Idaho Baptists who were arrested on suspect charges of child trafficking. The latter may have a long-lasting chilling effect on inter-country adoption just when adoptive parents are needed more than ever. There are 210 million orphans worldwide, and adoptions to the U. S. have dropped 45 percent since 2004.
The greater problem isn't with potential adopting parents. It's with a system that is severely broken. Christian leaders and churches have much to offer in advocating for the reform of confusing adoption laws, stronger enforcement of international norms, and making adoption more affordable, more visible, and a more honored practice.
Jedd Medefind, president of the Christian Alliance for Orphans, recently told Christianity Today that immediately after Haiti's quake, many agencies fielded waves of calls from people with a strong impulse to take Haitian orphans into their homes. Rather than dismiss or belittle this impulse, Medefind encouraged them to consider the many ways of supporting the children, recognizing that adoption is a long and uncertain process. Family reunification, orphanages, extended family care, and child sponsorship all have a role to play in meeting the needs of vulnerable children in crisis or chronic need.
But Medefind is quick to note that powerful political and cultural barriers often make adoption an arduous process that takes too long and costs too much. "The reality is that there are thousands of children, before and after the earthquake, who are genuinely in need of parents," he says. "To the extent that parents can't be found, we should not relegate children to living on the streets or [in] orphanages. The political and cultural factors often become unspoken reasons why children are forced to remain in institutional care or on the streets, which is a profound tragedy."
The political and cultural barriers stem from warped ideas about what is in a poor child's best interest. It isn't in the best interest of abandoned children to grow up destitute and barely literate, regardless of the imagined cultural benefit of remaining in their home country. Haiti itself is a vivid example of injustice. The government tolerates a modern form of child slavery by allowing 225,000 children ages 6-14 to work as restavecs (unpaid, indentured domestics).
Adoption, domestic or inter-country, should not be looked down upon as inferior at best or as a last resort. The 150,000 South Korean orphans adopted worldwide (99,000 to the U.S.) since the 1950s testify well to the durable difference a loving adoptive family can make.
For Christians, the biblical basis for adoption bears repeating. The Book of James beckons every true follower of Christ to become involved in the lives of orphans (and widows). It's not for married couples only. Godly, never-married singles have successfully adopted, and most readily affirm the ideal that each child should live with a mother and father—whenever possible. So, Christian singles should not be automatically excluded from the pool of possibilities for adoption.
Adoption experts provided CT with four ways churches can increase their involvement:
- give adoptive families space to tell their stories in church;
- find ways to give small starter grants to people interested in adopting;
- encourage the adoption of children with special needs; and
- develop a full spectrum of responses, from child sponsorship to adoption.
CT recently talked with a never-married woman who adopted a young girl from Kazakhstan into her home (at a personal initial cost of $36,000). For her, the question was, "Are we talking about live souls?" Not mere "victims" or "political symbols" or "the needy," but children for whom Christ died, who need a home where the love of God is lived and shared with the least of these.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Dance Troup of Haitian Orphans will be In Orlando March 27 & 28 to Raise Money For Their School
Haitian orphans help rebuild schools through dance
by Victor Manuel Ramos, Orlando Sentinel
Eleven Haitian boys, ages 10 to 17, will perform this weekend at two Orlando-area churches, hoping to raise awareness about their country's needs and collect funds for their schools in Haiti.
Most of these boys and teens used to roam the streets of Haiti's impoverished cities, shining shoes, begging or looking for the next place to sleep, event organizers said.
But organizers created a refuge for street children through seven schools funded through the U.S.-based Haitian Timoun Foundation. They formed The Resurrection Dance Theater of Haiti, a dance troupe.
Like much of the country's infrastructure, their schools were damaged in the January earthquake, so they have been touring churches in Arizona, Nebraska, California and now Florida to seek support. Orlando is their last stop before returning to Haiti.
Their performance is a combination of drum music, dancing and acting. Admission is free. The churches will collect donations, and the troupe will sell artwork.
"A lot of it is them telling the stories of their lives, how they have been abandoned by parents and how they struggle to survive every day," said Gail Seeram, an immigration attorney organizing two area presentations.
The troupe will perform at
7 p.m. Saturday at First Haitian Baptist Church of Orlando, 4701 Lenox Blvd.;
and at 4 p.m. Sunday at St. Stephen Lutheran Church, 2140 W. S.R. 434, Longwood.
orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/os-haiti-relief-street-children-20100323,0,7269913.story
Monday, March 8, 2010
International Adoption News from Adoptive Families Magazine
Haiti Six days after the earthquake struck Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Department of State began expediting pending adoption cases and allowing children to join their prospective families, in a process known as humanitarian parole. At press time, at least several hundred orphans had joined families in the U.S. Learn more about the current situation at http://www.adoption.state.gov/.
Cambodia The government of Cambodia has a new law on intercountry adoption. The law aims to create a countrywide child welfare system and a Hague-compliant adoption process. This is seen as an important first step in reform that could eventually lay the groundwork for a resumption of intercountry adoptions from Cambodia to the U.S.
Mexico Mexico City’s legislative assembly voted to legalize adoption by same-sex couples on Dec. 21. The same day, the assembly also approved gay marriage, making it the second major Latin-American city to do so.
Canada According to a report released recently by Ontario’s Ministry of Children and Youth Services, families in Canada who are interested in adoption face a number of barriers that may prevent them from ever adopting. Among the findings, objective information about adoption options isn’t readily available, and adoptive families of children with special needs don’t usually get the support they need after the adoption, the report says. Read the report at www.children.gov.on.ca/htdocs/English/infertility/index.aspx.
http://www.adoptivefamilies.com/news.php
Cambodia The government of Cambodia has a new law on intercountry adoption. The law aims to create a countrywide child welfare system and a Hague-compliant adoption process. This is seen as an important first step in reform that could eventually lay the groundwork for a resumption of intercountry adoptions from Cambodia to the U.S.
Mexico Mexico City’s legislative assembly voted to legalize adoption by same-sex couples on Dec. 21. The same day, the assembly also approved gay marriage, making it the second major Latin-American city to do so.
Canada According to a report released recently by Ontario’s Ministry of Children and Youth Services, families in Canada who are interested in adoption face a number of barriers that may prevent them from ever adopting. Among the findings, objective information about adoption options isn’t readily available, and adoptive families of children with special needs don’t usually get the support they need after the adoption, the report says. Read the report at www.children.gov.on.ca/htdocs/English/infertility/index.aspx.
http://www.adoptivefamilies.com/news.php
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Orphan Care Groups Come Together to Help Haiti
Disaster Response Experts Team With Orphan Care Organizations to Create Long-Term Solutions in Haiti
Unique team to deploy Valentine's Day
RALEIGH, N.C., Feb. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A volunteer team of U.S. disaster response experts and orphan care providers is coming together to provide strategic help to Haitian churches. The team will equip and train Haitian church leaders to provide local, long-term care for orphaned Haitian children in the aftermath of the January earthquake.
The Haiti Orphan Relief Team (HORT) is a cooperative volunteer effort of disaster response experts and orphan-care professionals from many U.S.-based ministries that have joined forces to respond to the crisis in Haiti. An initial HORT on-the-ground team will deploy for a two week period beginning on February 14, 2010. The team will work to identify churches in Haiti that can be paired with U.S. churches for ongoing partnerships in caring for orphaned children, so that local resources can sustain this effort beyond the HORT team's deployment.
"We know that this disaster is not going to be fixed overnight, but by putting in place key pieces of infrastructure, efforts can be sustained and strengthened long after the HORT team has returned to the United States," said John E. Roberts, past Director of the Federal Government's National Interagency Training Center, and Incident Command System (ICS) team commander for HORT. "We are looking to build a long-term solution to the immediate crisis."
Recognizing that many Haitian church facilities were destroyed, HORT will use advanced mapping techniques developed by the U.S. government to physically identify the church facilities that are best able to provide long-term solutions to children now and in the future.
"We are looking for churches that want to become part of the long-term solution to the orphan need in Haiti. Â We encourage U.S. churches to come alongside the churches of Haiti to address this catastrophe," said Paul Myhill, President, World Orphans, and a member of the deployment team.
A Valentine's Day fund-raising drive is under way to help HORT deploy. Donors can personalize an eCard with a Valentine message and for every eCard sent, the team will personally deliver a Valentine to a Haitian orphan.
"Outside help alone won't reach Haiti's deepest need. If we're serious about helping Haiti's orphans toward a bright future, it'll be absolutely vital to equip and support committed local Haitian churches to care for the orphans in their communities," said Jedd Medefind, President of the Christian Alliance for Orphans.
More about HORT can be found at: http://www.haitiorphanrelief.org/
Collaborators in this effort include:
Christian Alliance for Orphans, http://www.christianalliancefororphans.org/
Global Aid Network, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ International, http://www.gainusa.org/
Hope for Orphans, a ministry of FamilyLife, http://www.hopefororphans.org/
Lifesong for Orphans, http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/
Love Haiti, http://www.lovehaitimissions.com/
Loving Shepherd Ministries, http://www.loving-shepherd.org/
Sweet Sleep, http://www.sweetsleep.org/
Together for Adoption, http://www.togetherforadoption.org/
University of North Carolina, School of Public Health, http://www.sph.unc.edu/
World Orphans, http://www.worldorphans.org/
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20100209/pl_usnw/DC52297)
State Department: Now's Not the Time for Haitian Adoptions
"Official says first priority should be placing Haitian children with Haitian families."
An article from Christianity Today:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/februaryweb-only/16-32.0.html
An article from Christianity Today:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/februaryweb-only/16-32.0.html
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Haiti Suspends Adoptions
Annoucement from JCICS:
"Since the earthquake Joint Council has received thousands of calls and emails from families wanting to help, wanting to start new adoptions from Haiti. It is for this reason we take a moment and remind everyone of the importance of speedy family reunification in times of crises.
As of January 12, 2010, the day of the devastating Haitian earthquake, governmental and legal procedures to process an adoption in Haiti have been impossible to carry out. Until further notice the best way to support the needs of the children in Haiti is to donate money to international aid organizations dealing with the disaster. Adoptions in Haiti cannot be processed according to Haitian or US law during the current emergency. Please consult Joint Council's Haiti Information page at www.jcics.org/haiti and http://www.adoption.state.gov/ for up to date information about adoption from Haiti.
Joint Council is working with the U.S. government to determine the impact of the devastation on the adoption process. The coming days and months will be rightly focused on rescue and reunification efforts. It will take months to fully assess the impact on new adoptions from Haiti."
From CCAI:
"At this time the earthquake has put a stop to Haiti adoptions. No new adoptions are being accepted or processed by the Haitian government at this moment. We strongly support UNICEF, Saving the Children and World Vision’s position on focusing on the reunification of the homeless children with their families in the days and weeks ahead."
http://www.haitiadoption.org/
"Since the earthquake Joint Council has received thousands of calls and emails from families wanting to help, wanting to start new adoptions from Haiti. It is for this reason we take a moment and remind everyone of the importance of speedy family reunification in times of crises.
As of January 12, 2010, the day of the devastating Haitian earthquake, governmental and legal procedures to process an adoption in Haiti have been impossible to carry out. Until further notice the best way to support the needs of the children in Haiti is to donate money to international aid organizations dealing with the disaster. Adoptions in Haiti cannot be processed according to Haitian or US law during the current emergency. Please consult Joint Council's Haiti Information page at www.jcics.org/haiti and http://www.adoption.state.gov/ for up to date information about adoption from Haiti.
Joint Council is working with the U.S. government to determine the impact of the devastation on the adoption process. The coming days and months will be rightly focused on rescue and reunification efforts. It will take months to fully assess the impact on new adoptions from Haiti."
From CCAI:
"At this time the earthquake has put a stop to Haiti adoptions. No new adoptions are being accepted or processed by the Haitian government at this moment. We strongly support UNICEF, Saving the Children and World Vision’s position on focusing on the reunification of the homeless children with their families in the days and weeks ahead."
http://www.haitiadoption.org/
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Bleak Portrait of Haiti Orphanages Raises Fears
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The floors were concrete and the windows were broken.
There was no electricity or running water. Lunch looked like watery grits. Beds were fashioned from sheets of cardboard. And the only toilet did not work.
But the Foyer of Patience here is like hundreds of places that pass as orphanages for thousands of children in the poorest country in the hemisphere. Many are barely habitable, much less licensed. They have no means to provide real schooling or basic medical care, so children spend their days engaged in mindless activities, and many die from treatable illnesses.
Haiti’s child welfare system was broken before the earthquake struck. But as the quake shattered homes and drove hundreds of thousands of people into the streets, the number of children needing care grew exponentially.
Chronic problems — like inadequate services, overwhelming poverty and shady orphanages — have only intensified, while the authorities fear that some of the less scrupulous orphanages are taking advantage of the chaos to round up children in crisis and offer them for sale as servants and sex slaves.
continue story - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/07/world/americas/07trafficking.html?ref=world
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Americans arrested taking children out of Haiti
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haitian police have arrested 10 U.S. citizens caught trying to take 33 children out of the earthquake-stricken country in a suspected illicit adoption scheme, authorities said on Saturday.
The five men and five women were in custody in the capital, Port-au-Prince after their arrests on Friday night. There are fears that traffickers could try to exploit the chaos and turmoil following Haiti's January 12 earthquake quake to engage in illegal adoptions.
One of the suspects, who says she is leader of an Idaho-based charity called New Life Children's Refuge, denied they had done anything wrong.
The suspects were detained at Malpasse, Haiti's main border crossing with the Dominican Republic, after Haitian police conducted a routine search of their vehicle.
Authorities said the Americans had no documents to prove they had cleared the adoption of the 33 children -- aged 2 months to 12 years -- through any embassy and no papers showing they were made orphans by the quake in the impoverished Caribbean country.
"This is totally illegal," said Yves Cristalin, Haiti's social affairs minister. "No children can leave Haiti without proper authorization and these people did not have that authorization."
U.S. authorities could not be reached for immediate comment on the arrests.
But Laura Sillsby from the Idaho group told Reuters from a jail cell at Haiti's Judicial Police headquarters, "We had permission from the Dominican Republic government to bring the children to an orphanage that we have there."
"We have a Baptist minister here (in Port-au-Prince) whose orphanage totally collapsed and he asked us to take the children to the orphanage in the Dominican Republic," Sillsby added.
"I was going to come back here to do the paperwork," Sillsby said. "They accuse us of children trafficking. This is something I would never do. We were not trying to do something wrong."
In addition to outright trafficking in children, authorities have voiced fears since the quake that legitimate aid groups may have flown earthquake orphans out of the country for adoption before efforts to find their parents had been exhausted.
As a result, the Haitian government halted many types of adoptions earlier this month.
There are no reliable estimates of the number of parentless and lost children at risk in Haiti's quake-shattered capital.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60T23I20100130
The five men and five women were in custody in the capital, Port-au-Prince after their arrests on Friday night. There are fears that traffickers could try to exploit the chaos and turmoil following Haiti's January 12 earthquake quake to engage in illegal adoptions.
One of the suspects, who says she is leader of an Idaho-based charity called New Life Children's Refuge, denied they had done anything wrong.
The suspects were detained at Malpasse, Haiti's main border crossing with the Dominican Republic, after Haitian police conducted a routine search of their vehicle.
Authorities said the Americans had no documents to prove they had cleared the adoption of the 33 children -- aged 2 months to 12 years -- through any embassy and no papers showing they were made orphans by the quake in the impoverished Caribbean country.
"This is totally illegal," said Yves Cristalin, Haiti's social affairs minister. "No children can leave Haiti without proper authorization and these people did not have that authorization."
U.S. authorities could not be reached for immediate comment on the arrests.
But Laura Sillsby from the Idaho group told Reuters from a jail cell at Haiti's Judicial Police headquarters, "We had permission from the Dominican Republic government to bring the children to an orphanage that we have there."
"We have a Baptist minister here (in Port-au-Prince) whose orphanage totally collapsed and he asked us to take the children to the orphanage in the Dominican Republic," Sillsby added.
"I was going to come back here to do the paperwork," Sillsby said. "They accuse us of children trafficking. This is something I would never do. We were not trying to do something wrong."
In addition to outright trafficking in children, authorities have voiced fears since the quake that legitimate aid groups may have flown earthquake orphans out of the country for adoption before efforts to find their parents had been exhausted.
As a result, the Haitian government halted many types of adoptions earlier this month.
There are no reliable estimates of the number of parentless and lost children at risk in Haiti's quake-shattered capital.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60T23I20100130
Monday, January 25, 2010
UNICEF: Haiti Orphans at Risk from Traffickers
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haitian children made orphans by this month's catastrophic earthquake or separated from their parents face a growing threat from child traffickers or illicit adoptions, the government and aid groups say.
They fear unscrupulous traffickers may try to exploit the chaos and social turmoil following the January 12 quake to spirit defenseless infants out of the impoverished country through the airport or across the land border with the Dominican Republic.
A police unit tasked with protecting minors has sent officers to the border but officials said that like every other Haitian institution, the unit was hit hard by the earthquake that killed at least 120,000 people and probably many more.
"We are very concerned that there are increasing reports that children are being picked up and trafficked out of the country," said Kent Page, a spokesman for the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF). But he had no details of specific cases.
Authorities also fear that legitimate aid groups may have flown earthquake orphans out of the country for adoption before efforts to find their parents had been exhausted.
As a result, the Haitian government last week halted these types of adoptions. "There is no question that either NGOs (non-governmental organizations) or institutions of any kind can take children off the streets (for adoption) and say that they are orphans," said Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive, expressing his fears that this might be happening.
There are no reliable estimates of the number of parentless and lost children at risk in Haiti's quake-shattered capital Port-au-Prince. Hungry, homeless minors fending for themselves in the city are a common sight.
Around 700 children who lost touch with their parents during the quake have been registered and placed in camps and efforts at reunification are under way, said UNICEF's Page.
But in an indication of the scale of the problem, a Haitian children's charity working in the Delmar 31 neighborhood of the capital said it had identified 3,000 children that it considered in danger.
Some joined gangs of looters last week, smashing into stores in the city's main commercial district in search of food and goods to sell, said Alveus Prospere, the president of the Organization for a Better Future for Children charity.
Many others have been taken in by relatives or neighbors now living in makeshift camps where food is scarce, he said.
ADMINISTRATIVE OVERSIGHT VS HUMAN NEED
A U.S. Christian charity, For His Glory Outreach, flew 80 Haitian children to the United States on Saturday for adoption and plans to take out 29 more in the coming days, according to Michael Gibson, a member of the charity's board.
The children lived at the House of the Children of God orphanage in the Haitian capital before their departure and all had the necessary paperwork signed by Haitian authorities before the quake, he said.
Even before the quake, economic pressure and grinding hardship in what was already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere provided a powerful incentive for some Haitian parents to seek adoption for their children.
Child protection experts fear the Haitian government's problems in maintaining control and oversight in the country, now hugely exacerbated by the quake, could also give freer rein to well-meaning potential adopters willing to cut corners.
For His Glory has had no contact with the Haitian government since the quake, said Gibson, whose family adopted Haitian twins in 2007.
"I don't believe there is a (functioning) Haitian government," he told Reuters in an interview.
Most of the children at the orphanage, who have been sleeping on dirty mattresses in the yard since the quake, have parents alive and retain contact with them, so they are not technically orphans at all.
Twelve-year-old Judlanda Toussaint came to the orphanage three years ago because her parents could not afford to look after her, according to workers at the institution.
"I want to go to America so I can help my family back home," said Toussaint.
-By Matthew Bigg for Reuters News Service
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60O2A120100125
They fear unscrupulous traffickers may try to exploit the chaos and social turmoil following the January 12 quake to spirit defenseless infants out of the impoverished country through the airport or across the land border with the Dominican Republic.
A police unit tasked with protecting minors has sent officers to the border but officials said that like every other Haitian institution, the unit was hit hard by the earthquake that killed at least 120,000 people and probably many more.
"We are very concerned that there are increasing reports that children are being picked up and trafficked out of the country," said Kent Page, a spokesman for the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF). But he had no details of specific cases.
Authorities also fear that legitimate aid groups may have flown earthquake orphans out of the country for adoption before efforts to find their parents had been exhausted.
As a result, the Haitian government last week halted these types of adoptions. "There is no question that either NGOs (non-governmental organizations) or institutions of any kind can take children off the streets (for adoption) and say that they are orphans," said Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive, expressing his fears that this might be happening.
There are no reliable estimates of the number of parentless and lost children at risk in Haiti's quake-shattered capital Port-au-Prince. Hungry, homeless minors fending for themselves in the city are a common sight.
Around 700 children who lost touch with their parents during the quake have been registered and placed in camps and efforts at reunification are under way, said UNICEF's Page.
But in an indication of the scale of the problem, a Haitian children's charity working in the Delmar 31 neighborhood of the capital said it had identified 3,000 children that it considered in danger.
Some joined gangs of looters last week, smashing into stores in the city's main commercial district in search of food and goods to sell, said Alveus Prospere, the president of the Organization for a Better Future for Children charity.
Many others have been taken in by relatives or neighbors now living in makeshift camps where food is scarce, he said.
ADMINISTRATIVE OVERSIGHT VS HUMAN NEED
A U.S. Christian charity, For His Glory Outreach, flew 80 Haitian children to the United States on Saturday for adoption and plans to take out 29 more in the coming days, according to Michael Gibson, a member of the charity's board.
The children lived at the House of the Children of God orphanage in the Haitian capital before their departure and all had the necessary paperwork signed by Haitian authorities before the quake, he said.
Even before the quake, economic pressure and grinding hardship in what was already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere provided a powerful incentive for some Haitian parents to seek adoption for their children.
Child protection experts fear the Haitian government's problems in maintaining control and oversight in the country, now hugely exacerbated by the quake, could also give freer rein to well-meaning potential adopters willing to cut corners.
For His Glory has had no contact with the Haitian government since the quake, said Gibson, whose family adopted Haitian twins in 2007.
"I don't believe there is a (functioning) Haitian government," he told Reuters in an interview.
Most of the children at the orphanage, who have been sleeping on dirty mattresses in the yard since the quake, have parents alive and retain contact with them, so they are not technically orphans at all.
Twelve-year-old Judlanda Toussaint came to the orphanage three years ago because her parents could not afford to look after her, according to workers at the institution.
"I want to go to America so I can help my family back home," said Toussaint.
-By Matthew Bigg for Reuters News Service
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60O2A120100125
Friday, January 22, 2010
Haitian orphans' adoptive parents wait, worry, battle red tape
Since the first earthquake hit Haiti last week, Suzanne Hetherman has careened between despair and elation as she waits for news of the two Haitian girls she has tried to adopt for two years.
On Monday morning, the Winter Garden woman was told they could arrive any minute. By afternoon, the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services were asking for more paperwork.
Continue story
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Another Drop in International Adoptions
Adoptive Families magazine reports that the number of intercountry adoptions fell again last year—from 17,438 in fiscal year 2008 to 12,700 in fiscal year 2009, a decrease of 27 percent—according to early data from the U.S. Department of State on IR3 and IR4 visas issued.
The decline likely reflects several trends in intercountry adoption: Adoption from China continues to slow; and Vietnam and Guatemala processed only grandfathered international adoption cases during 2009.
Some countries saw an increase in intercountry adoptions last year. Adoptions from Ethiopia continue to rise, and adoptions from Haiti, the Philippines, and Ukraine have all increased.
The decline likely reflects several trends in intercountry adoption: Adoption from China continues to slow; and Vietnam and Guatemala processed only grandfathered international adoption cases during 2009.
Some countries saw an increase in intercountry adoptions last year. Adoptions from Ethiopia continue to rise, and adoptions from Haiti, the Philippines, and Ukraine have all increased.
US Appoints Orphan Task Force for Haiti
Michele Bond, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Overseas Citizen Services, was appointed as head of a new Orphan Task Force. To read the press release:
http://betheanswerforchildren.wordpress.com/2010/01/21/us-appoints-orphan-task-force/
http://betheanswerforchildren.wordpress.com/2010/01/21/us-appoints-orphan-task-force/
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
CCAI Sends Aid to Haitian Orphanage
We landed at Port-au-Prince International Airport at 13:59 pm yesterday and hand delivered your contributions to the orphanage staff and volunteers in the form of water, formula, medicine, food, and $10,000.00 cash.
Maison des Enfants de Dieu, an orphanage that has been caring for about 130 kids, was badly damaged by the powerful earthquake that hit the poor Caribbean nation last on January 12, 2010. Although no children were severely hurt, their dorms were devastated beyond repair. The older children have been living under five tents and the babies are being cared for in the trunk of a big truck. Fox News and CNN managed to reach the orphanage three days after the quake, but their reports of the terrible conditions did not lead to the immediate and adequate aid of food and water that they desperately needed.
On 1/17 at 18:24, Patrick, an American missionary from Denver sent us an urgent message, pleading, “We need water, food, medicine, and charcoal quickly!!!”
We immediately contacted one of our long time supporters who had offered their family private jet for emergency use the day before. They wholeheartedly supported our request to use their plane to send supplies to the orphanage. We spent the next five hours storming several Wal-Marts and Walgreens purchasing formula, medicine, food, water, and charcoal. At 5:30 am, over 2000 pounds of supplies were loaded onto the jet and the plane took off at 6:33 am Denver time.
Five and half hours later, at 13:59 pm, we successfully landed at the war-zone like Port-au-Prince International Airport in the midst of many dozen landing and taking-off aid aircrafts and helicopters from around the world.
We were totally surprised as soon as we opened the gate. Five orphanage staff and volunteers including Patrick and his wife, Kim, were right there, ready and waiting with a SUV and a truck! We had no idea how in the world they were able to drive and park right by our plane.
We have never in my life seen people so excited, so thankful and tearful, nor who hugged so hard!
We unloaded the supplies as quick as we could and covered the truck with tarps. We offered them an advise we received prior to our departure from another pilot who has been transporting aid to Haiti the day before: Cover the supplies with tarps and let a couple of guys lie on top of it pretending dead so supplies will not be high-jacked on the way back to the orphanage.
At 16:00 pm, we left the airport with seven completely exhausted American and Belgium doctors who had been working in Haiti non-stop for over three days! A free ride in a fancy private jet could provide a little physical and emotional comfort to these heroes.
A huge thank-you to all of you unsung heroes who took action to care and to love. Thank you for entrusting us with your loving donations.
Please visit www.haitiadoption.org to view our Haiti trip photos.
Secretary Napolitano Announces Humanitarian Parole Policy for Certain Haitian Orphans
DHS and DOS are working together to issue travel documents (either immigrant visas or humanitarian parole authorizations) for children who fall into the two categories described below. Once these children are cleared to travel, the U.S. Embassy in Port au Prince will facilitate their evacuation to the United States so they may be united with their American adoptive parents.
Under applicable laws, unaccompanied minors entering the country without a parent or legal guardian are subject to special procedures regarding their custody and care. DHS coordinates with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement on the cases of these unaccompanied minors.
All cases will be evaluated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Depending on their circumstances, and information available some children will receive immigrant visas with permanent immigration status and will require no further processing. Those who enter under humanitarian parole status will need to have their immigration status resolved after arrival.
Eligibility for Humanitarian Parole
Category 1
Children who have been legally confirmed as orphans eligible for intercountry adoption by the Government of Haiti, were in the process of being adopted by Americans prior to Jan. 12, 2010 and meet the below criteria.
Required Criteria
Evidence of availability for adoption, which MUST include at least one of the following:
- Full and final Haitian adoption decree
- Government of Haiti Custody grant to prospective adoptive parents for emigration and adoption
- Evidence of suitability for adoption, which MUST include at least one of the following:
- Notice of Approval of Form I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of an Orphan Petition
- Current FBI Fingerprints and background security check clearances
- Physical custody in Haiti plus a security background check
Children who have been identified by an adoption service provider or facilitator as eligible for intercountry adoption, were matched to prospective American adoptive parents prior to Jan. 12, 2010 and meet the below criteria.
Required Criteria
- Significant evidence of a relationship between the prospective adoptive parents and the child AND of the parents’ intention to complete the adoption, which could include the following:
- Proof of travel by the prospective adoptive parents to Haiti to visit the child
- Photos of the child and prospective adoptive parents together
- An Adoption Service Provider “Acceptance of Referral” letter signed by the prospective adoptive parents
- Documentary evidence that the prospective adoptive parents initiated the adoption process prior to Jan. 12, 2010 with intent to adopt the child (filed Form I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of an Orphan Petition, and/or Form I-600, Petition to Classify an Orphan as an Immediate Relative, completed a home study, located an ASP to work with in Haiti, etc.)
- Evidence of the child’s availability for adoption, which could the following:
- IBESR (Haitian Adoption Authority) approval
- Documentation of legal relinquishment or award of custody to the Haitian orphanage
- Evidence of suitability for adoption, which MUST include at least one of the following: Notice of Approval of Form I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of an Orphan Petition; OR
- Current FBI Fingerprints and background security check clearances
Given the severity of the disaster in Haiti, we understand that there are additional children that have been orphaned and/or separated from relatives and may also be in varying stages of the adoption process. DHS and the U.S. Department of State continue to evaluate additional eligibility criteria and will provide additional information as soon as it is available.
USCIS encourages U.S. citizens with pending adoption cases in Haiti to send us detailed information about their cases to HaitianAdoptions@dhs.gov.
Please visit the USCIS website at www.uscis.gov and the U.S. Department of State website at www.adoption.state.gov for more information and updates.
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=9c22546ade146210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=68439c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD
Haiti Orphanage Update from JCICS
JCICS has given a list of orphanages to the the DOS, it is our understanding that they are in the process of contacting each orphanage with instructions. JC is also providing DOS w/updates as information is given to us from families and adoption service providers.
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