I just did a search on the boards for this situation, but haven’t seen anything about it.
It seems that the French charity Zoe’s Ark was in the process of spiriting over one hundred children from Chad, claiming them to be Sudanese orphans from the civil war there. According to an investigation being done under the auspices of the International Red Cross, The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and UNICEF - so far the vast majority of the children interviewed have been claiming to be coming from stable families of Chadian villages near the Chad-Sudan border. Part of the reason that the investigators can’t say that ALL the children came from stable homes is because of the extreme youth of many of the children. According to the article they range in age from 1 to 10 years old.
The charity was also dressing the children up with fake bandages and IV drips to make them seem more in need of medical care, to make removing them from the country easier.
The article says that the people involved are facing charges in Chad’s courts, and the possible punishment, if they are convicted, could be up to 20 years at hard labor. Which seems just about right, to be honest.
AIUI many third world societies view the Western tendency to look for adoptive children from such backgrounds with a great deal of suspicion and confusion. The reasons for it are many, and beyond the scope of this pitting, but one of the stories that I’ve heard coming up time and again is the suspicion that the children are being taken to be harvested for their organs. When dealing with this kind of societal prejudice it would seem to me to be vital that there be every attempt to make sure that the whole process be above-board, and open to review by appropriate officials as possible.
Having a charity caught taking children under false circumstances, of any kind, is going to feed into that kind of prejudice and hysteria - making it harder for all legitimate persons and agencies to seek to adopt children.
I’m well aware that in many third-world nations the appropriate officials may well be as venal as any one could imagine, but that doesn’t negate the obligation for those taking children to do their utmost to maintain a reputation for integrity and honesty.
As a postscript, one has to wonder, is this the first time that Zoe’s Ark has tried smuggling out children taken under false circumstances, or is it simply the first time they got caught doing it?
ETA: I just noticed that the Republic of Congo has used this as an excuse to put a moratorium upon all foreign adoptions.