First thing on the International Adoption agenda for today ... do not hesitate, but go immediately to Virginia's Russian Adoption Blog and read about the mess that is Russian adoption at the moment. She has information and ways to step up, including a template for a letter to legislators.

Although the immediate focus is for parents hoping to adopt from Russia specifically, everyone with an interest in intercountry adoption from anywhere should inform themselves of the recent turn of events and understand that what happens once, can happen again.

The finger now is pointed at the US National Central Bureau of Interpol, an organization presently falling flatly on its responsibilities to conduct checks on US adoption agencies awaiting accreditation.

Let's give 'em hell!

U.S. Department of Justice
INTERPOL
United States National Central Bureau
Washington, DC 20530

(202) 616-9000 Phone
(202) 616-8400 Fax

All sorts of versions of the Zoe's Ark affair, as the fiasco is now being called, are popping up everywhere, and few don't leave more questions than they answer.

This piece out of the Netherlands suggests that UN condemnation may have the taint of sour grapes, as it reports that the French NGO attempting to take 103 children from Chad has long been critical, complaining about the "smooth-talking and bureaucratic working practices of the United Nations" and wanting to show that "humanitarian aid could indeed be provided quickly and effectively."

UN reaction didn't miss a beat, with UNICEF and UNHCR issuing a report saying that none of the 103 children were orphans.

According to this report, Chadian officials received a tip from Paris, one alleged to be designed to "win over the Chadian government", a charge denied by the French government which denies there was any political motive. French MPs and public opinion in the country has "doubts about this official version of events."

The deputy minister is reported to have withdrawn her support for the NGO as long as July. However, if this is true, why did she allow Zoé's Ark to carry on undisturbed until the group was quite literally ready for departure at the airport in Chad? The French government has not yet provided an adequate answer to this question.

While the UNHCR says the children are not orphans and are not from Darfur, but Chadian, there are people in France who don't believe this to be the case.

The jury is most certainly still out on this situation and there is a lot more to learn, but fallout is already happening in big ways.

Already, the government of the Republic of Congo (ROC) have suspended international adoptions in reaction to the Zoe's Ark affair to "ensure the interests of such children are protected."

In far too typical fashion, one plus one equals 4,397, or duck tape, or nine jars of fava beans ... whatever ... and the Congolese minister in charge of justice and human rights has decided that since the crew of the plane chartered by Zoe's Ark were Spanish and 17 children from the ROC have been adopted by Spanish families, the whole shebang should stop until somebody figures out something.

Also typically, a paragraph about UNICEF 'revealing' that some 2,000 cases of children were victims of cross-border trafficking in Congo in 2006, obviously looking to link international adoption to trafficking, has been
tacked onto the story. Any guesses as to the real fate of those 2,000 children? You can bet it doesn't involve loving families, stuffed Pooh Bears and full tummies.

One more time ... trafficking and international adoption are not linked. Trafficking is a crime. International adoption is a miracle. 99.999 times out of 100, trafficking ends in brothels and slavery or some version of both, while international adoption ends in families.