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Congressional letter to Hilary Clinton, Rajiv Shah, and Janet Napolitano regarding adoption from Haiti

Dear Madam Secretaries and Master Administrator Designate:

As you are well aware, on the evening of Ianuary 18, 2010, the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it would use its authority to extend humanitarian parole to those Haitian orphans with established adoptive relationships with U.S. adoptive families so that these orphans could travel immediately to the United States. We commend the Department of Homeland Security for making this policy decision and fully support your desire to protect the best interest of these most vulnerable children. What was and remains lacking two days after this announcement is the coordinated logistical plan needed to assure these orphans immediate safety as well as efficient immigration processing and evacuation to the U.S.

We appreciate that a limited number of cases with access to private planes have been processed and evacuated from the country, but clearly not all adoptive families are in a position to put forward these resources to ensure the safe and swift travel of these orphans to the U.S. Furthermore, DOS and DHS are urging families to stay where they are. We are concerned that without clear direction American citizens will put themselves or the children they are seeking to adopt at risk by attempting an evacuation of their own.

Over the past four days, we, along with several other congressional offices have been urging State Department, USAID and Homeland Security officials to consider the consequences of making this announcement without a plan that ensured safe and efficient processing and travel for these children. Despite our best efforts, over 350 American families are now desperate and many are trying to independently evacuate their children. At the same time, orphanage directors, who are lacking basic supplies such as formula an water, as well as the information and support they need to protect the children in their care, are leaving the orphanages in search of help.

In our view, the chaos that has ensued is a direct result of a lack of logistical inter-agency coordination, a lack of communication to the public, and ad-hoc processing of travel documents by the U.S. Embassy. Therefore, we are writing to ask for your personal assurances that the State Department, in collaboration with the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Agency on International Development and the Department of Defense, puts in place a plan to directly ensure that ALL of the 600-700 orphans affected by Monday's announcement of humanitarian parole are safely and efficiently evacuated within the next ten days.

Unicef: 'Pas op voor overhaaste adopties'

Unicef: 'Pas op voor overhaaste adopties'

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Dankzij aardbeving komt onze Mano al over twee weken'

Cruisepassagiers ruziën over aanleggen aan Haïtiaanse stranden

Nog weken speuren naar Belgen

Haiti: World Vision fordert ein Adoptionsmoratorium

Haiti: World Vision fordert ein Adoptionsmoratorium

Dübendorf — Der Kinderschutz in Haiti muss oberste Priorität haben. Viele Kinder sind noch auf der Suche nach Verwandten. World Vision appelliert an die Regierung von Haiti, ein temporäres Adoptionsverbot zu erlassen, damit Familien zusammengeführt werden können.

tri / Quelle: World Vision / Freitag, 22. Januar 2010 / 14:38 h

Zudem errichtet das Hilfswerk Kinderbetreuungszentren, in denen verwaiste und umherirrende Kinder betreut werden.

Der Schutz von Kindern im Katastrophengebiet von Haiti hat für World Vision oberste Priorität. Zum Schutz von Kindern im Erdbebengebiet sprechen World Vision Mitarbeiter elternlose und Hilfe suchende Kinder an.

SF vil stoppe adoptioner fra Indien

SF vil stoppe adoptioner fra Indien

Danmark bør stoppe adoption fra Indien, indtil forholdene er undersøgt til bunds, kræver SF. Indisk politi mener, at forældre franarres deres børn til adoption.

SF vil stoppe adoptioner af indiske børn til Danmark, indtil det er grundigt undersøgt, om forældre i Indien bliver franarret deres børn til adoption.

Det siger partiets retsordfører, Karina Lorentzen, efter nye oplysninger i DR-programmet 21 Søndag. Heraf fremgik det, at indisk forbundspoliti mener, at et børnehjem i Indien har narret børnene fra en indisk mand, hvorefter børnene blev adopteret til Danmark.

- Oplysningerne har skabt så megen usikkerhed omkring indiske adoptioner, at det er uholdbart at gennemføre flere, før vi har vished for, at det kan foregå på en betryggende måde, siger Karina Lorentzen.

Hun vil bede justitsminister Lars Barfoed (K) undersøge sagen og tage stilling til, om der skal indføres et midlertidigt stop for adoptioner fra Indien.

Tv-programmet fortalte historien allerede i 2007, hvorefter Familiestyrelsen lukkede for adoption fra Indien. Men en undersøgelse kom frem til, at manden godt var klar over, at børnene blev bortadopteret. Derfor blev der igen åbnet for adoption fra Indien.

Nu bakker det indiske forbundspoliti ifølge 21 Søndag op om manden. Efter at Ramesh Kulkarnis kone døde, afleverede han for otte år siden sine børn på børnehjemmet Preet Mandir. Ifølge manden selv skulle børnene kun være midlertidigt på børnehjemmet, indtil han igen kunne tage sig af dem.

Men han kom aldrig til at se dem igen, for de blevet adopteret til Danmark. De papirer, som Kulkarni skrev under, viste sig nemlig at handle om bortadoption og ikke indskrivning på børnehjemmet, som manden troede.

/ritzau/

Chances for Children Launches 'Haiti Renewal Fund' With $2 Million From Foster Friess

Chances for Children Launches 'Haiti Renewal Fund' With $2 Million From Foster Friess

 

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

NEWS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

                                                                         
Media Contact: Tripp Baltz
303-358-3371 
ab3@comcast.net 

 

Chances for Children Launches 'Haiti Renewal Fund'
With $2 Million From Foster Friess

PHOENIX, Jan. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --  While emergency efforts bring immediate relief to Haiti, Craig Juntunen, founder of Chances for Children, launched the “Haiti Renewal Fund” January 19. The fund, designed to assist in a fresh renewal of the devastated nation of Haiti, opens with an initial matching grant of $2 million from Jackson Hole residents Lynn and Foster Friess.

“In a few weeks or months the enormous worldwide relief effort in Haiti will meet food, water and shelter needs, but what then?” said Juntunen, who will be raising additional monies for the fund.
 
Juntunen’s Chances for Children foundation operates an orphanage near Port-au-Prince and last year placed 36 Haitian orphans in adoptive families. It will expand to meet the soaring number of newly-orphaned children and also encourage Cure International, an organization that operates hospitals in nearby Dominican Republic and Honduras, in its goal to open a new children’s hospital in Haiti. 

Water Mission International adds water purification units to the equation. Phoenix attorney, sculptor and Cure International board member Marilyn Quayle; her husband former Vice President Dan Quayle and “Charlie's Angels" star Cheryl Ladd will advise Georgia-based National Christian Foundation, the fund administrator, on allocation of funds.

“So much well-intentioned funding is wasted in corruption and institutional overhead,” said Juntunen who serves without salary. “We are grateful for the oversight of these compassionate individuals and for the long track records of success and fiscal responsibility of the charities involved.” 

Juntunen authored Both Ends Burning, chronicling his personal transformation from a self-serving life to adopting three young children from Haiti in 2006 with his wife Kathi: Espie, Quinn and Amelec, who turned nine January 16th. 

To have someone like Craig who knows all the players because of his love of and involvement in Haiti "creates a real marriage made in heaven," Friess said.
 
Checks written to “Haiti Renewal Fund/NCF” may be sent to the National Christian Foundation, 11625 Rainwater Drive, Suite 500, Alpharetta, Georgia 30009 or by clicking here to donate online at http://www.haitirenewal.org. 

BIOS: 

Craig Juntunen founded Chances for Children with proceeds of sale of his successful business and also fundraised for a college scholarship fund, the Special Olympics and other local and regional charities. He quarterbacked a Canadian Football League team and is a member of the State of Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame. 

Foster Friess founded the Brandywine Funds and since selling his firm in 2001 encourages private sector solutions in order to curb increasing intrusiveness of government. Foster and his wife Lynn of 47 years through their Friess Family Foundation fund water purification units in Malawi and mobile medical vans for the medically underserved. 

WEB SITES for more information: 

Haiti Renewal Fund: http://www.haitirenewal.org 
Chances for Children: http://www.chances4children.org/c4c/ 
Foster Friess Foundation: http://www.fosterfriess.com 

SOURCE Chances for Children

Contact information: craigmjuntunen@yahoo.com ; foster@fosterfriess.com and Tripp Baltz atab3@comcast.net

Kouchner : 276 enfants haïtiens en voie d'adoption rapatriés en France

 

Kouchner : 276 enfants haïtiens en voie d'adoption rapatriés en France

 

20.01.2010
 a déclaré, mercredi, devant l'Assemblée nationale, que 276 enfants haïtiens en voie d'adoption par des familles françaises seraient ramenés en France «le plus vite possible». Dans la matinée, c'est , secrétaire d'Etat à la Famille, qui a annoncé sur RMC que «dès cette semaine» des enfants «pourront être rapatriés» d'Haïti, mais en évoquant le chiffre de «23 qui ont un dossier parfaitement en règle». «Il y a exactement 904 dossiers d'adoption enregistrés par le service de l'adoption et deux tiers de ces procédures sont des procédures individuelles», a déclaré pour sa part le ministre des Affaires étrangères, en réponse à la question de la députée Chantal Bourragué (UMP). Parmi toutes les procédures d'adoption par des familles françaises, «276 sont au stade du jugement», a-t-il précisé. «Ceux-là, les 276, nous allons les rapatrier en France le plus vite possible, c'est-à-dire immédiatement, et les autres, nous nous en occuperons un par un avec toute l'attention nécessaire», a déclaré le ministre. Un peu plus tard dans l'après-midi, le premier ministre  s'est montré plus mesuré, indiquant que la France allait «essayer» de ramener tous les enfants haïtiens pour lesquels des décisions d'adoption en faveur de couples français avaient été prises.   Morano : des enfants rapatriés «dès cette semaine» Dans la situation de «chaos» actuelle, la priorité du gouvernement français, «c'est d'abord de s'occuper de la sécurité et de la santé des enfants» sur place et dont beaucoup sont blessés, avait expliqué ce mercredi matin Nadine Morano sur RMC. Mais «on peut dire que dès cette semaine il y aura des enfants qui pourront être rapatriés, uniquement» pour des «dossiers d'adoption qui sont déjà aboutis, où les parents ont déjà entre les mains un jugement d'adoption», donc avec un «dossier régulier et en accord avec les autorités haïtiennes», a-t-elle poursuivi. La secrétaire d'Etat à la Famille a précisé que six personnes avaient été envoyées mardi en Haïti, sous l'autorité du ministère des Affaires étrangères, pour «examiner la situation très précise de ces enfants et la situation très précise des orphelinats sur place». Et s'assurer «que nous ne sommes pas dans le cas d'enlèvements d'enfants», ni dans un «cas d'ambiguïté administrative». Le ministère saturé d'appels Nadine Morano a annoncé qu'«en lien avec le président de l'Unicef», la France «va soutenir le développement de centres de protection de l'enfance sur place» pour «assurer la sécurité et le soin de ces enfants», avec des crédits spécialement dédiés en plus des 10 millions d'euros déjà octroyés à l'Onu. Selon elle, son «ministère est saturé d'appels téléphoniques» de parents aux dossiers non aboutis ou de parents avec «un agrément d'adoption» qui «souhaiteraient ramener au plus vite des enfants». «Nous ne pouvons pas faire ça», car «nous devons prendre le temps nécessaire de trouver un membre de leur famille», a-t-elle expliqué. D'après elle, Haïti était le premier pays d'adoption pour la France.  

leparisien.fr

53 Haitian orphans arrive at Pittsburgh airport

53 Haitian orphans arrive at Pittsburgh airport

Elyce Grimes 58 mins ago

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Haiti Earthquake Appeal: False claims of "million orphans"

Haiti Earthquake Appeal: False claims of "million orphans"

Jan 19, 2010 02:55 PM

Haiti Earthquake Appeal: Lets apply a little bit of realism to the false claims of "million orphans"

See HAITI EARTHQUAKE ORPHAN APPEAL and SPONSOR AN EARTHQUAKE ORPHAN

Does anyone remember the Boxing Day Tsunami? Of course we do because we have some five hundred children who were orphaned by it living and cared for in our villages. Five hundred children out of final estimates of between five and six thousand children orphaned by a tsunami which killed 230,000 people all together. Most of those orphaned ended up with extended family. Country by country numbers of orphans were about 2-3% of the total death toll. Many children died with their families and many were separated from family but reunited. We cared for and counselled 9000 children in our short term shelters, many of whom were placed there briefly by parents still searching for siblings . Numbers from the Kashmir earthquake are harder to find but about 85000 people died and we (having been temporary guardian of every unaccompanied child in Kashmir) went from thousands short term down to 300 who were left permanently needing a new home in our villages (many of these are still unsponsored). So the number of orphans was again about 2-3% of the death toll and perhaps 0.4% of the death toll gives the number who cannot be accommodated into extended families.

Vliegtuig adoptiekinderen op Curaçao

Vliegtuig adoptiekinderen op Curaçao

Door Marjolein Schipper

AMSTERDAM - De speciale hulpvlucht die 109 adoptiekindjes moet ophalen uit Haïti staat momenteel op Curaçao. Gewacht wordt op toestemming om door te mogen vliegen naar Port-au-Prince. Naar verwachting kan het woensdagavond tegen 20.00 uur Nederlandse tijd landen in Port-au-Prince.

Kinderen in weeshuis Haiti Foto: AFP

“Er moet nog worden afgewacht of alle kinderen in één keer kunnen worden meegenomen; het is een moeizame operatie om ze allemaal tegelijk naar de luchthaven te krijgen,” aldus een woordvoerder van het ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken. Het ministerie van Defensie maakte daarom vanmorgen bekend dat de kinderen daarbij zullen worden begeleid door mariniers van de Hr.Ms. Pelikaan. De coördinatie is in handen van de Nederlandse consul Rob Padberg.

Unicef waarschuwt voor haast in adoptiedossiers

Unicef waarschuwt voor haast in adoptiedossiers

Unicef waarschuwt voor te veel haast in verband met de adoptie van Haïtiaanse kinderen. De situatie is nog zeer onduidelijk door de omvang van de catastrofe, zo luidt het.

"Alle haast is schadelijk", waarschuwt Bénédicte Jeannerod, woordvoerster van het VN-kinderfonds in Frankrijk. Ze verwelkomt de beslissing van de Franse regering om de evacuatie van kinderen van wie het dossier rond was, te versnellen, maar ze herinnerde er ook aan dat "niet alle wezen kunnen geadopteerd worden en dat ze niet noodzakelijk achtergelaten zijn".

Hereniging

"Sommige kinderen van wie de ouders overleden zijn, kunnen misschien onderdak vinden bij andere familieleden. Unicef en haar partners werken snel om te zien of sommige kinderen herenigd kunnen worden met andere familieleden, maar we moeten ons behoeden voor haast".