Orphanage ordeal
Orphanage ordeal
Posted by admin on July 19, 2009 at 3:29 pm in Other Top Stories
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Posted By RAY SPITERI
www.niagarafallsreview.ca
An orphanage in Ghana founded by a Fort Erie husband and wife ministry team has been shut down over concerns that children were taken from their parents for international adoption.
The orphanage, located in the city of Accra, was closed by the Ghanian government.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada suspended processing of adoptions from the orphanage in April after learning of the Ghanian government’s concerns.
“These are very serious allegations,” Karen Shadd, a spokeswoman for Citizenship and Immigration Canada, told The Niagara Falls Review Friday.
“The orphanage was closed … by Ghanian officials. When we learned of this, we suspended the processing.”
Alleged problems at the orphanage have come to the public’s attention only after the recent collapse of Cambridge, Ont.-based Kids Link International Adoption Agency, which operated under the name Imagine Adoption.
Up to 450 families across the country were stunned when Imagine filed for bankruptcy amid concerns senior staff members, including executive director Susan Hayhow, had unusually high expense claims.
At various stages of the lengthy, costly international adoption process mostly involving children from Ethiopia, the families’ plans are now in limbo while bankruptcy trustees and government officials try to sort out the situation.
About 30 families had reached the point where they were matched with a child while waiting for adoptions to be legally completed.
Nine of those children were at the Ghana orphanage.
Rev. Deborah MacQuarrie of Fort Erie, a Hands of Mercy cofounder and director of operations, denied the allegations about the orphanage, which she says is still operating.
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