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| Eric Breteau, head of the French charity Zoe's Ark (2nd l.), is seen with members of his team after being taken into custody
by Chadian authorities on Oct. 26. Presidential Press Office of Chad/Reuters |
'Orphan' debacle in Chad raises risk to aid efforts
A small group's effort to sneak children out of the country to Europe sparks local anger.
By Robert Marquand | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitorfrom the October 31, 2007 edition
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Paris - The ongoing Zoe's Ark incident, involving the removal of 103 children from Chad to Europe, may be a case of French volunteer gallantry run amok. It also could be a story of avaricious individuals, looking to make a quick buck by grabbing unattended children.
But certainly the 16 Europeans charged in Chad with attempting to smuggle children they say were orphans from Sudan's troubled Darfur region – underscores the sensitivities involved when new or inexperienced groups insert themselves in dangerous places, presumably to do good.
Zoe's Ark is a nongovernmental organization founded by Eric Breteau, a volunteer fireman from Paris. Mr. Breteau's group vowed in April to save some 10,000 children in Darfur from starving.
But instead, the group's effort has created a diplomatic incident, angered Chadians, and – in the process – raised concerns among established international aid groups that their efforts will now be viewed with suspicion.
"We're very unhappy about what happened," says Niko Wolswijk, the interim head of Médecins sans Frontièrs-Holland's mission to Chad. "It has a clear impact on [other aid groups] here. Local people are saying: 'Hey, what are [the aid groups] doing here? Can we trust them?' "
Many French families, willing to offer the children a home, paid up to ¤3,000 ($4,328) in cash to Zoe's Ark. Paying cash up front is highly unorthodox, according to a staff member, who asked not to be identified, of Médecins du Monde, a Paris-based group of volunteer doctors who also help with adoptions in Africa, China, and Russia, among other places. "It isn't the way children are placed under any established process."
Yet Zoe's Ark has lost money in the expensive effort to help in Darfur, its members say – and much of the upfront cash given by parents was used to hire the Spanish plane that was to take the children to Europe.
The French government has been aware of Zoe's Ark and its humanitarian aims since the spring. But it disassociated itself in the wake of the smuggling charges this week, and after Chadian president Idriss Deby accused the Ark of pedophilia and organ trafficking.
Zoe's Ark members flew to Chad on French Army planes, according to French media stories yesterday. The French foreign ministry in Paris and the French embassy in Chad were in conversation with Zoe's Ark several times since last spring.
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