General Updates

IBESR / Parquet- from what I know, some families' files have been stuck in IBESR forever. (forever = 8 or more months)

Please note that what I am expressing here are my own opinions and conclusions.

Please know that since UNICEF has put so much pressure on the Haitian government, they are going over all documents/dossiers with a fine-tooth-comb and if there is just as much as a spelling error on a document (i.e. Archive), the orphanage has to get a new document. This can take some time. (Additionally, the U.S. Consulate personnel also made a visit to IBESR in March and that was perceived as pressure on IBESR, in addition to what UNICEF is doing. Officially, it is not called "pressure" because the official version is that Haiti is a sovereign country and as such UNICEF and/or any other country cannot tell Haiti what to do.)

Also, for a while families who have biological children were stuck in IBESR because Parquet would not process adoptions with biological children.

Mr. Gassant spoke of pressure that UNICEF and the French Embassy is putting on him to only implement the 1974 law that states "no biological children". I did not believe this until I learned that in March, the U.S. Consulate personnel went to visit with Mr. Gassant as well. (Obviously, I was not at the meeting, so this is not first hand information. However, my sources are reliable.)

Again the perception left with the Parquet Chief Prosecutor is that UNICEF, France and the U.S. do not want adoptions to proceed from Haiti and that "pressure is being applied". Maybe the respective embassy personnel and UNICEF personnel just want to ensure that all adoptions are done legally and properly, however the perception left is that it is "pressure" and that they are getting a "hard time for allowing adoptions".

So, for a while Parquet was holding on to adoption files with biological children. Even though the files had a presidential pardon, they were not being processed. I could not understand why UNICEF and other governments have more "say" than the President of Haiti? --- Why would the president not just put his foot down? --- I asked and was told that because of the dictator type past governments, the president wanted the different ministries to work it out themselves.

Recently, Parquet has been processing adoptions with biological children. IBESR is also signing out files with presidential pardons for families who have biological children.

Please know that files are not worked on in strict number order. If a file with a higher number is a file that has everything in order and there are no biological children, that file might get signed out faster than a file with a lower number where a family has biological children and/or a document has to be redone.

MOI - Ever since Madam Duret has taken over the office that processes the passport approvals, things have gotten much faster. Mr. Guignard still has to sign off on the letter that goes to Immigration, but with Madam Duret, things have been very organized and much smoother.

If you are a family whose file is stuck in MOI, then it is because there is a mistake with a document in your file (i.e. Archive or a typo on the adoption decree) and/or your orphanage has not done the "interview". An orphanage rep has to come in and provide additional information about the adoptive family, the adopted child and the birth family. Also, the rep has to bring in passport photos of the adoptive family and the adopted child. Some reps are faster at getting this done than others.

Immigration - has been an issue lately. Lots of paperwork has been getting lost and misplaced lately. The place is not exactly customer friendly and it is always really busy. There have been near-riots on several occasions in the last few weeks when people who have been waiting for their passports (not adoption passports - regular passports) have been told that their papers are lost and/or they have waited all day long to be seen, just to be sent away at the end of the day. It is utter chaos in the passport office on most days. On a daily basis, at least 300-500 people come to try to get their passports. So, in the midst of it all, orphanage reps are attempting to obtain adoption passports. Lately, some of the adoption passport paperwork has gotten lost/misplaced which means that the rep has to get the original documents replaced (i.e. birth certificate Archives, etc.) and has to get a new letter from MOI.

It is a struggle to get anything done... it always surprises me that adoptions get processed in spite of all these obstacles.