A Child's Voice International Advocacy

UNICEF & Declining Adoption Numbers

2011-12-14T08:25:00.000-08:00

The Waning of International Adoption

Numbers Don't Lie

This information was provided by Harvard Professor Elizabeth Bartholet:

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The depressing 2011 statistics demonstrate the ongoing reduction in international adoption. 2011 Adoption Statistic

UNICEF Continues to Undermine International Adoption
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A powerful new film documentary demonstrates the harsh impact on unparented children of the elimination of Guatemala's former international adoption system. This film does an extraordinary job of documenting the problematic role UNICEF plays in international adoption policy. Abandoned in Guatemala

Andrea Poe urges people not to buy UNICEF holiday cards given the destructive role that UNICEF has played in denying unparented children homes in international adoption.
Why I Won't Buy UNICEF Cards

Is There a Better Way Forward?
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The Separate Statement on international adoption policy was issued as part of the recent Way Forward Project led by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute. This Way Forward Project is designed to encourage the reduction in the use of institutions as a method of addressing the needs of unparented children in six African nations. An important Separate Statement promoting international adoption as a key method of serving children's needs was incorporated in the Way Forward Project's Final Report. This Statement was signed by: Elizabeth Bartholet, Morris Wasserstein Public Interest Professor of Law, Harvard University, Dana E. Johnson, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Tendai Masiriri, International Services Manager for Africa Programs, Bethany Christian Services International, Inc. and Elizabeth Styffe, RN MN, Director HIV/AIDS & Orphan Care Initiatives, Saddleback Church.
Promoting Permanency through Adoption
Links...
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Center for Adoption Policy
Child Advocacy Program at Harvard Law School

One-Year Anniversary

2011-01-12T16:05:00.001-08:00

Today is the one-year anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti. My family and I survived this horrific event, physically unharmed (aside from a few bumps and bruises), but we lost most of our belongings in the aftermath…

It has been an emotional day for me that has been filled with feeling sad but at the same time feeling in awe as to what the human spirit can withstand.

I moved back to the U.S. in August, my kids and husband joined me in November. His mother and brother and many other relatives remain in Haiti.

Haiti is like a prison for most Haitians because no country seems to welcome Haitians. Only 5% of the rubble has been cleared! Most of the aid money promised has never arrived! I feel frustrated and somewhat angry because the big governments could help Haiti if they really wanted to… Haiti really does not seem to have much importance to the rest of the world leaders and governments. In my opinion, the only way that Haiti could be build up would be to take most of the people off the island. Rebuild it nice, then invite people back. Most Haitians have relatives in the U.S., Canada and Europe (mostly in France). That could get about 70% of the population out of Haiti to do the work.

I know this might sound utopian, but I do not see how the country can be rebuild (when it was in terrible shape before the earthquake even struck) with all the people crammed into the Port-au-Prince geographic area!

Thanks for allowing me to get this off my chest.

New Law? --- Not so fast....

2010-05-31T06:44:00.000-07:00

The new law was ratified by the Haitian Parliament. However in order for it to become law, it also has to be voted on and passed by the Haitian Senate. Currently, the senate does not have all its members and it does not have a quorum. Additionally, once it is passed by the Haitian Senate, it has to be published for a while in order for it to be passed into law.

Thus, there really is not "new law"... not yet anyways...

Also, there is a bit of a scandal surrounding the "new law". While the "new law" was being written, composed, there were several meetings of all the stakeholders, including Creche Directors. ("Creche" is an orphanage that is licensed to process adoptions.) These directors proposed changes and these were edited into the proposed law.

However, the wording of the "new law" that was ratified and passed by the Haitian Parliament did not have any of those changes and edits. The "new law" that was put forth to the parliament was exactly the wording that UNICEF had proposed!

Hmmm... do you smell a rat? I sure do!

The Creche Directors were furious about this "fast one" being pulled... They are organizing to lobby the Senators (old, new, etc.) before the Senate will pass the law in an attempt to pass the law as it was written after the many editing sessions. So this is not done yet!

Also, the Haitian Parliament passed this "new law" in one of its emergency sessions where they were supposed to only look, discuss and ratify laws that were of emergency!

According to the "new law" - couples who have been married at least 5 years and are older than 30, with no biological children are given preference to adopt in Haiti.

- It mentions that biological children are no obstacle at one point in "the law" but at the beginning it states that the couple is to be without bio kids. (I still need to spend more time reading the text.)

-If the couple is not married but has lived together for at least 10 years, they can also adopt.

- Only divorced women and divorced men over the age of 35 without any biological children can adopt.

- I am not sure if dossiers can be sent to orphanages directly for matching or if the dossiers have to be sent directly to IBESR for matching? I need to find the time to sit down and read "the law".

- Orphanages will be financially penalized if they accept a child and do not report the child to IBESR within three days! That one is a biggy because the fine is a lot of money! Many orphanages have the capacity to accept children, but are not doing so because of financial implications. Who is financially supporting the orphanages and their kids? Only the big ones that have church sponsorship or sponsorship from other sources can survive and care for kids right now. IBESR or UNICEF do not give financial support to orphanages.

On a side note - I was told by one creche director that UNICEF showed up at her creche with armed guards in order to "inspect" her orphanage. Armed Guards? Really? COME ON NOW!

Housing Situation in Port-au-Prince

2010-03-19T11:46:00.000-07:00

I wanted to give a small update, it really has nothing to do with adoptions, but it is affecting children.

*** The tent situation has gotten a little better, but there are still many more tents needed. I do not know if the international aid groups do not have good guides to help show them around, but there are many more fields and areas in the outskirts of PAP where families continue living in bed sheet tents. It has been raining a lot. When I say "raining", I mean RAINING for hours and strong rain!

*** Some people's homes were not destroyed and now international aid workers are seeking housing. As a result, renters are being evicted because they cannot pay as much as the international aid workers. Some families are getting as little as a one-week notice to move out.

*** Sexual harassment is getting worse for women and girls in their teens. The problem with living in tent cities or bed sheet tent cities is that there is really very little privacy and security. It is not like one can lock a door or gate. From my observations and with talking with women/girls I know, it is a real security threat. It is bad enough that so many women and girls have to depend on a man to help them get food, shelter, basic necessities, in addition to all too constant verbal sexual comments, but women and girls have to worry about getting sexually assaulted.

*** On a side note, I have female friends who work for the U.N. and they constantly tell me about verbal sexual harassment and sexual touching that they have to endure from the male U.N. soldiers and employees. They are afraid to complain and endure this kind of treatment because they are afraid that they will lose their jobs if they do.

*** The security situation has gotten worse since many of the U.S. Army troops have left the country. I think that was a bad decision to have them leave. Right on the street that I live on, a man was shot to death during a robbery by four men with guns. The man's son watched the attack and his father being shot. The father had driven his car to the local bakery and they were going to buy bread. Another incident happened in the city where two Haitian police men were shot and killed by criminals. These are just two incidences, there are others. It is no longer safe to go to the bank, to go shopping and to go into the city to run errands! Sad but true!

Haiti Update

2010-02-15T11:41:00.000-08:00

I am in the U.S. for a few days after having escorted some adopted children to the U.S. from Haiti. We did not have any electricity since the earthquake, let alone any internet access. I am not sure how long it will be before we have electricity and/or internet after I return to Haiti. I wanted to post some information regarding Haitian adoptions and information for the general public to understand what children came to the U.S. (and other countries) post-earthquake.

(1) I want people to realize that the Haitian children, with a few exceptions, that were brought to the U.S. (and other countries) after the January 12th earthquake, were mostly children who had already been adopted by foreign families or who were in the middle of the adoption process by those foreign families.

In talking to people, it seems that many people think that the children who were brought out of Haiti on Humanitarian Parole "visas" were orphaned children who needed homes after the earthquake. Some people that I have spoken to seem to think that families who want a child merely stepped forward to claim an orphan. I want to dispell this misunderstanding.

Most of the children, I am especially speaking of the children who I obtained humanitarian parole for were children who already had valid Haitian adoption decrees. Their adoption files were in the Ministry of Interior (in Port-au-Prince) awaiting passport approval letters so that they could be issued Haitian passports and then could have their immigration visas applied for at the U.S. Consulate in Haiti. Most of the families had been in the adoption process for one to three years at the time of the earthquake. I had one child who had IBESR adoption authorization, but the rest of the children had already been adopted by their families.

(2) I know that a lot of families have come forward to inquire about adopting a child from Haiti, "earthquake orphans". Though I personally think that UNICEF is doing more damage than good, especially in Haiti with their anti-adoption attitude, I have to agree with them that in terms of children who seem to have lost their parent(s) during the earthquake should not be released for adoption unless we know that their parent(s) is(are) dead and no relatives can care for them.

What people do not seem to understand is that under U.S. immigration law, the term "orphan" has its own legal definition:

(a) A child whose parents are deceased; or

(b) A child who has one living parent who is not able to care for that child under country-based standards and who has relinquished this child; or

(c) A child whose living parents (both parents) have abandoned that child.

Based on my personal working experience in adoptions, proving to the U.S. government during the orphan investigation process that a child's parents are deceased is the most difficult thing to do and that makes it the most difficult kind of adoption to process.

Thus, I think that it will be difficult to adopt orphaned children who lost their parents in the earthquake because of the lack of proof that the parents really died. Many people's corpses were burned or burried in mass graves after the earthquake without any identification.

(3) I know that IBESR (Haitian adoption authority) has started working again. Last week Monday, they accepted adoption dossiers and also signed out approved adoption dossiers. However, I know nothing about the workings of the courts.

The PAP Parquet (the court building in Port au Prince that processes adoption decrees) building was still standing (at least what I saw from the street) but I do not know what kind of damage there is to the building.

The Ministry of Interior (MOI) was pretty much completely destroyed, but apparently several, if not all, file cabinets that contained adoption dossiers with original adoption related documents, were recovered by MOI staff.

Immigration was open last week and people who had had passports printed prior to the earthquake were able to pick them up. So, I do not know if they are up and operational for adoption related passports or if they are issuing new passports for the general population. Personally, I cannot see how they can work in the building because you have to enter into Immigration through a long basement room and I would not go through there (personally) just in case the building is not safe or another aftershock strikes.

(4) Future Adoptions - I am sure that adoptions will continue, but if UNICEF is now in charge of adoptions and/or in determining what child can or cannot be adopted, then the future is really bleak for the children in need of homes. Post-earthquake, UNICEF personnel came to visit registered orphanages to take a count of how many children were in the care of the orphanages, so I had a chance to speak with one of the UNICEF workers. He basically told me that their focus was to keep all Haitian children in Haiti because "they are the future of Haiti".

In theory, I agree that children should grow up in their home country, but when there is a non-existing social welfare system (even prior to the earthquake, let alone after the earthquake) to care for those children, then for survival sake, adoption is one of the very few solutions. That is the reality!

(5) Post earthquake, I have been working on getting food and medical assistance to people who were displaced by the earthquake. Unfortunately, assistance has not reached people who are in the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, i.e. Santo, Clercine areas, just to mention two areas. We have a piece of land that is currently housing approx. 200 families in "bedsheet tents". Nobody has come to offer these families food, water or medicine from any international aid organizations. I am working on getting at least 50 real tents to bring back with me this week so that some have cover from rain which will come. We also want to set up a feeding program, but that requires ongoing donations. We have given food to about 80 families on a somewhat regular basis paid from private donations. But this distribution has been our private one-four persons effort.

There has been some food distribution near the U.S. Embassy and the Major of Tabarre that I have seen, but people have to stand in long lines for hours in order to reach the distribution. In order to stand in the line for hours and to carry the food donations, the person has to be able to stand for a long time and be physically fit. What about mothers with small children? What about elderly people? What about people who were injured in the earthquake? They cannot stand in such lines.

Drinking water was given free by Miracle Water for one week, two weeks ago. Now people have to pay for water again. As a result, of not having free drinking water provided to them, people are drinking contaminated water. Well water is readily available because many houses have wells and there are community wells, but that water is not safe for drinking.

These are my personal observations and updates...

Haiti Update

2010-02-01T13:09:00.000-08:00

Yes, I survived the earthquake, thank you God!

I have very limited computer or internet access. I have been working with different parents and orphanages to get humanitarian parol "visas"for adopted or in the process of being adopted children.

Here is what all adoptive children's parents need to know, make sure that you have current fingerprints with USCIS!!! Many of the files (children) stuck in the process in the Port au Prince USCIS are stuck because the adoptive parents do not have active fingerprints. They expire every 18 months! Please, if you are one of these parents, go to your local USCIS office and have them resubmitted ASAP.

Getting things accomplished in Haiti...

2009-11-20T12:12:00.001-08:00

I usually give adoption related updates on this blog, but today I want to tell you the story that is completely adoption unrelated. It is the true story of getting my car registration changed to my name after I purchased a car in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. I am hoping that this story will give you an idea of how difficult it is to get things accomplished in a bureaucracy that is a complete disaster at times...

I purchased a used car from a private seller, a Haitian man who works at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince as a car mechanic. I purchased the car from him in October, however had not changed the registration and car insurance, which is state run in Haiti, and wanted to get this done. So, last week the seller and I finally found a date where both of us were available to get this accomplished. It took a total of FOUR workdays to get this accomplished! Here is the story...

Day #1: The seller and I had to meet at Circulation (similar to the Dept. of Motor Vehicles or DMV) to get the registration changed from his name to my name.

First, we had to take the car through a car inspection line, cars are lined up to be driving into a big hanger type garage to have the VIN number checked and I think that they checked the engine too, but cannot remember. That part took over an hour to accomplish. We got the appropriate piece of paper.

Next, we had to go find a parking spot in the crowded street near Circulation and then walk back to Circulation to continue with the process. Circulation is a big compound that has a hanger type inspection station, but there are offices hidden in buildings along side the large hanger. Also, the is a larger two story building with offices on the downstairs left side, downstairs bottom side and the second floor of the building.

We had to go to the downstairs left building to get four empty forms that all required the seller's, the buyer's and the vehicle information. All four empty forms required the same information, but since it is not in carbon form we had to fill out each form individually. Once done with that, we had to go to one of the "hidden" buildings for a stamp to be put on each one of the forms. However, the police officer who was in charge of stamping the forms did not like that I had made correction on one of the forms and refused to stamp all four forms.

So, we had to go back to the first office to get a new form. But just getting a new form would have been too easy, we were required to fill out an entire new package of forms again. Wouldn't it have been easier to fill out just the one form and to have stapled that page to the other three already correctly filled out forms? That would have made to much sense, I guess...

Once we filled out the four new forms all over again, we walked back to the "hidden" office so that Mr. Police Officer could put the stamp on each of the papers. Which he did this time...

Now we had to walk back to the first office, but this time we had to squeeze toward a small window in the wall where a man sat who looked over the forms and asked for 150 Gourdes. The funny thing is that both, the buyer and the seller have to show their faces through that little window to answer questions and to pay the money. There were about 20 sellers/buyers trying to get to the little window and whoever could squeeze the best got to the window. I guess that the seller and I passed the squeezing test because we made it to the window in about 10 minutes.

The man behind the window looked at the forms, asked us for our i.d. cards, after inspecting them, he then covering up the information we had written on the forms asked us for the seller's name, his address and phone number. Then he asked me the same thing while covering up the information on the form. He also asked what kind of car the seller had sold to me, I guess that we passed the test and were told to sit down while the man kept our forms.

After waiting about 20 minutes, the seller and I were called to a door that led into the office behind the man in the window. We had to go to desk #1 and sit down. Behind the desk was a man in civilian clothes who looked at our forms and asked us for our i.d. cards/driver's licenses. After inspecting them, he gave the cards back to us. Then, just like the man behind the window, he covered up the information on the forms so that only he could see it and asked us individually for our names, address and telephone number. He also asked what kind of car the seller had sold to me. I guess that we passed the test again because we had to move to desk #2 after the man on desk #1 stamped and signed the forms.

We moved to desk #2, located immediately next to desk #1. I felt like playing musical chairs..

The man behind desk #2 was a police officer. He did the same thing as the man behind the window and desk #1 had done. He asked us to show our i.d. cards/licenses and then while covering up the form ask each of us for our name, address, and telephone number. This time, after he had asked the seller what kind of car he had sold me and when he turned to me and asked what kind of car the seller had sold to me, I said: "A 2009 Mercedes." Mr. Police Officer Man failed to see the humor in my response, so I quickly gave him the correct answer.

He stamped and signed the forms and handed each of us a paper with a Bible quote on it. I guess he realizes that Car Sellers and Buyers really need heavenly intervention in the changing of registration process?

So, now we were done with the first part of the process. We had arrived at Circulation at 10 a.m. and it was now about 3:30 p.m. The next step was to go to the OCAVT office compound which is located clear across town and is not anywhere near Circulation. We realized that it was too late to drive across town to get anything accomplished at the OCAVT office compound. We made an appointment to meet the next morning at the OCAVT location. OCAVT is the official vehicle inspection place where mechanics check the engine of the cars and sign off on a document that certifies that the car is operational.

Day #2: The seller and I met at the OCAVT location and had to drive in the car into the inspection line. We had to hand over the entire stack of stamped and signed forms from the previous day, including the title document of the car and some other receipt papers that we had collected from the previous day. Thank God for staples! Once we handed the stack of stapled papers over, a sticker with a number was placed on the rearview mirror, gave a sheet of paper to be filled out, and we were told to drive to the back of the compound to have the engine inspected.

Meanwhile the seller was mad because he said that I should not have given the entire stack of documents to the men who put the sticker on the mirror. So, I walked back to the sticker men to confirm that they had kept the correct documents, etc. while my car waited for the inspection from the mechanics with the hood open next to a bunch of other cars with their hoods open.

I was told by the sticker men that indeed, they had to keep the entire stack of papers. I walked back to the car to tell the seller the response which he did not believe. After all, I am a woman and they tell anything to women. (He seriously said that.) So he walked back to the sticker men just to get the same answer!

Finally, the mechanic with his flash light and stick that had a piece of cloth wrapped on the tip of the stick came to do my car's inspection. He used the flashlight to look at the engine and used the stick to poke some things. He also looked at the oil level and some of the other fluid levels of the engine. Satisfied, he signed off on the paper and told us to move the car to the very end of the compound to park it there. We were told that we now had to sit in a large room with benches to wait for our names to be called.

As I parked the car at the end of the compound, I noticed that there was a small restaurant located in the compound. After I parked, I went to buy myself a cold drink. I am telling you this because as I was parking the car at the back of the compound, I saw some of the engine inspectors sneaking behind the building of the restaurant to sneak in a few drinks from rum bottles that had been stashed back there... I guess they needed ensure that their fluid levels were at adequate levels as well.

We sat inside the large room with benches for about an hour when the seller and my name was called over a loudspeaker that was trying to blow out waiting sellers and buyers with squeaking feedback noises.

Once our name was called, we had to go to my parked car and drive the car to the front of the compound to pick up the ever bigger getting stack of my documents that had some more papers with stamps and signatures on it. Then we were done at OCAVT.

Next we had to go to the National Assurance (insurance) Office, fortunately located on the same street as OCAVT. We found parking and went into the Assurance Office which is a compound but not as large as Circulation or OCAVT. Of course, there is no paper or information posted as to where you have to go and what you have to do in each of these offices.

We went to several offices in the Assurance building to find where we had to go and finally learned that we had to make photocopies of our driver licenses, the car title and the seller's insurance document. So, we had to walk down the street to the photocopy place to make copies. Once we returned to the Assurance place we were promptly told that we needed to get color copies of the driver's licenses and that black and white copies were not accepted. So, we had to walk back to the photocopy place down the street to get color copies done. How come they did not tell us color copies the first time around?

Finally, with color copies of our driver's licenses in hand and the other photocopies, we were told to go to an office that was in a little wet alley way behind the back of the building. In the officer were a number of desks and we had to do the sit at desk #1, then move to desk #2 and then onto desk #3 "game".

At desk #1, a gentleman who was very flirty (I'll tell you more about him when I get to day #4) filled out a pink form while asking the seller for his name, address and telephone number and then moved on to asking me the same information about myself in his flirty way, complimenting me on my Kreyol, etc. Then he attached the pink form to our ever bigger getting stack of documents/papers with another staple. Then we had to move over to desk #2 and then onto desk #3 where the person behind the desk stamped and signed some more.

Then we were told to go to the DGI cashier to pay 170 gourdes in fees and then once we were done at the DGI cashier, we had to go to the Assurance cashier to pay 500 gourdes. Fortunately, the DGI cashier and the Assurance cashier are in the same large room, though at opposite ends in their respective cashier cages.

Once I paid the 500 gourdes, I was told to wait because my name would be called to give me the new National Assurance Document with my name on it. Once my name was called and I collected the paper, it again was around 3:00 p.m. as it had been the previous day.

Our next step was to return to the Circulation Compound located clear across town and like the previous day, it was too late to get there during day #2.

The seller told me that I could finish up the rest of the necessary paperwork on my own at Circulation and that I should go there the next day to finish up the process of changing the car registration over from his name to my name. We parted way and instead of leaving things for the next day, I tried to go to get some more things accomplished at Circulation during Day #2.

Day #3: I went back to Circulation to try to figure out the rest of the change of registration process. Right away, I was approached by one of the "hustlers" that work around Haitian government offices and offer to be guides through the process. I did not trust this guy as far as I could throw him... So, I declined his assistance and went by myself to the upstairs portion of the Circulation Building. There one of the clerks told me that the seller and the buyer, each had to pay a fee of 3,650 gourdes (about $95 USD). I called the seller and told him that he and I both had to pay this fee. Of course, he denied that he had to pay the fee.

I asked the lady where I had to pay this fee, as she wrote both the seller and the buyer fee onto the "old" car registration/ownership document that was in my stapled pile of papers. She told me that I had to go to "central DGI" which is located in downtown Port-au-Prince. This made no sense to me and I asked her if I could not pay my fee at the DGI cashier's office on the same floor where she was located. She told me "no" and that I had to go to the central DGI office in "la ville".

I figured that she must know what she was talking about even though it made not much sense. But nothing had really made sense in this entire process, so I figured that she was correct.

On the way down the stairs to leave the second floor, these guys started to make nasty comments to me (sexually tainted) and I was so mad!

I drove downtown to the central DGI office and it became obvious that I was sent to the wrong place. I was so frustrated and called my friend James who is an auditor for the Finance Ministry in downtown PAP. I explained the situation and the confusion to him and he said not to worry, he was going to take the rest of the day off to help me finish the registration. True to his word, he met me within ten minutes and we drove back to Circulation.

When we arrived at the second floor of the Circulation building, it became pretty obvious that all the people who work there knew James. He explained to me that while he was training to be an auditor, after his university studies, he worked at Circulation for several months to learn its operation. James ushered me behind the locked cage door that separated the general, car registering public and the workers and sat me in an office while he went to take care of my registration. After about one hour, James came back with lots more signatures and stamps. However, he told me that I had a problem. It turned out that the car license plate on my car was registered to two cars and this would have to be corrected before I could finish the registration.

So, that is how day #3 ended because it was a Friday afternoon and people stop working early, around 2:30 or 3:00 p.m. James told me to come back on Monday to finish the process and to bring the car's license plate and registration sticker (peeled off the front windshield). He said for me to ask directly for the director of Circulation and that he would assist me.

(To be continued...)

U.S. CONSULATE ADOPTION CONFERENCE

2009-11-14T04:02:00.000-08:00

Last week, the U.S. Consulate held its second adoption related conference to which the Canadian, French respective Consulates, Haitian authorities and Creche directors were invited.

I was asked to be on the "panel of experts" alongside with the main Port-au-Prince judge (for adoptions), the IBESR director, adoption advocate and one other adoption processor/worker. The presentation that we were asked to give was:

(1) To describe the work we do now in adoptions

(2) How our work would change if the Hague Convention was implemented in Haiti

(3) What, in our opinion, would have to be in place or challenges we see in trying to get Haiti ready for Hague

Everybody recognized that Haiti is not ready to sign on to the Hague Convention and that a ton of work has to be done in order for that to happen. Everybody also agreed that if Haiti would sign on to Hague prematurely, adoptions would completely grind to a stop and it would spell disaster for the orphaned and abandoned children of Haiti.

One of the other things that was discussed was the currently proposed adoption law that is in front of the Haitian parliament currently. The main issue/problem that I have with the law is that orphanages would no longer be matching adoptable children with prospective adoptive parents.

Under the new law, IBESR would receive all prospective adoptive parents' dossier and would "review the file" for suitability for a match with an adoptable child. Then, IBESR would match that family with a child from their list of children.

Sounds good in theory, but in all practicality --- Haitian adoptions would be just like adoptions in the Dominican Republic or El Salvador where similar systems are in place. Referrals would trickle through, kids would linger in orphanages because they would not be referred and the referring workers would only refer to their "favorite" orphanages (or at least that is my concern).

In my opinion, for what it is worth, because there is no efficient bureaucracy in place, this kind of system would spell disaster to adoption referrals in Haiti. As a result, smaller orphanages would end up shutting down because of lack of referrals and it would overwhelm others to where these orphanages could not accept new children who need a home because others are waiting, waiting, waiting to be referred.

As a result, only the large, well funded orphanages would survive. Smaller orphanages, like the ones that only have 15-30 children would end up having to shut down because one of the ways the smaller orphanages can survive financially is through the support fees that come from adoptions. With the current decline in the worldwide economy, general donations have seriously declined and it is already difficult for existing orphanages to financially function.

This kind of proposed system of referral would only work if, and only if, orphanages received state funding to cover their operating costs. It seems that nobody, the writers of the proposed legislations (strongly sponsored by UNICEF) and the supporters of this legislation have NOT thought about the need for state funding of the orphanages if the legislation was to pass.

Adopting an HIV+ Child News:

2009-11-03T12:36:00.001-08:00

The process of adopting a child who is HIV+ just got easier because the additional step for adopting a child who is HIV+ is being eliminated. This has been posted by Joint Council on International Children's Services.

"President Obama announced on Friday, October 30 2009, that the travel ban into the United States by individuals with HIV would be lifted. Kathleen G. Sebelius, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, stated earlier today “we will publish a rule in the Federal Register announcing that the United States will drop HIV from the list of diseases barring visitors from entering this country, effective Jan. 1, 2010.”

"The lifting of this ban will eliminate the filing of a 601-waiver application for children who are HIV positive and adopted by U.S. citizens."

News...

2009-11-01T05:35:00.001-08:00

Ministry of Interior- Any document that has a half-page archive certification (i.e. birth certificates, death certificates or adoption decree) that are less than one year old must be accompanied by a certification letter from the Ministry of Justice. (That has been the case for about nine months now...) That letter has three different officials' signatures on it...BUT NOW, that letter also has to be legalized (certified) on the back of it.

It is like nobody trusts nobody in Haiti... It means that the certification (which is the half-page archive) has to be certified by the letter from the Ministry of Justice (with the three separate signatures) which has to be certified by the further legalization...it is like a never ending chain!

U.S. Embassy - No news on the way DNA will be done now. Also, we have not received any DNA tests back that had been done prior to the change. I will post as soon as I learn something new.

Also, the embassy is holding another adoption workshop/meeting in November. Invited are Haitian government officials, French and Canadian embassy personnel, orphanage directors, etc. I was asked to be on the "panel of experts" to present along side with Madam Pierre (IBESR director), Judge Cadet (Port au Prince Parquet/Court), Dixie Bickel (GLA) and two others whom I do not know.

DNA Testing Changes - U.S. Adoptions in Haiti

2009-10-19T13:18:00.000-07:00

Just an update... In the past, there were a few U.S. government approved labs in Port-au-Prince, Haiti that could do DNA testing in adoption related cases.

At first, the U.S. made the change that a U.S. Consular Officer had to be present during the DNA testing inside the respective labs. However now, the U.S. has changed the procedure completely and all DNA testing will only be done inside the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince.

When we asked about how this new procedure will work, we were told that there is no procedure in place yet, but that all DNA testing will be conducted at the U.S. Embassy only.

This means that if a USCIS Official or a U.S. Consular Official conducts a birth parent interview and requests DNA testing to prove parentage, it can only be done at the U.S. Embassy....but as mentioned above, the U.S. Embassy has no procedure in place yet as to how to conduct the DNA testing.

No real updates...

2009-10-16T06:05:00.000-07:00

I really do not have much to update...

The U.S. Consulate in Port-au-Prince is going to hold another adoption workshop to which they will invite orphanage directors and Haitian government officials. The workshop will be scheduled some time in November since that is the "adoption month".

Additionally, USCIS and the U.S. Consular Section have become much more "user friendly" and have returned to being customer oriented, meaning that interactions are polite and professional. This is a nice change from the way it had been for the time period of November 2007 through about May 2009. It is nice to be treated in a professional manner. :)

Judge Cadet in the PAP Parquet (court) is continuing to require adoptive parents to attend the court hearing regarding their adoptions. I really wonder how many families are not going to adopt from Haiti because they cannot afford taking trips to Haiti and/or rather choose to adopt from a country that makes the adoption process easier than Haiti. Ultimately, it will be the kids who loose out on families...

Presidential Waivers - are being issued. I have had some emails from families whose attorneys claim that they do not have access to the office that deals with the waivers. That is really not true. It is a time consuming process to hunt down the files that are waiting for waivers, but it can be done.

Selecting an orphanage to adopt from - I get many emails from families stuck in the adoption process with incredible waits, wanting assistance. I can assist some families, especially if the orphanage is cooperative, but most orphanages are not cooperative for a variety of reasons. It is extremely important to do thorough research before deciding who to adopt through.

Also, just because an orphanage is contracted with an adoption agency does not mean that the process will be smooth and timely. Most adoption agencies have no control over the adoption process with the orphanage.

Do not let pretty websites or religious/pretty names fool you. Talk with parents who have their children at home! Ask them questions. Most families who have experienced some nice hand-holding through the dossier process, etc. will sing praises to their respective orphanage or adoption agency, BUT they are still in process and cannot really give a reference.

Some orphanages that do a great job processing adoptions are not best at hand holding because they are busy working, pushing adoptions through the process.

Some orphanages are lying regarding the status of the adoption files. For example, some orphanages claim that a file is in Ministry of Interior (MOI) awaiting final signature when in fact the file is not even submitted in MOI! So, MOI gets the blame when in fact the orphanage is telling stories to the adoptive families.

Researching is so important! Once you have a child referred to you and your orphanage does not like "outside assistance", you are stuck with them and the process... For example, I met a family recently whose adoption, from the time that the dossier was submitted to Haiti, took almost five (5) years. That is an insane timeline! Sometime there is a problem with locating an Archive Log Book where a death or birth certificate is recorded, but that does not drag out an adoption to five years!

Finally...

2009-09-19T09:49:00.000-07:00

I have had so many internet connection issues that I finally "broke down" and purchased an internet connection system. It was quite costly, way too much money, but at least I can connect to the internet without having to wait 10 minutes for one email to pop up...

Port-au-Prince Parquet - Judge Cadet is requiring families whose adoptions are processed through the Port-au-Prince court to attend in person.

U.S. Embassy Meeting - Last week Wednesday, I attended a meeting at the U.S. Embassy to which Judge Cadet, Madam Pierre (IBESR), M. Guignard (MOI) were invited also. M. Guignard is out of town, so his second in charge attended. Representatives from the French and Canadian Embassies were also in attendance as were other orphanage directors/ representatives. I really think that this meeting's real purpose was to get the Haitian officials to see that the parents are thoroughly screened and thus maybe the Haitian officials would stop making the adoption process more difficult.

For example, UNICEF keeps talking about disruptions, parents not knowing the children they are adopting and child trafficking. This presentation at the U.S. Embassy really "drove home" the point that parents are well qualified to adopt and that "child buying" is illegal under U.S. law. Also, the consular official made it very clear that if there is so much as an inkling of fraud, misrepresentation or suspicion of child buying, the child's visa will not be approved.

When I spoke to some of the officials later this week, they seemed to understand the process a bit better, but at the same time, they were annoyed because the invitation stated the start time as 9:00 a.m. but the meeting did not start until 10:20 a.m. Some of the Haitian officials felt slighted by that and one said that this was "disrespecting my time".

I think that the dialog needs to continue and that Haitian officials understand that parents who are adopting are not "rogue adopters" but thoroughly screened for fitness to adopt. Also, there needs to be a continued education that on the U.S. side of things, the adoptions are thoroughly examined and that contrary to UNICEF's concerns illegal and fraudulent "stuff" cannot make it through the system.

In Haitian adoptions, there are way to many cooks in the kitchen (as the saying goes). That is why things are so slow and frustrating. It is almost like every step is its own adoption process. It would be nice to get the departments/ministries/court to communicate with each other and to trust each other's process.

During the meeting USCIS and the U.S. Consulate representatives explained the approval process that American families have to go through in order to be approved to adopt.

Updates....

2009-08-09T07:16:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not having updated my blog much lately...but there has not been much to report on that has not already been written about.

IBESR - continues to require all adoptive families with children to obtain a "Presidential Waiver". Now, not only families with bio kids but families with adopted kids have to get the waiver. Since the "presidential office" (actually Ministry of Justice) only accepts 10 files at a time, this can be a really slow process for some families. It is frustrating because in the meantime the children continue to live in orphanages instead of with their families.

UNICEF keeps meddling in the adoptions, so they are not making things easier for the process. The interesting thing is that UNICEF talks a lot --- but you know the saying: "Put your money where your mouth is."? --- well they talk a lot but I do not really see them doing much for the kids in Haiti. When I speak with people who work with the kids, including Haitian government workers, they all agree with that. UNICEF is becoming a "bad word" because they meddle in things BUT cannot provide workable solutions and cannot assist in ensuring that all Haitian children have loving homes, food, education and medical treatment. In my opinion, UNICEF is just good at putting roadblocks in the way of children having loving homes, food, education and medical treatment.

Parquet - The newest "thing" is that thanks to our friends at UNICEF who are concerned that parents adopt children before they have met them in person, have put a bug in the ear of the judge in Parquet (court) in Port-au-Prince that all adoptive parents should come to court in Haiti. This way, supposedly, the judge can assure himself that the adoptive parents really want the child.

Maybe we ought to invite our friends from UNICEF and the judge to one of the many Haiti Adoption Reunions that are held on a regular basis.
* May - there was one in Washington D.C. at the invitation of the Haitian Ambassador to the U.S.
* August - there was a BIG one with over 200 families in Indiana.
* August - there is another one in Washington state.

There are adoption reunions on a bi-monthly basis in the U.S. and Canada. I would love to learn about adoption reunions in Europe.

Here is the "kicker" --- the prospective adoptive parents are supposed to attend a hearing with the judge in Parquet. But, they won't have an appointment (or court date), so they are expected to come and sit, and wait, and wait some more? In the meantime, protests continue in downtown Port-au-Prince on a regular basis, most recently last week over the minimum wage issue.

Also, as posted on this blog before...these protests have involved Parquet before especially when protesters have been arrested. Hmmm... So I would like to know how UNICEF and the judge are going to ensure the adoptive parents safety when the parents sit in Parquet for a week?

Ministry of Interior - I know that there are a lot of adoptive parents frustrated with the Ministry of Interior (MOI) process. Files have been stuck in MOI for many months, I know of some files that have been inside of MOI for a year!

Here is the issue... Thanks to our friends at UNICEF who are so worried about child trafficking, the workers in MOI have been instructed to go through every document with a fine tooth comb. This means that if there is as much as a misspelled word on any document, that document has to be done over again. That can take a long time for an orphanage to correct because it means that, for example, an adoption decree has to be redone.

In the meantime, that file is stuck inside of MOI...because an "a" instead of an "e" in a word could really mean that the child was trafficked (just kidding!) --- but that is what it comes down to.

Also, MOI does not trust Archives (where documents are certified), especially for documents that are less than one year old and have "half-page Archives" attached. For any such documents, the orphanage has to obtain a letter from the Ministry of Justice that certifies that the Archive is proper and legal. However, here comes the kicker...often that letter from the Ministry of Justice has a typo. What does that mean? It means that MOI cannot accept a letter with a typo and then the orphanage has to go back to the Ministry of Justice to get a new letter without a typo.

In the meantime, the document that was less than one year old, now is one year old...and that means that it needs to be a "full-page Archive" and no longer a "half-page Archive". Thus, then the orphanage is sent back to get a full-page Archive and this can take several months to obtain, especially if the log book is not in Archives yet.

I hope that you get the picture of the "spinning wheels"? The thing is that the people who work in the adoption related MOI office are one of the hardest working people that I have ever observed in Haiti. They want to get the files signed out and they often work right through their lunch break. However, they are bound by the "rules"...

Proposed Haitian Adoption Law Revision = BAD IDEA

2009-07-17T05:31:00.000-07:00

I want to give my five cents to this "new" = old 2006 written and proposed adoption law in Haiti... I personally think that the law is NOT a good idea. The law was written ("co-authored") by UNICEF and we all know that UNICEF is very anti-adoption and would prefer children to live in Haiti (in orphanages because there are few in-country adoptive homes) versus being adopted internationally.

Thus, the law is geared to slowing the process down even more and to make the adoption process more difficult than it already is. HOLT writes that the current adoption process is taking up to four years. That is a ridiculous time line and most adoptions currently do NOT take four years.

Counting from the time that the dossier reaches Haiti up to the point that the child's file comes out of MOI and a passport is issued, should take 12-18 months. The time prior to the dossier reaching Haiti and the time it takes the respective receiving country (i.e. the U.S. Consulate) to issue immigration permission cannot be counted against the Haiti adoption timeline because it has nothing to do with the Haitian side of the adoption process.

The law proposes to "fix" the no-bio kids stipulation that is causing many families difficulties, BUT it also proposes a new referral process that will slow down referrals and will open up the process to possible bribes and corruption.

Currently, a licensed for adoption orphanage can receive adoption dossiers and is able to make adoption referrals to the prospective adoptive families. This process is smooth and does not take much time. However, with the proposed 2007 law, all dossiers have to be received by IBESR directly and then it is somebody in IBESR that will make a child adoption proposal referral of a child that is on its list living in one of the licensed orphanages.

Currently, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica has a very similar dossier receiving and child referral process. Adoptions in the countries with such a referral system are extremely slow because it takes forever to receive an adoption referral. Plus, the prospective family does not get as much information about the proposed child as they would with an orphanage referral.

Additionally, my concern is that Haiti, like many non-developed country bureaucracies, offices work really slow and it will be an office worker who decides what child from which particular orphanage will be adopted. (I mean no disrespect to anybody working in IBESR because they are short staffed and underpaid as is.)

My fear is that only orphanages that are "in good graces" with the particular referring office will get its children referred for adoption. As a result, in my opinion, that leaves things open for corruption, bribes, etc. (Again, I mean no disrespect to anybody working in IBESR, but this is a possibility.)

Many orphanages in Haiti can financially survive and take care of children because they handle adoptions. With the proposed new (old) law, many orphanages would go under financially and would stop functioning, allowing only big organizationally backed orphanages to survive. Since IBESR, the Haitian government and UNICEF do NOT provide funding for orphanages in Haiti, unless they want to start funding these orphanages, this is a really BAD idea and will ultimately leave hundreds if not several thousand of kids homeless and starving to death.

I am really surprised that HOLT and Joint Council would put their push and backing into this law and would want prospective and adoptive families to put their weight behind it. It makes little sense to me and I hope that people will really look at this proposed law and it severe negative consequences.

Two years ago when this law was first proposed, lots of people who run orphanages, who work in adoptions expressed their concerns about this law to the Haitian parliament and that is why it was not passed at that time.

Here is an English translation of the proposed law:

English Translation of the Proposed New Haitian Adoption Law: (Thank you Amy for helping me translate this!)

FREEDOM EQUALITY FRATERNITY
REPUBLIC OF HAITI
Adoption LAW reform

RENE GARCIA PREVAL
PRESIDENT

Considering the Haitian Constitution of March 29, 1987;

Considering the Decree of December 22, 1971 governing the social works;

Considering the Decree of December 22, 1973 governing the status of the minors in children centres;

Considering the decree of April 4, 1974 on the adoption reinforcing the provisions of that of March 25, 1966.

Considering the Organic law of the Ministry of Social affairs dated March 6, 1983;

Considering the decree of August 28, 1987 creating the Ministry for the Social Affairs and integrating the Institute of the Good Social Being and Research among the technical and administrative organizations.

Considering the law of May 7, 2003 relating to the prohibition and the elimination of all forms of abuse violence, ill treatments or inhuman treatments against the children.

Considering the law of May 13, 2003 prohibiting the treatment cruel, inhuman and degrading against the children.

Considering the inter-American Convention on international traffic of minors sanctioned by the decree of November 26, 2003.

Considering the decree of December 23, 1994 ratification of the convention on the rights of the children.

Considering the additional protocol with the convention of the United Nations against organized trans-national criminality aiming at preventing, to repress and punish the draft of the people, in particular women and children sanctioned by the decree of November 26, 2003.

Considering the decree of January 12, 2004 with the convention of the United Nations against organized trans-national criminality aiming at preventing, to repress and punish the draft of the people, in particular women and children sanctioned by the decree of November 26, 2003;

Considering convention on the minimum age with employment (convention 138 of BIT) sanctioned by the decree of May 14, 2007.

Considering convention on the prohibition of the worst shapes of work children (convention 138 of BIT) sanctioned by the decree of May 14, 2007.

Considering that, promulgation of the decree of April 4, 1974 on the adoption at our days, the international adoption knew a fast growth which requires on behalf of the Haitian State of new laws and the procedures suitable for the reinforcement of the protection of the child in his biological family as well as in her own hearth of reception.

Considering that as regards adoption, it is advisable to respect the obligations which are made in the States signatories in accordance with article 21 of the Convention on the rights of the child.

Considering that certain fundamental principles governing from now on the international adoption, namely: the principle of the higher interest of the child, the principle of subsidiary which considers the international adoption like a measurement of last recourse, the principle of non discrimination drawing aside any distinction of race, sex, religion, birth, incapacity, of ethnic origin, national or social, or of any other situation.

Considering that it is necessary for the Haitian State to engage the process of modernization of its system.

On the report of the Ministers for Justice and Public Safety, Social Affairs and Work, and, after deliberation in the Council of Ministers:
The executive power
PROPOSED
And
The Legislative power
VOTED
The following law:

ARTICLE 1: The adoption is a solemn act which creates between an individual and a child who is not biologically it his of the family ties identical to those which result from paternity and filiations. It is regarded as a protection measure and is based on the higher interest of the child, by offering to him a permanent family and favourable with its blooming, in accordance with its basic rights.

SECTION 1 – The adoptive parents

ARTICLE 2 – Adoption can be requested jointly by a married heterosexual couple after 5 years of marriage when one of the spouse is 30 years of age and older.

If the request is from one of the spouse, the assent from the other spouse is necessary.

ARTICLE 3 – Two different sex persons living together for at least 10 years can present a request to adopt a child. The common life must be established with a certificate delivered by the competent authority of the welcoming country and the assent of the two is necessary.

ARTICLE 4 – Single women candidatures, of 35 years of age and older, are accepted. For men, he must be widow or divorced, without any biological children and must be 35 years of age or older.

ARTICLE 5 – The priority will be granted to married couples or those living common-law without any biological child at the moment of the adoption. When the heterosexual couples have at least 2 biological children, they can adopt children with particularity (handicap, health problems or children with more than 5 years of age).

If the couple already has biological or adopted children, they have to provide their assent if they are 8 years of age or older.

ARTICLE 6 – The age of adoptive parents cannot exceed 50 years for oldest of the two joint ones or the two people living in established free union.

ARTICLE 7 – Adoptive parents must be at least 16 years older than the child they want to adopt.

The minimum difference of age is 9 years in case of adoption of the spouse’s child or relatives at the degree of sister, brother, nephew, niece, uncle, aunt or relatives at the same degree.

ARTICLE 8 – Birth at home of one or more biological children is not an obstacle for the adoption by two spouses of a child or children previously supported and continues to receive their care.

ARTICLE 9 – When sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, cousins, uncles, aunts or other from the same degree, even Godchildren, have been welcomed by close parents or godfather or godmother, following the death of their biological parents or long imprisonment, or when they are absolutely incapable to support the primary needs of their minors, the adoption is possible if their close parents already have biological children, following the conditions mentioned at Article 7.

ARTICLE 10 – A Haitian person can adopt a child following the legislation of the country of origin of the child.

A simple or plenary adoption is recognized in Haiti with the help of the recording of the aforesaid the adoption at the office of the Office of the marital status of the applicant's permanent address.

In the case of the conversion of a simple adoption into a plenary adoption, a request must be addressed to the senior of the Civil Court of the applicant's permanent address for obtaining a justified judgement.

The plenary adoption confers on the child the right to Haitian nationality.
SECTION II – The adoptive child

ARTICLE 11 – Only minors children until the age of 16 years can be adopted. As of 8 years of age, the child must give his assent for the adoption.

ARTICLE 12 – The adoption of a Haitian child by someone abroad is possible only in the case of absence of Haitian adoptive parents or an assumption of responsibility of relatives.

ARTICLE 13 - The adoptive child must be: an orphan child, a abandoned child, a child whose parents are in the total disablement to provide for its needs.

In the case of an orphan child of father and mother, it will be held a counsel of family to appoint a tutor having to grant the adoption.

When it is about a abandoned child, the Principal Mayor of the Commune declares the birth of the child and gives his assent to the adoption.

When the filiations of a child are established with regard to his father and mother, the assent of one or the other is necessary with the adoption.

When one of both has no possibility deceased or to express its will, assent other is enough.

ARTICLE 14 - The biological parents cannot validly grant the adoption that after having been the subject of a social evaluation on behalf of Institute Good Social Being and Research (IBESR) and after to have duly informed of the consequence of their act.

The assent with the adoption can be retracted during a 3 months deadline.

SECTION III - Legal form of adoption.

ARTICLE 15 - The adoption is considered simple when it lets remain the bonds between the biological adoptive child and his parents.

It is considered plenary when the aforesaid bonds disappear completely.

ARTICLE 16 – Simple adoption is authorized:

In case of national adoption
In case of interfamily adoption, national or international
In case of nationals Haitian living abroad
Plenary adoption is also possible in those cases.
The adoption is plenary during the national adoption of an orphan or abandoned child or an international adoption by foreign nationals.

PARAGRAPH I – The effects of the simple adoption

ARTICLE 17 - In the simple adoption, the adoptive child placed well under the parental authority of his adoptive family, preserves all his rights in his family of origin, in particular his hereditary rights.

ARTICLE 18 - The simple adoption confers the name of adopting on the adoptive child by adding it in the name of this last. No modification will be made when adopting it and the adoptive child has the same patronymic name.

In the event of adoption by husbands, the adoptive child takes the name of the husband.

ARTICLE 19 - In the request for purposes of judgement of the adoption, adopting it can, if it considers it necessary, request to modify or change the first name (S) of the child to adopt.

The Judge will analyze the request following of the specific criteria, year having cared to request the opinion of the child when this last at the necessary age.

ARTICLE 20 – The adoptive child has to provide assistance to the adoptive parent when necessary and reciprocally.

The obligation to provide assistance remains between the adoptive child and biological parents. However, the biological parents do not have to provide assistance to the adoptive child when the adoptive parents can.

ARTICLE 21 – The adoptive child and his descendants have in the family of adopting the same successional rights as a biological child, without however acquiring the quality of heir with regard to the ascending ones to adopting.

ARTICLE 22 - If the adoptive child dies without descendant, the goods given by adopting or collected in its succession and who exist in kind, at the time of the death of the adoptive child, turn over to adopting or its descendants, responsibility of contribute to the debt and without damages of the rights of the thirds.

The goods that the adoptive child received on a purely free basis of his biological father and mother turn over to the latter or their descendants.

The other goods of the adoptive child divide per half between the biological family and the family of adopting.

PARAGRAPH II - Prohibition of marriage and revocation of the adoption.

ARTICLE 23 - The marriage is prohibited between
The adoptive parent, the adoptive child and his descendants;
The adoptive child and the spouse of adopting and reciprocally between adopting and the spouse of the adoptive child.
The adoptive children by the same adoptive parent.
The adoptive child and the biological children of the adoptive parent.
The adoptive child and the members of his biological family.

ARTICLE 24 - The simple adoption is revocable.

The request for revocation can be formulated by the adoptive child for serious reasons such as:

misrepresentation at the time of the request of adoption,
ill treatments inflicted to the adoptive child,
sexual contact with the adoptive child,

And another facts prejudicial with the physical and psychic integrity of the adoptive child.

Adoptive parent cannot ask the revocation of the adoption only if it is established that the adoptive child made an attempt on his life, that of joint sound or to his other children.

ARTICLE 25 - If the adoptive child has the age of sufficient understanding, it can itself ask the Civil Court the revocation of the adoption. In the contrary case, the Public Ministry can, of office or on request of the IBESR, to present the request for revocation near the Civil Court.

ARTICLE 26 - The revocation puts an end to for the future all the effects of the adoption.

PARAGRAPH III – The effects of the plenary adoption

ARTICLE 27 - The plenary adoption definitively breaks all the bonds of filiations existing between the adoptive child and his family of origin.

It is irrevocable.

The adoptee loses his name of origin like successional straight in his biological family.

ARTICLE 28 - The adoptive child has, in the family of adopting, the same rights and the same obligations as a biological child.

ARTICLE 29 - The plenary adoption confers on the child the name of adopting and, in the event of adoption by two husbands, the name of the husband.

In the request of the adoptive parents, the Judge can amend the first name (s) of the child having cared to request the opinion of the child when this last at the necessary age.

ARTICLE 30 - The plenary adoption of the child of the spouse is allowed only with the assent of the mother or the biological father of the child or if legal filiations with regard to one or the other of the biological parents is unknown or that it deceased or disappeared.

SECTION IV – the adoption process

ARTICLE 31 - The IBESR is the supervisory authority of reference and for all the requests for adoption.

It centralizes all the files of the children like those of the candidates to the adoption and holds the relative registers.

It preserves all the data and provides, if necessary, of information to the consulates and/or the qualified official authorities.

The files of adoption are preserved during at least 80 years.

ARTICLE 32 – The files of adopting foreign must obligatorily be sent to the IBESR by an Organization of Adoption Approved of the host country and duly entitled by the IBESR.

ARTICLE 33 - When biological parents wish to give a child in adoption, they must be addressed firstly to the IBESR which will record the request, will inform the parents and will carry out the social evaluation.

The maintenance of the child in his family must be encouraged for the period of evaluation.

ARTICLE 34 - When the biological parents bring the child in an orphanage (place of lodging of transit), the persons in charge for the institution are held to announce the arrival of the child to the IBESR within 24 hour.

Using the information provided by the persons in charge for the Creche on the identity of the biological parents, the IBESR will contact the family in order to carry out the social evaluation.

ARTICLE 35 - The finished evaluation, the IBESR decides if the adoption serves or not the higher interests of the child, by taking account of the fact that poverty in itself does not constitute a sufficient reason for abandonment.

ARTICLE 36 – The biological parents must personally sign the assent for adoption of the child in front of the Judge of the Peace of their residence.

ARTICLE 37 – IBESR holds the parental authority after the biological parents signed the assent with the adoption.

Orphanages are given custody of children who are confided to them.

ARTICLES 38 - After the constitution of the file of the adoptive child, the IBESR proceeds with the decision of the grouping of electoral lists by attributing a child to a couple or a person candidate whose file reached him(her) beforehand and which was approved.

IBESR passes on the decision in adoptive parents when it is about a national adoption and in the OAA concerned abroad in the case of an international adoption.

ARTICLE 39 – The report of assent in the adoption, the decision of the IBESR and all other details of the file are subjected, for judgment, to the Civil Court of the place of residence of adopting him or that of the adopted, in the case or adopting him is a foreigner.

ARTICLE 40 - Later deliberated, the Court, by motivated decision, pronounces or refuses a simple or plenary adoption according to Articles 15 or 16.

In the first case, the device of the judgment contains the mentions prescribed by the article 812 of the Code of civil procedure.

In case of refusal, each of the parts can, in 30 true days of the pronouncement of the judgment, summon it to the Court of Appeal, which instruct in them even form that the Civil Court.

By a motivated stop, the Court of Appeal confirms or rejects the decision of the Civil Court.

ARTICLE 41 - The appeal against the Court decision of appeal is exercised by request of the providing in 30 true days of the meaning of the decision of the Court of Appeal. Providing him conforms in the conditions of shape and of delay common planned by the Code of civil procedure.

ARTICLE 42 - According to the obligation of registration of any judgment of adoption in registers, the Registrar of the place of residence of the adopted establishes a new birth certificate for the plenary adoptions.

ARTICLE 43 - The simple or plenary adoption produces effects as from the date in which the decision admitting the adoption is spent in strength of res judicata.

ARTICLE 44 - In all cases of adoption, the administrative and judicial authorities take all appropriate measures to prevent undue gains and are still trying to find interest supervisor of the Child.

ARTICLE 45 - It is a requirement for the adoptive IBESR Haitians and foreigners (through OAA) to provide reports on the development and integration of the child into hisnew family.

The reports must reach the IBESR every 4 months for the first three years and twice a year for the following years.

The Department of Foreign Affairs, through the consulate established in the host country, follows up on children in terms of full adoption.

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour, from informationprovided by the IBESR, will inform the Foreign Affairs for purposes beyond themselves;

SECTION V - Clause repeal

ARTICLE 46 - This Act repeals all laws or provisions of Laws, Decrees or all provisions of Decrees, all Decrees-laws or provisions of Decrees-laws which are contrary and willbe published and implemented at the discretion of the Ministers of Justice and Social Affairs everyone in their respect.

From the Legislative Palace, in Port-au-Prince on _________________2007 204th year of Independence.
For the Senate of the Republic
For the Chamber of Deputies____________________________

Important Legislation Proposal - TAKE ACTION!

2009-07-12T05:36:00.000-07:00

Please take a moment to read this and sign the petition. Please ask your spouses and friends to do the same.

"The intercountry adoption process is a long, tedious process for American citizens seeking to adopt a foreign born child. Paperwork includes home studies, finger printing and criminal checks. The process can take up to three years to complete.

At the completion of the adoption, the child must be approved for a U.S. immigrant visa in order to enter the U.S. and gain citizenship. The immigrant visa is required despite the fact that the "immigrant" is the child of a U.S. citizen.

The U.S. is one of the few developed countries in the world that requires internationally adopted children of citizens to immigrate in order to join their new families.Most countries recognize internationally adopted children as citizens upon the finalization of their adoption. The Foreign Adopted Children Equality Act (FACE Act) would recognize that internationally adopted children deserve to be treated as children of American citizens and accorded the same citizenship process as children born aboard to American citizens.

Under the FACE Act, Adoptive parents would apply for a U.S. passport and Consular Report of Birth instead of a visa. These documents provide adoptive parents with immediate proof of citizenship for their adopted child and provide immediate proof of U.S. citizenship. "

- McLane Layton Equality for Adopted Children (EACH)

Please follow the link to sign the petition.
( http://www.gopetiti on.com/petitions /face-act- of-2009.html )

To learn more about Equality for Adopted Children (E.A.C.H),
visit http://www.equality foradoptedchildr en.org/

Thanks!

Comment Sections & Email Responses

2009-06-20T09:14:00.000-07:00

I have had several of my blog's readers ask me questions in the comment section. Unfortunately, when you do that, there is no email address to respond back to you.

If you have a question that you want me to answer, please email me directly (achildsvoice@live.com) because if you post on the comment section, I cannot reply to you.

Thanks :)

Press Release from Harvard Law School's Child Advocacy Program (CAP)

2009-06-17T11:17:00.000-07:00

Harvard Law School's Child Advocacy Program (CAP) and the Center for Adoption Policy win key backers for International Adoption Policy Statement

Support for International Adoption principles is growing, says HLS Professor Elizabeth Bartholet, citing endorsements for Policy Statement and the recent Malawi ruling in the Madonna case

Harvard Law School's Child Advocacy Program (CAP) and the Center for Adoption Policy have won key endorsements promoting International Adoption to help meet the needs of homeless children worldwide.

Working with some of the nation's leading child and human rights experts, CAP recently led a campaign to disseminate their International Adoption Policy Statement, and has now won backing from more than 130 legal scholars in the fields of human rights, child rights, civil rights, and family law, and from six children's rights and adoption policy organizations.

CAP helped develop the Policy Statement to address the crisis in international adoption, as UNICEF and other organizations have increased the pressure to shut down adoption in favor of keeping children in their countries of origin at all costs. The Policy Statement takes the position that International Adoption should be part of a comprehensive strategy to address the needs of unparented children, and that it generally serves children's needs far better than available in-country options like orphanages and foster care.

HLS Professor Elizabeth Bartholet '65 said that "these endorsements demonstrate that organizations like UNICEF and Save the Children should not be seen as having a lock on the child human rights position. Many of the nation's leading experts on child and human rights have joined in this campaign to endorse the principle that children's most basic rights are to grow up in the true family that is often available only in International Adoption."

Bartholet announced the Policy Statement endorsements in the same week the Supreme Court of Appeal in the Republic of Malawi released a decision granting Madonna's application to adopt Chifundo "Mercy" James. "The Malawi court's ruling is consistent with the core principles in our Policy Statement," said Bartholet. "I applaud the court for making the child's best interests primary, and approving the adoption so that Mercy can be released from the orphanage to grow up in a family."

The Malawi court found adoption required under basic human rights principles contained in Malawi law and applicable international treaties including the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Its key conclusions were: (1) the best interests of the child must be determinative in decisions related to adoption; (2) children's most fundamental interests lie in being raised in a true family; and (3) technical "residence" requirements for adoption must be read in light of the new international order characterized by "globalization and the global village."

Bartholet said that the ruling in the Madonna case is consistent with other recent court rulings in South Africa and India. "It is all evidence of a growing understanding that basic human rights principles point to making use of International Adoption as a source of homes for children in need," said Bartholet.

List of Organizations & Individual Endorsers:
http://www.law.harvard.edu/academics/cap/ia/IAendorsements.php

Ministère d'Intérieur - Ministry of Interior

2009-06-17T05:52:00.000-07:00

Regular office hours are commencing this Thursday, June 18th and Friday, June 19th.

I have no update on IBESR and Madam Pierre (Director).

IBESR & MOI Update

2009-06-12T17:57:00.000-07:00

I was told today that the main IBESR director, Madam Pierre is not on a trip to France, thus she won't be signing any adoption dossiers...sorry...

The city seemed more quiet today. I was told that there were demonstrations, but I did not see any. However, I saw a lot of police in riot gear, but not much else.

I had an interesting conversation with one of the "bum guys" that hang out in front of the Ministry of Interior. He insisted that former President Clinton is going to be the new governor of Haiti and they are going to get rid of President Preval.

Aside from the bums on the street having this as the topic of their political musings, members of the Haitian legislature might be asking for President Preval to step down. People are tired of there not being any progress.

Ministry of Interior was closed yesterday for the holiday, and today, the director was not there. That is two weeks of not being able to do any MOI work (remember, last week it was the funeral that everybody attended), understandibly so...

Haitian Holiday - today

2009-06-11T02:28:00.000-07:00

Today is a Haitian Holiday for which many people do not seem to remember the name. Some people call it "God's Day" but like I said, most people do not remember the name and as to why there is a holiday today.

I was told by a friend that even the U.S. Embassy is closed today for this holiday, since the embassy observes all U.S. and Haitian holidays. However, it was not listed as a closing holiday on the 2009 holiday list of closures.

Some kids that I spoke with yesterday told me that they had school today. Workers in town said that they were working today, but others confirmed this holiday. Hmmm...

So, I guess that Ministry of Interior will be closed too? And the thing is, if there is a holiday on a Thursday, don't expect anybody to work on Friday since the holiday would be convenient to taking a four-day weekend. MOI only has office hours on Thursday and Friday. Last week, they were not receiving anybody because of the director's sister's death. This week, they will probably not be receiving anybody because today is the "mystery holiday" and tomorrow might be a "all staff is out for the weekend" holiday. We shall see...

Yesterday, the demonstrators were still protesting around the park area of the palace in downtown. I think that we have gotten used to this now. Life goes on as normal around the surrounding streets as long as the protesters don't decided to take a "walk" up to the next street. I wonder if the protestors will be observing "God's Day" today? Maybe they will take the weekend off and make it a four-day weekend?

IBESR - "Day of the Child"

2009-06-09T16:19:00.000-07:00

Last week, the IBESR director Madam Pierre was out of IBESR participating in a conference. This week, to my information, she is out participating in "Day of the Child" activities. "Day of the Child" is on June 14th.

Thus, unfortunately, it does not seem like any dossier "Authorization to Adopt" certificates were signed last week and won't get signed this week.

Manifestations, etc.

2009-06-09T15:57:00.000-07:00

Today, the manifestations (demonstrations) were around the park area near the Presidential Palace. We were able to get into Immigration and picked up three passports...that is what we had been trying to do for the past few days but were not able to do that because of the demonstrators on the street.

Yesterday afternoon, I was riding a tap-tap into town (I do not have my own car), and the police was out in force, in their battle gear and tear gas containers in hand. I am glad that the tap-tap quickly passed them in the intersection...tear gas does not feel too good. :)) I really need to get my own car. I do not mind riding a tap-tap, but it is "open air" and not the safest or the most efficient mode of transportation. However, cars cost money to purchase...LOL (Just to clarify, when I am working with my friend, I drive her truck to get the errands done, but on my own, I am on-my-own regarding transportation.)

On a personal note, though I try to keep this blog just for updates... I graduated from law school with my Juris Doctor, just before coming back down to Haiti. Not only did I graduate, but I was the valedictorian for my graduating class. Unfortunately, I missed the graduation ceremonies because of the ticket prices (had I stayed one more day to attend the graduation, the ticket price would have gone up by a lot of money). So, my fellow graduates were spared a boring speech by me. :))

I am taking the bar exam in Florida and in Calfornia. Also, I have been studying Haitian Law and am getting to be really well versed in the law here. Mind you, in Haiti, there may be a law on the books but that does not mean that it is being followed or enforced.

Continued Protests in PAP

2009-06-09T05:13:00.000-07:00

The protests have been pretty steady here. We tried to get some printed up passports out of immigration yesterday, but the parquet (court) is just a few hundred yards pass immigration. There were many protesters. I could not drive down that way and did not want to drive any closer than I already was.

A few days ago, when the manifestations (protesting) started, about 80 cars were damaged, several cars were burned and one person was killed. In addition lots of rocks (big ones) were thrown, big trask containers were dumped over to create road blocks, etc. So they arrested about 24 students/protesters and they were kept in parquet where they were seeing a judge yesterday, thus the protests outside of parquet.

By evening, the protesters had moved up to the intersection of Martin Luther King Blvd. and John Brown Ave. Police was there with tear gas cans and in their battle gear. Surprisingly, no UN involvement, they are keeping a low profile.

According to the newspaper, the protests started over an increase of the minimum wage proposal. Currently the minimum daily wage is 25 Gourdes (about $0.60) to 200 Gourdes (about $5.00). That may not seem like much to most westerners, but this minimum wage increase would include everybody including domestic help, etc. and the people who employ them cannot afford to pay the equvalent of $5.00 per day. For example, an middle level goverment worker with a college degree earns about 20,000 Gourdes per month (about $500). So, one has to look at this within this particular perspective. If somebody has to support a family on $500 per month, how can they pay a household help $100 per month?

Because of President Preval's refusal to increase the minimum wage to that level, the protests started.

As we tried to get things accomplished yesterday in the downtown area, it was like driving through a maze of sorts because the protesters had made roadblocks out of big boulder rocks, big trash containers that were tipped over, cars, furniture, you name it... I would turn a corner and look down a road and it would be blocked. At one point, I drove around a corner and there were a bunch of guys sitting on chairs, blocking the road. I guess that they were taking a rest from protesting. :)

The manifestations (protests) are only the downtown area for now and no outlying areas seem to be affected.

Radio Show - Day of the Child

2009-06-08T04:13:00.000-07:00

The other day, one of the local stations here in Haiti (96.5 FM) had a show where they were discussing the situation of children in Haiti and this discussion included international adoption.

On June 14th (or thereabout that date) is the "Day of the Child" and that is what prompted the topic of the show. The current IBESR Director, Madam Pierre, was supposed to have participated in the show, but she was a "no show". The show hosts did not take kindly to that.

During the discussion, the participants pointed out that there are homeless and parentless children living on the street (in the ravines and gutters) on their own, they get murdered and nobody seems to care about what happens to them.

Participants reiterated that children deserve a loving family where they are educated and taken care of. That brought up international adoption and the consent on the show was that it is in the best interest of the children especially since there are no families in Haiti that can, want or will adopt the children who need homes.

The consent seemed to be that if there is a willing family, not matter where, as long as they will properly love and care for the child, then that family should be able to adopt the child.

I was so glad that this was the opinion of the participants of the radio show and the VIP guests that participated in the discussion. With UNICEF meddling in adoptions, and with their anti-adoption stance, often you hear that the children should stay in their home countries and that there really should not be international adoption.

UNICEF has been heavily involved with IBESR and the result that I have observed is that now the IBESR employees have fancy SUV vehicles that they can utitilize, but that has not improved the lot of the children here. There is no government financing of child welfare that is making any sort of observable impact.

Most people cannot imagine the circumstances so many of the Haitian children have to live in. We just had an adoptive mom visit and she said that she could never have imagined it without having seen it first hand just how horrible many of the conditions are for the children.

Haitians love their children, but when one person has limited resources for their own family, how can they step up and help the other children? It is not possible...

Sunday - Update

2009-06-07T05:50:00.000-07:00

In response to comment re. my last posting: The riots on Thursday and Friday last week had nothing to do with the priest's death, though I heard on the radio here that there were demonstrations in Miami regarding his death. On the radio, people were calling in regarding the priest's death and they were angry against President Preval.

If his funeral is at 11:00 a.m. today at Notre Dame Cathedral downtown, I am going to make sure to avoid that area. There are going to be clogged streets and probably thousand mourners and that can turn ugly, especiall if there is anger.

The rioting last week had to do with angry students. The headline of the "Le Nouvelliste" newspaper reads: Etudiants our casseurs? (Students or Demonstrators?)

According to the article, students of two universities were demonstrating (L'Ecole Normale Superieure & Doit et d'Ethonolgie). The second school is a law school...LOL...they will be some good lawyers! (Just joking)...

Updates...

2009-06-06T04:58:00.000-07:00

What started out as students rioting and fighting with each other on Thursday near the Presdential Palace, in downtown Port au Prince escalated yesterday and got bigger. On Thursday, I drove right into the rioting until we saw chairs and rocks being thrown...fires were burning on the street. I turned our truck around so fast, probably was a world record...I was really surprised that I did not see it happening from a distance, but then driving in PAP, you are only really looking at the cars near you since it is like driving bumper cars most of the time...and I really do not have much of a chance to look ahead further.

Yesterday, others joined into the rioting. It is like "fun", "Hey, there are some students rioting and fighting, let's join in!" --- I imagine young men around PAP saying this to themselves.

As a result, right by the Justice Palace some cars got burned. Also, Parquet closed its gates (located on John Brown Ave.) and the rioters scaled the walls and gates to get in. (I ran into that yesterday, here we went again...I am getting really good at whipping that big truck around!)

Pretty much the entire downtown ended up being closed down to traffic which created such congestion that no car was moving anywhere...not that traffic isn't already horrendous in and around downtown.

The Immigration office was still open, though it is only a few hundred yards from Parquet, but they were not doing anything much at all because they had no electricity.

Ministry of Interior (MOI) was shut down too. The workers were sitting around waiting for a bus to pick them up to take them into the countryside because the Director of Political Affairs, Mr. Guignard's sister had died and they were all going to attend the funeral today (Saturday). Thus, they were not receiving anybody for adoption files...and since they are only open for appointments/walk ins on Thursday and Friday, we'll have to wait until next week.

And the crazy thing was that after all that driving around downtown and trying to get things accomplished, trying to avoid rioters as they moved in hoards...in our NON-airconditioned truck...one adoptive parent got mad at us and said something to the effect that we must be sitting on our butts and must be eating bon-bons all day! HELLO!?!?!

Haitian Driver/Translator - reliable

2009-06-03T04:32:00.000-07:00

I have a Haitian friend who speaks English quite well and has proven himself to be reliable. His name is Lucian and he may be reached at 3417-8384 or 3587-1636.

From the U.S. you would have to dial 011-509-3417-8384 or 011-509-3587-1636.

If you have a car and just need a driver or translator/guide for the day, his daily rate is $20 (U.S.) per day.

If you need a car and a driver, the car costs $20 (U.S.) per day, plus his daily rate, plus you have to pay for any gasoline used.

Ministry of Interior (MOI)

2009-05-30T05:04:00.000-07:00

June 2, 2009 - In response to some comments... The Director of Political Affairs has been signing out dossiers with passport approvals.

If you look at some of my older entries, you will see the steps that a file goes through in MOI.

What happens in MOI is that the Office of "Juritique" looks over all the original Haitian adoption related documents (that includes birth certificate of the child, death certificates of the parent(s) if applicable, the adoption decree, the minute de greffe, etc.).

Juritique looks for the authenticity of the documents and looks over the documents to ensure that there are no mistakes in the wording, but also looks for typographical/spelling errors.

Also, each document has to have the proper legalization stamps (i.e. from Parquet, Foreign Affairs) on it and either a half-page Archive certification document or a full-page Archive certification document has to replace a hand-written birth or death certificate and the adoption decree if the document is more than one year old.

Additionally, if a document is less than one year old, a letter of authenticity has to be obtained from the Ministry of Justice (that is a new step implemented about 6 months ago).

Apparently, MOI staff has found fake documents in adoption files. This is their job, to ensure that all documents are authentic and that the adoption was processed properly.

It can be frustrating because some of the documentation certifications can be time consuming to get. For example, a file may have a full page Archive in it already, but the MOI lawyer may not like what the document looks like, he/she may have questions regarding it authenticity. Thus, the lawyer may ask for a new Archive. That will add several weeks to the process.

Or, there can be a spelling error on the Archive, the name could be missppelled, so you get a new Archive and you discover that the name is spelled wrong again...and then there is the realization that the name is spelled wrong in the Log Book where the original document had been recorded....so now, you have to get a judgment from court to state that the mistake is in the Log Book and what the real spelling of the name is.

I do not think that anybody can realize just how difficult it is to work in an efficient manner down here. I think that only people who have spent time down here can appreciate the difficulty.

Haiti has an extreme amount of bureaucracy and it is mostly inefficient. However, I have always been impressed with the people who work inside of the Director of Political Affairs Office (the office where you go to find out what your file needs and to do the "interview" - filling out the information form on the adoptive, birth family and the child).

MOI...IMMIGRATION....Passports

2009-05-23T05:56:00.000-07:00

There is no such thing as an expedition fee for passports. (This is in response to the question posted on my blog without a return email address.)

This week, even though promised, no dossiers were signed out of the Ministry of Interior (MOI). When we called to find out the status, the director personally answered the telephone and told us that he had been too busy this week to sign any passport authorization letters.

The immigration office (passports) confirmed that no dossiers had been received from MOI.

IBESR & Waiver Rumors

2009-05-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

The following is an update posted by GLA on their website:

Please note that this is only for dossiers that were received by IBESR before October 2008. This does NOT apply to any dossiers submitted to IBESR after October 2008.

"14 May 2009
We received 4 dossiers out of IBESR where the families have biological children and we did not need a dispensation! We talked to Parquet and they are saying that they are honoring a moratorium on all dossiers that arrived in IBESR by October 2008 and not requiring a dispensation for them! We took the 4 dossiers to Parquet today. Now we must wait to see if they actually will go ahead and sign the dossiers! One of these files has been in IBESR since January 2007! This is great news if they actually honor the moratorium and grandfather these dossiers through on the old policies that were ineffect at the time. This is also supposed to include all dossiers rejected by Parquet due to biological children back in 2008.
Keep praying because we have a lot of dossiers sitting in IBESR waiting for a dispense. This ruling would be a small gift from God if it truly is the policy fo now!"

Don't make the mistake of filing....

2009-04-23T19:37:00.000-07:00

...your I-600 at your local USCIS office. Instead file your I-600 at the USCIS in Haiti.

We would think that since the USCIS office is a federal government office, after all, the name is "United States Citizenship and Immigration Services", that all USCIS officers and their administrative law judges (appeals level) all work for the U.S. Federal Government, and as such know their own rules. Correct? --- NO, WRONG!

When it comes to your Haiti adoption, do not count on the fact that your local USCIS office personnel knows its own rules. The sad part is that even some of their administrative appeals judges do not know the USCIS rules when it comes to Haitian adoptions!

Issue No. 1:

In all Haitian adoptions, the birth parent, if he/she or they can be located, has/have to appear in Haitian court to verbally consent to the adoption by the specific adoptive parents. This is recorded in the "minute de greffe". Also, by Haitian law, birth parents are not permitted to unconditionally or irrevocably relinquish their rights.

This is a formality and a couple of years ago, the U.S. Department of State and USCIS resolved the issue because according to U.S. immigration law, only children who have been irrevocably and unconditionally relinquished by their birth parent(s) can meet the necessary orphan definition.

Also, it was resolved by the U.S. Department of State and USCIS that the requirement of Haitian birth parent(s) attendance in court was a formality and did not negate the fact that the children had been abandoned to an orphanage.

Unfortunately, it appears that not all USCIS offices have been informed of this decision. As a result, local USCIS offices may (and at least one has already) denied an adoptive family's I-600 petition based on the Haitian court's wording and concluded that the birth parents "only" conditionally relinquished their children. Thus according to these local USCIS offices, the children are not abandoned and do not meet the definition of "orphan".

Had these families filed their I-600 at the Port-au-Prince USCIS office, they would not have run into this problem.

Issue No. 2

In approximately 99% of all adoptions where international parents adopt a Haitian child, the adoptive parents are represented by proxy (meaning the adoptive parents do not attend the court hearing where the adoption takes place but are represented by a Haitian lawyer).

Again, in this case a USCIS appeals judge made the decision that because the adoptive parents did not attend the adoption hearing, their adoption is invalid.

That would make 99% of all Haitian adoptions, 297 of the approximately 300 adopted children who entered the U.S. last year's adoptions invalid!

I am posting this so that adoptive parents are advised of the risk they are taking when they file their I-600 with their local USCIS office instead of filing their I-600s at the Port-au-Prince USCIS office.

I know that there is an inconvenience of travel and Haiti has the U.S. State Dept.'s travel warnings, HOWEVER, what choice do adoptive parents have when their local USCIS offices do not know their own internal rules and regulations?!

Please pray for the families who have to go through appeals and spend a lot of money on attorneys to get USCIS to do their job correctly. Please pray for their children who needlessly have to continue lingering in orphanages because of the incompetence of some USCIS offices.

What was this guy thinking?!?!

2009-04-16T20:53:00.000-07:00

Today, apparently, an adoptive parent came to the Ministry of Interior (MOI) and offered a financial bribe to the director in return to get his adopted child's file out of MOI.

The director blew up and was furious that this adoptive parent had the nerve to offer him a financial bribe!

As of today, no adoptive parents are permitted to come into the MOI, Political Affairs Office.

Confirmation...

2009-04-11T08:55:00.000-07:00

I received confirmation from two separate sources that it is true that 50 presidential waivers were issued.

The files that came from IBESR still have to get the final "Authorization to Adopt" signature of the IBESR director Madam Pierre.

Some of the files that got presidential waivers were files from Parquet (that had to get it "retroactively").

Things in Haiti are extremely bureaucratic, however that does not equal efficiency! :)

Haitian Adoption Concert/Reunion Announcement

2009-04-04T07:11:00.000-07:00

The Haitian Ambassador to the U.S., Raymond A. Joseph and his wife are planning to hold a Haiti Adoption Reunion Concert (see theme below), at the Haitian Embassy in Washington D.C. on Saturday, May 30, 2009 from 5:00 - 8:00 p.m.

"Choosing to Adopt - A Celebration of Motherhood"

All families who have adopted children from Haiti (and have their children at home with them) are invited to attend.

This is a "big deal" event because the event will be covered by the press and because photos will be taken. As of late, there have been public "anti-adoption" forces throwing their weight around in the adoption world. Less children are adopted and the process has become more lengthy and difficult. This does not just apply to Haiti, but it applies to other countries as well. Even our own government in the U.S. has made adoptions more difficult and especially in Haiti has taken a real anti-adoption stance by refusing as many children's visas as possible.

I urge all the families to attend who can possibly make it to the concert. I will attend with one of my children because I cannot afford the airfare to D.C. with all my Haitian adopted children. But, I will be present nonetheless.

This event can and will have a great impact because we can show to the Haitian people and the Haitian government in particular that our Haiti adopted children are doing well, that we love and care for them the same as biological children, and that we ensure that our Haitian children stay connected with their culture and country.

If you are planning to attend, please email me (put Haitian Mother's Day Concert in the heading of your email) at achildsvoice@live.com

Some more Le Moniteur Pages...

2009-04-04T07:08:00.000-07:00

If you are one of the families posted on the pages of Le Moniteur can you let me know where you are in the process? The reason that I am asking is because one of the families listed in the one I posted a few days ago has had their kids home (in the U.S.) for over two months now. Thus, I am trying to figure out if the postings in the state newspaper publication are reliable or not.

Click on the pictures of the publication to get it in a bigger size.

The Presidential Pardon Mystery

2009-04-02T05:39:00.000-07:00

Okay --- here is one page of the newspaper. There were three editions for sale with different dates. This one is date March 2nd. There was none to be found dated for the end of March, but there were others for February with the same kinds of listings. We had been told that 50 were listed in the newest edition that we could not find for sale.

All three papers that we could find had similar listings as the one above. The weird thing is that one of the dossiers listed on this March 2nd edition is one of our families and we have not received any official news regarding their file.

So this is getting a bit weird and maybe I should not have announced that 50 families got presidential waivers since these families listed on the March 2nd edition supposedly got theirs too....and like I said one of the families listed is our family.

Also, I find it a bit "strange" that prospective families' information is listed like this in a publication that is available for sale.

I would really welcome any input...

Great News! --- 50 Dossiers with Presidential Waivers!

2009-03-31T18:16:00.000-07:00

Today, 50 IBESR dossiers with prospective adoptive families who have biological children were released from the Presidential Office with the "Presidential Waivers".

The dossiers were listed in "Le Moniteur" newspaper.
http://www.pressesnationales-dhaiti.com/index.php

I cannot find it online, so it might only be printed in the actual printed edition. If some of the French families can search this link, maybe you can find the list.

I hope that this is good news for lots of dossiers to come... :))

Ministry of Interior Update

2009-03-29T19:26:00.000-07:00

Currently, there are about 350 files inside the downstairs MOI office. There are about 200 files in the upstairs (Office of Juritique) office.

About 30 files were having passport authorization letters typed up on Friday morning. Thus, there is movement. :))

One of the hold ups, as I have written about before, is that for all documents that have only a half-page archive, i.e. birth or death certificates that are less than one year old and all adoption decrees (since most of them are less than one year old) have to receive a letter from the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) to certify the original document's authenticity.

Obtaining those letters can take time, just like getting an archive certificate can take time. Also, for several files that I worked on, MOJ made some typing errors on its certification letter and thus MOI would not accept it. For example, if the adoption date was August 22, 2008 and the letter states August 23, 2008, then the letter is not going to be accepted. A new certification letter has to be obtained. (FRUSTRATING!)

Also, MOI only has office hours for orphanages/lawyers to come in to submit paperwork or to do the interviews on Thursday and Friday. In the past, they received orphanages/lawyers five days per week.

Presidential Waivers - Update

2009-03-25T18:45:00.000-07:00

When an adoption file exits IBESR, it has to have four signatures on the Authorization to Adopt Document that gives a particular family the permission to adopt a specific child.

In the past, when there families who had biological children, IBESR would compile a list of the names of the families and other information and send the list to the President of Haiti's office where the President's Cabinet or the President's personal secretary would sign the list of names. That list would then return to IBESR and the files with biological children would get signed out of IBESR.

Now, for the files of prospective adoptive parents with biological children, three of the different department directors sign the Authorization to Adopt, with the last signature of the main IBESR director blank.

IBESR then sends the entire adoption dossier (in packs of 10 dossiers at a time) to the Ministry of Justice where the files are read. Once they are read there, they are forwarded to the Presidents Cabinet Minister who reads each adoption dossier. Once he is finished with it, he forwards the 10-pack of dossiers to the President's Personal Secretary who reads each dossier...and then signs the waiver letter.

Once that is done, IBESR can pick the 10-pack of dossiers back up to take back to IBESR. Then the main IBESR director signs the last signature on the Authorization to Adopt and the file is formally signed out of IBESR.

Because of the way the dossiers are processed in 10-packs of dossier and they can only be sent 10 at a time...keeping in mind that over 1,000 foreign adoptions were processed in 2008, you can imagine the slow down in getting dossiers with families who have biological children out of IBESR.

Now, for files that had previously been signed out of IBESR with families who have biological kids, Parquet has refused to process those files without a Presidential Waivers. However, IBESR and the Presidental Office were having difficulty figuring out how to go about getting waivers for those files since they were officially signed out and finished with in IBESR. I am hearing that this issue has been resolved and the Presidential Office is accepting those files to issue waivers. However, I do not know what the exact process is.

Shame on UNICEF Article

2009-03-21T14:45:00.000-07:00

This article was published in "Le Guide des Consommateurs" in Port-au-Prince.
(You can click on the photo to enlarge it to be better able to read it.)

Translation:
Open Letter from the RNDDH to UNICEF

In Port-au Prince, on January 20, 2009
To Mrs. Annamaria LAURINI
Representative of UNICEF in Haiti
In her offices.

OPEN LETTER

Dear Madam,

The National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (RNDDH) was just informed of the results of the International Photo Contest, carried out by UNICEF in the month of December 2008, which crowned out of One Thousand (1450) pictures the photo by Belgian photographer Alice SMEETS. This picture represent without any concealment a young girl clad in a white dress, crossing a stinking pond filled with garbage and in which two (2) pigs are devouring food waste with in the background some hovels of the slum belt

This photograph displays the picture of a child living in dirtiness and filth. If it can draw the attention of the donors and mobilize them to respond to the entreaties of the UNICEF, it can only contribute to tarnishing even more the picture of a country that has fallen prey to problems of all natures and that needs to find with dignity its own way towards development.

The RNDDH believes that publishing this photograph is in clear contradiction with the goals sought by the UNICEF, which is, needless to remind you of it here, a special body of the UN called to analyzing, in close collaboration with the developing country, the need of children, concerning as much their physical growth as their intellectual development and social blooming.

The RNDDH is reminding you that with regards to International Law of Human Rights, any action concerning a child must aim towards his/her best interest. In the setting of this publication, how does this picture infringing upon the dignity of this minor child protect the rights of the latter?

The RNDDH is dismayed by this debasing publication, not because we are concerned with concealing the truth but because it stigmatizes, in an indelible way a minor child who didn’t ask to be born in those conditions of extreme poverty and is expecting from the Haitian State some protection and the fulfillment of her rights. This publication is more similar to a form of will to market destitution and doesn’t participate in a plan to fight against and eradicate destitution and to effectively protect the rights of children.

The RNDDH is asking the UNICEF to withdraw immediately this picture that is detrimental to the honor and dignity of this minor child went around the world without her knowing. The RNDDH remains Very Truly Yours.

Pierre ESPÉRANCE
Executive Director

What personally bothers me about UNICEF in Haiti is that the donated money goes to fancy (and I mean fancy ) SUV trucks that cost about $50,000 each that are driven around Port-au-Prince by UNICEF staff. Personally, I have tried to get UNICEF to provide services in the Hinche, Cerca Carvajal area where children die every day from simple ailments but was told that UNICEF does not have resources to assist in those outlying areas. Maybe they could sell their SUVs, purchase less expensive vehicles and use the proceeds to help some of those children.

* This is my personal opinion and not that of any organization that I am affiliated with.

Revised U.S. Foreign Services Manual Source:

2009-03-09T09:16:00.001-07:00

Here is the link to the revised Foreign Services Manual that the U.S. State Department Personnel (i.e. U.S. Consulate Officers) are to follow in adoption related matters:

http://www.state.gov/m/a/dir/regs/fam/c22753.htm

These chapters pertain to adoptions from non-Hague and from Hague Countries:

Non-Hague Countries (i.e. Haiti, Ethiopia, Ghana):

-- 42.21 Immediate Relatives [57 Kb]

-- 42.21 Notes [355 Kb]

-- 42.21 Exhibit I - Form I-604 Request for and Report on Overseas Orphan Investigation [219 Kb]

-- 42.21 Exhibit II - Excerpt from 8 CFR 204.3 [66 Kb]

-- 42.21 Exhibit III - Form I-600-A [408 Kb]

Hague Countries:

-- 42.21 Exhibit V - State Level Adoption Contacts [48 Kb]

-- 42.21 Exhibit VI - Excerpt from 8 CFR 204.3(d) [50 Kb]

-- 42.21 Exhibit VII - Excerpt from 8 CFR 204.4 [65 Kb]

-- 42.21 Exhibit VIII - "Article 5" Letter of Convention Adoption [50 Kb]

-- 42.21 Exhibit IX - Hague Adoption Certificate [173 Kb]

Child Protection in Haiti - Joint Council Standards of Practice Initiative

2009-03-04T15:16:00.000-08:00

As part of Joint Council's growing Initiatives in Haiti we are pleased to announce that on January 30th, representatives from several Haitian crèches and U.S. adoption service providers working in Haiti signed the Joint Council Standards of Practice for Child Welfare Organizations With Respect to Intercountry Adoption.

Over the last two years Joint Council has strived to further elevate ethical standards and practices though developing Standards specific to individualized countries. The country specific Standards seek to identify and promote country-specific best practice models for the purpose of protecting children. The development of the Standards for Haiti is perhaps Joint Council's most ambitious effort with collaboration from UNICEF, The Association of Haitian Crèche Directors, the Joint Council Haiti Caucus, and other key stakeholders.

U.S. Consular General Donald Moore generously hosted the signing ceremony at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, with UNICEF's Child Protection Chief Julie Bergeron, USCIS representative Marie Josee Domond and Consular Officers from France, Canada and Switzerland present to witness. Joint Council hopes that the signing of the Standards will be a catalyst for ensuring that every child have as safe, permanent and loving family as quickly as possible. The establishment of the Standards will be followed by a series of child protection trainings for child welfare advocates and providers as well as continued support for the new Haitian adoption law. The signing of the Standards represents an important step in Joint Council's ongoing efforts in Haiti to ensure that best practices and ethical conduct are utilized in intercountry adoption.

Click here<http://www.jcics.org/Haiti.htm> to read a copy of the Standards.

To see more photos of the event check out Joint Council's Page on Facebook
<http://www.facebook.com/s.php?sid=dd4382071ac2159a7741bc049d0a15c7&init=q&sf=p&k=400000000010&n=-1&q=Joint%20Council&nectar_impid=a2a115278f97d8622e4053683a89549e&nectar_navimpid=2ce7c85911cc0a2c6b3fc2a1b53aa932&o=4&hash=f5762bea2512b9b65fd5b8fce59a7f29&s=10#/pages/Joint-Council-on-International-Childrens-Services/125257530127>.

How many children came home in 2008....

2009-02-21T09:00:00.000-08:00

Please assist me with adoption statistics. I need the numbers of children who came home to their adptive families, from each country...Please also send me a website source or a document that shows the statistics.

2008:

France: 731

Report on File from:
MINISTÈRE DES AFFAIRES ÉTRANGÈRES ET EUROPÉENNES

U.S.: 302

FY 2008 (October 1, 2007 - September 30, 2008)

http://adoption.state.gov/news/total_chart.html

Canada:

** I have 2007 statistics, does anybody have 2008 statistics?**

Germany: ?

Netherlands: 86

** Adoption Statistics are listed by adoption agency,

Wereldkinderen- 56; Stichting Flash - 21; NAS - 9

http://www.nederlandseadoptiestichting.nl/actueel.htm

Argentina: 15

Reported by individual adoptive families,

no formal government statistics

Spain: ?

2007:

France: 403

Report on File from:

MINISTÈRE DES AFFAIRES ÉTRANGÈRES ET EUROPÉENNES

U.S.: 190

FY 2007 (October 1, 2006 - September 30, 2007)
http://adoption.state.gov/news/total_chart.html

Canada: 89

http://www.familyhelper.net/news/090106stats07.html

Germany: ?

Netherlands: 26** (+ estimated 9 more)

** Numbers are listed by adoption agency,

missing statistics from one Dutch adoption agency

Nederlandse Adoptiestichting

http://www.wereldkinderen.nl/site.php?id=47

http://www.stichtingflash.nl/

Argentina: 10

Reported by individual adoptive families,
no formal government statistics

Spain: ?

Important Adoption Conference - NYC (please attend)

2009-02-21T08:33:00.000-08:00

If any of the U.S. families who are currently in the adoption process in Haiti, especially the families who are stuck in the visa process, can attend this conference...please do!

This is a key conference with key people who affect what happens in regards to adoptions/visa issuance policies who are presenting at this conference. Maybe this is an opportunity to have your voices heard!

There is no fee to attend the conference, held at NYU Law School, in the center of New York City, but there is travel and lodging expenses (maybe we can share hotel rooms and thus cut costs?)

2009 Adoption Policy Conference
http://www.nyls.edu/centers/harlan_scholar_centers/justice_action_center/annual_conferences/adoption_conference/sixth_annual_conference

International Adoption, the United States, and the Reality of the Hague System
presented by

The Center for Adoption Policy,
The Child Advocacy Program of Harvard Law School, and
The Justice Action Center at New York Law School

Friday, March 6, 2009
New York Law School Wellington Conference Center

This conference will address all aspects of international adoption to and from the United States, one year after the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption became effective in the United States.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
8:30 a.m.
Check-in for pre-registered guests
Continental breakfast will be available in the conference center.

9:00 a.m. - 9:10 a.m.
Welcome and Opening Remarks

Diane B. Kunz, Executive Director, Center for Adoption Policy
Elizabeth Bartholet, Morris Wasserstein Professor of Law, Harvard Law School; Faculty Director, Child Advocacy Program

9:10 - 10:50 a.m.
Panel I: The United States as a Hague Member: What Are We Doing, What Do We Need To Do?

Moderator: Joan Hollinger, Lecturer in Residence, University of California Berkeley School of Law
William J. Bistransky, Chief of the Adoption Unit, Office of Children's Issues, U.S. Department of State
Anna Mary Coburn, Attorney-Advisor, U.S. Department of State
Richard Klarberg, President and CEO, Council on Accreditation
Miki Stebbing, Accrediting Entity Liaison Hague Adoption Unit, Office of Children's Issues, U.S. Department of State

11:00 - 12:15 p.m.
Panel II: The Hague: Impact on and Implications for Sending Countries

Moderator: Kathryn Webb Bradley, Senior Lecturing Fellow, Duke University School of Law

Cheryl Appell, Canadian Fellow, American Academy of Adoption Attorneys
Paolo Barrozzo, Lecturer, Harvard University; Visiting Assistant Professor, Boston College Law School
Susan LoBosco, MSW, Clinical Social Work Supervisor, MAPS

12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Lunch and Keynote Speaker: Human Rights and International Adoption

Ambassador Jerome J. Shestack, Former President, American Bar Association; Director, American Bar Association Human Rights Center; Senior Partner, WolfBlock

1:35 p.m. - 2:50 p.m.
Panel III: Ensuring the Future: A New Way Forward for International Adoption

Moderator and Speaker: Elizabeth Bartholet, Morris Wasserstein Professor of Law, Harvard Law School; Faculty Director, Child Advocacy Program

Dr. Jane Aronson, Founder and CEO, Worldwide Orphans Foundation
Thomas DiFilipo, President and CEO, Joint Council on International Children’s Services
Kathleen Strottman, Executive Director, Congressional Coalition for Adoption Institute (CCAI)

3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Panel IV: Bringing Children Home: The USCIS's Role in International Adoption

Moderator: Lindsay Curcio, Adjunct Professor, New York Law School; Codirector, Safe Passage Immigration Project, Justice Action Center
Robert Gottfried, Partner, Hodgson Russ LLP
Denise Noel, District Adjudications Officer, New York City District Office, Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
Andrea J. Quarantillo, District Director, New York City District Office, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Audience Discussion

REGISTRATION:
There is no conference registration fee for people who attend without earning CLE credit.

If you have any questions, please send an email to jac@nyls.edu.

Information Needed - France, Germany & Canada

2009-02-10T21:14:00.000-08:00

I am currently writing a comparative family law paper and need some specific information from France, Germany and Canada.

1. I need the number of children who entered France, Germany and Canada during 2008. (I also need the source of your information.)

2. When a child is adopted by a U.S. family, the U.S. Embassy has a certain process, this includes an "orphan investigation" where the birth family is interviewed and investigators from the embassy go out to check out documents and records at IBESR, the courts, etc. I know that the other countries (France, Germany & Canada) have their own process, but nothing like the U.S. process. Please, if you share information with me... I would greatly appreciate it!

(I also need copies of the process/rules, etc. --- for example the U.S. Embassy has a Foreign Services Manual that describes what embassy officials have to do when conducting the "orphan investigation" and what has to be done in order for the adopted child to receive a visa to enter the U.S.)

THANKS!!!! ~~~~ achildsvoice@live.com

Filing your I-600 in the U.S.

2009-02-01T19:46:00.000-08:00

If you are chosing to file your I-600 form with your state's USCIS office, please ensure that you submit the correct documents (with English translations) and that you fill out the form I-600 properly.

I have learned that there are several families who have had their I-600 petitions denied because they submitted an incorrect document with their petition or because they filled out the I-600 form incorrectly.

If in doubt, make sure to check with your adoption processor that the form is filled out correctly. My recommendation is that before you file it with your local USCIS office, you scan the filled-out form and email it to your adoption processor for review.

Also, speak with your adoption processor as to which documents (with English translation) have to be submitted with the I-600 form.

Those denials could have been avoidable...

Presidential Pardon...

2009-02-01T07:11:00.000-08:00

Presidential pardons (waivers or dispensation) for adoptive families who have bio kids were issued last week. I do not know how many, I just know that some were issued/signed.

Once the waiver has been signed, the file's "Authorization to Adopt" document has to be signed by the IBESR director (the 4th signature on the "Authorization to Adopt").

Adoptive Families 'stuck' in the U.S. visa process, please read the post below. I have received quiet a few responses so far.

U.S. Families - Information Needed - Please Assist

2009-01-29T10:52:00.000-08:00

If you are a U.S. family who in the process of obtaining a visa for your Haitian adopted child had difficulties obtaining a visa appointment, had difficulty receiving replies to your inquiries, had the visa office lose part of your child's file, etc. can you please email me?

This includes families who already have their children home, who had their child's visa denied and who is still in the process of obtaining a visa.

Your persoanl information will be kept confidential and will not be released without your express permission. We are trying to compile a list of the numbers of families who had or are having difficulties in the U.S. visa process to show that these are not isolated incidences.

Thank you... achildsvoice@live.com

January 31, 2009 Update:
On a side-note. I have received several emails from families where the U.S. Consulate has requested the Archive certification of death or birth certificates. Please see the explanation below...

The U.S. Consulate or USCIS has the right to ask for birth or death certificates to have a half-page Archive attached or a full page Archive replacement.

An "Archive" is similar to having a certified birth certificate (or death certificate - for simplicity in explanation, I am going to merely refer to birth certificates - but the same process applies for death certificates as well).

In the cases where the U.S. Consulate or USCIS is asking for Archive documents, it actually surprised that the child's adoption file made it through MOI (passport approval) without a certified birth certificate.

When a birth certificate is initially issued, it is hand written. To the hand-written document, a half-page Archive paper is attached from the National Archive Office that certifies that the official who signed and issued the hand-written birth certificate is in fact an authorized official (they compare signatures).

However, if the birth certificate document is more than one year old, a full-page Archive document has to replace the hand-written birth certificate.

When the birth certificate is initially written, it is recorded in two log books (one of those books ends up in the Archive library in Port-au-Prince, and the other other one of those books ends up in the Ministry of Justice library).

Supposedly, a log book is made for each calendar year (January 1st through December 31st). Often, especially in rural areas, log books are kept longer because the respective tribunal offices may not have empty log books to replace them with.

When a full-page Archive is issued, the entire log book page regarding the specific birth certificate entry is typed (most recently via computer) onto a one page Archive document. This full-page Archive replaces the hand-written birth certificate as the hand-written birth certificate is no longer considered a legal document.

The problem is that often, especially when dealing with rural offices, the Archive log books cannot be located, are still stuck in the rural office, etc. Also, there can be a long wait for the full-page Archive to be issued.

Update - Murdered Lawyer

2009-01-28T21:28:00.001-08:00

I just wanted to post an update regarding Erick DuBosse who was murdered last week. It appears that one of his household employee's family members made a kidnapping attempt on Erick. Apparently, he recognized them and he was shot in the face by one of the kidnappers. His body was then dumped down a ravine.

The funeral is schedule for this coming Saturday. Please keep his family and daughter in prayer through this difficult time.

Liberia Adoptions - Update

2009-01-28T21:24:00.000-08:00

I know that most people who read my blog follow it to keep informed of issues pertaining to adoptions in Haiti, but I just received this information and want to pass it on to you...

It appears that the Liberian government has suspended intercountry adoptions with the exception of special needs cases until new rules and regulations can be put into place.

This follows comments made earlier this week by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf:

"The gross mismanagement of the adoption program, by both Liberian and U.S. personnel in the concerned NGO is the subject of a report by a Special Committee which I appointed for this purpose. Essentially, we have discovered that many of the children in these orphanages are not in fact orphans but children taken from their living parents on the promise of support and a good life in America. Moreover, we found that young children were being sexually abused at some of the these orphanages, while others including officials of government, have used the program to extort money from potential adoptors. We have thus suspended the adoption program until laws, policies and proper guidelines have been established and we have asked our concerned friends and partners in the United States to be patient as we try to correct the serious malpractices which exist. We expect the National Social Welfare Policy and National Adoption Act will be submitted to you during the course of the year, will provide guidance and prevent such abuses in the future."

At this time the future of intercountry adoptions from Liberia is unclear, including in-process cases.

Haiti Adoptive Families - Medical Information

2009-01-28T16:18:00.000-08:00

Notice about a potential health issue for kids adopted from Haiti and how to test for it:

The director of an International Adoption Center at a children’s hospital has begun testing all of her patients from Haiti for 2 blood-born parasites and based on country –specific research, recommends all children adopted from Haiti be tested for these parasites.

At least one of the parasites, filaria-which infests the lymphatic system, doesn’t usually show symptoms until later in life, when it is much more dangerous to treat. The eventual problems include elephantitis, in which the parasite has blocked the lymphatic system from flowing and can cause the extreme enlargement of extremities caused by the build up of lymph fluids. (This is a layman explanation culled from discussion and CDC info given to the mother of one such infected but asymptomatic child).

The testing should begin with a Complete Blood Count with differential to look for eosinophils (these are a type of white blood cells which can indicate a parasitic infection)

The two parasites to test for are:

** Strongyloides
** Filarial

The CDC does testing for this, but when the doctor asked them about testing for ALL children from Haiti, they recommended the following clinics, which also perform this testing:

(in the US)
**Focus
**Specialty Lab
**Mayo
**Quest
**ARUP

Our doctor could not verify how accurate any of these labs are, so she still recommended that your doctor try to go through the CDC, if possible.

Treatment for filariasis is medication controlled and distributed by the CDC. The patient must be enrolled in a “research program” to track the effectiveness of the medication by the CDC. In the case reported to me, the local International Adoption Center/Children’s Hospital is taking care of the research information.

Sad News to Share...

2009-01-26T17:38:00.000-08:00

As I posted last week about the kidnapping of Erick DuBosse, a great and ethical Haitian Lawyer and respected Law Professor in Port-au-Prince... I have sad news to share.

Erick was found shot and killed. His body had been dumped down into a ravine.

I thank all of you for your prayers and positive thoughts.

Erick DuBosse was a nice man, a kind human being and a gentleman. You will be missed! I am so sorry that your life had to end in such a senseless manner.

Please pray...

2009-01-23T20:50:00.000-08:00

Update: (Monday, 1/26/09) Unfortunately, I have no updates...as soon as I get any news, I will post. Thank you for all the prayers & positive thoughts and messages of support.

Friday, 1/23/09: I have just been informed that a friend and very wonderful person was kidnapped today in Port-au-Prince. This is terrible news...

Please send all your prayers and positive thoughts so that my friend will be released without injury.

Thank you!

Updates....January 16, 2009

2009-01-16T13:41:00.000-08:00

President Preval - Pardon for Biological Children:
On Thursday, January 15, 2009, President Preval had a meeting with the new IBESR director regarding the issue of families who have biological children who want to adopt in Haiti. President Preval told the IBESR director that the families should be able to adopt in Haiti even if these families have biological children. Good News for many children in Haiti & for those families who want to adopt them!

U.S. Embassy: The embassy keeps on turning down visas for adopted kids, but there is a silver lining because some families who were denied visas for their adopted kids filed their appeals with USCIS and the judge overturned the U.S. Consulate/PAP's decision. Those children now are getting their visas.

Ministry of Interior: A new step has been added to the adoption process. It appears that the Ministry of Interior does not trust the Port-au-Prince Archive office. Thus, every adoption related document that has either a half-page Archive Certification or a full-page Archive Documnet (i.e. birth certificates, death certificates, adoption decree) have to be certified by the Ministry of Justice before the adopted child's file can be signed out of MOI. In order to obtain that certification, a photocopy of the document has to be taken to the Ministry of Justice (they will not accept the original document because they do not want to lose it).

Birth, death and adoption certificates are entered into a log book, most Tribunals have two books where the certificates are logged into. Some Tribunals only have one book and at the end of the year, painfully (!) have to copy the entire book onto a second book. The one book stays at the Ministry of Justice whereas the other book goes to Archive. It is difficult enough to get an Archive done, now it is like having to do two separate Archive certifications...realistically, it can add between two weeks (if it can be found right away in the Ministry of Justice) to several months (if the book cannot be located) to the adoption process.

Gas Shortage

2009-01-09T09:27:00.001-08:00

The gas shortage seems to be almost over. Yesterday, I tried to take some photos of people piling into gas stations that had gasoline, but because I was driving and people were beeping their horns behind me, the photos did not turn out too great...

There are definately more cars on the road again...it was nice to have less traffic. :)

President Preval

2009-01-09T09:20:00.000-08:00

Here is the photo of the Haitian President Preval and the little baby who is being adopted interationally. The adoptive family was staying at a hotel during their visit with their adoptive child and President Preval walked right up to them and was playing with the baby. He came across as a very kind and likeable man who appears to be pro adoption.

Updates

2009-01-07T16:31:00.000-08:00

Things have stayed peaceful, though cars and people are literally piling on top of each other to get to a gas pump that may have some gasoline available. At most gas stations, cars and people were piling up even if no gasoline was available, in the hope that a gasoline truck would show up to refill the gas station. I did see that at one gas station today.

The new IBESR director is signing out dossiers, but if the adoptive family has any biological children (even if it is just one child), the dossier is sent for presidential dispensation. (This is the wording for the presidential pardon if somebody has bio children.) However, the person who deals with the presidential waivers is not available until next Tuesday (January 13th). Thus, I am keeping my fingers crossed for all the families waiting who have bio kids. I was told that there is not going to be any problem in obtaining the waivers.

I also asked about the rumors regarding the president not being in favor of adoptions to families who already have bio kids. I was told that this was not true. As a matter of fact, a couple of weeks ago, the president bumped into a family in the process of adopting and he walked right over to the family and their baby. He picked up the baby and started playing with him. He was very friendly and encouraging to the family. I have a photo of the president holding the baby, but I need to ask the family's permission to post this photo on my blog for privacy reasons.

Everybody is working hard in the downstairs MOI office where the interviews are conducted. However, the upstairs office is not working too smoothly. Hopefully things will be running smoother soon and that upstairs office (juritique office) will finish with dossiers and bring them to the downstairs office. There have been some changes in the way documents are supposed to be submitted to MOI (actually they have to be submitted to Immigration and they take the files over to MOI). In the past, the only documents requested were the original adoption related Haitian documents, now they want the copies of the adoptive family's i.d. and social security cards also. In the past, we just gave them the numbers and information to be entered onto the interview form. This is done now because of the continued accusations that children are being taken out of the country without a way to track where the children are going.

Gasoline Shortage in Haiti

2009-01-06T16:01:00.000-08:00

Today, most of the gas stations did not have any gasoline for sale. The few stations that did have gasoline had loooooong lines and prices were hiked up. UN Troops were out in force with roadblock stops and riding around in their tanks.

I was able to buy diesel for our truck, but there is no gasoline. I know that this will slow down adoption work.

I also hope that this gasoline shortage will not cause riots.

2008-12-31T07:12:00.000-08:00

I had surgery and thus was out of commission for a little bit.

The U.S. Embassy continues to be difficult in issuing visas for children to join their adoptive families in the U.S. My suggestion is for families and for adoptive professionals to get together and to demand a Congressional Inquiry and to audit the U.S. Consulate office that issues the visas. Maybe that could answer some questions...such as:

Why are they so random at issuing visas? One visa is denied for a "lame" reason, but at the same time why is another visa with the identical history of a child issued? (I do not want to go into details as to tip off the visa people, but they are random and illogical in their determinations as to which child gets a visa and which child doesn't.)

Why are they so disorganized? (Without going into details, but I personally have concrete evidence of their disorganization...for example, why are documents, internal memos, print outs, investigation notes --- that by the way show some questionable decisions --- returned to the adoption worker in a file with the child's adoption documents?)

Why are some adoption professionals treated in a horribly unprofessional manner? Why are they lied to? Why are they given one directive by the state dept. employees and then told something completely different once that directive is followed?

Why do they "lose" documents and paperwork out of the adoption visa file (ranging from visa applications, photos, relinquishment papers all the way to passports)? However, when the child finally is issued a visa, those "lost" documents are returned in the adoption related file?

It would be nice to work with a U.S. office (our own government office) in a professional manner. I know that they have a job to do, but when there are the above questions and there is this kind of behavior, there should be an inquiry.

MOI Update & Changes

2008-11-27T12:03:00.000-08:00

There is a new "boss" for adoption dossiers in the Ministry of Interior (Me. Guignard is still the main boss) so expect some changes because there are always changes...

Today I learned that one of the new requirements is that any Archive (those are done for birth certificates, death certificates and for the adoption decrees) have to be authenticated by the Justice Ministry. This is because MOI does not trust that the signature on the Archive documents to be the signature of the Director of Archives.

I am going back today to check that this has to be done just for the Adoption Archive or also for the birth and death certificate Archives too.

No matter what, this will add more time to the process... I told the people in MOI that soon the process will take so long that the kids will be 18 years old by time the adoptions are done.

Updates...

2008-11-26T13:01:00.000-08:00

IBESR - According to the new director, the minimum age for adoptive parents is 30 years of age (just like the law stipulates). She is no longer requiring the age to be 35 because that is not written into the law.

Also, every family that has biological children has to get a 'presidential waiver' because the formal law states that a family cannot have biological children. In the past, getting such a waiver was obtainable.

Adoptive families who only have adopted children do not have to get the waiver.

Also, couples must be married. The ten (10) years of marriage is not a strict requirement, but the couple must have been together for that time (e.g. living together 4 years, married 6 years if fine).

U.S. Embassy - part of the visa physical is a required TB test now, this has to be included in the physical.

U.S.C.I.S. Haiti - Adoptive families can still participate in the Adjudication Orphan First Pilot Program but the child's/family's file cannot be submitted to IBESR at the time of filing the papers for the Adjudication Orphan First.

Haiti

2008-11-23T03:17:00.000-08:00

I am on my way back to Haiti this morning...so I have limited internet access while there. I have been receiving a lot of emails from adoptive parents and may not be able to answer emails in detail.

MOI Procedure has changed...

2008-11-21T13:39:00.000-08:00

The Ministry of Interior (MOI) has revised their process because many orphanages are submitting adopted children’s files for passport approvals without having all the necessary documents and/or without having the necessary stamps or authentifications.

As a result, files had been stuck inside of MOI for months with the MOI office getting the blame.

Now, there is an intermediate office inside of MOI where the documents are reviewed and the file will not be moved to the office where the interview takes place until all documents are in order. Then the interview can take place and the Director of Political Affairs signs the letter to authorize the issuance of the Haitian passport.

MOI has always required a photocopy of the adopting family's I.D. or passport. They prefer a driver's license because that number is assigned and does not change. Also, they want the adoptive parents' social security number (U.S. families). That is not anything new either...

Sorry...been away from the computer...

2008-11-17T16:57:00.000-08:00

Sorry, I had been away from a computer for a while...but I promise to post updates.

IBESR - files are being signed out. I have received lots of emails during my absence that were in regards to files being stuck in IBESR for months. Please keep in mind that 8 months had been an average wait time in the past. Things did start to go faster for a while, but things go in cycles in Haiti. Some offices/departments will work faster for some time, then slow down again, etc.

U.S. Immigration/Consulate - Adoption visas continue to be denied. It breaks my heart because many of the children's visas that have been denied would have been approved just one year ago.

As many of you know, the U.S. became in Hague country in April 2008. Since that time, the U.S. Department of State has become the official adoption authority for the U.S. It is also the U.S. Department of State that staffs the personnel who are the visa approving personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

In preparation to becoming a Hague Country and since April 2008, it has become more difficult for adopted children to obtain a visa to enter the U.S. to live with their adoptive parents. There is a general fear of the U.S. government that children adopted from non-Hague countries (such as Haiti) might have been "stolen" or obtained under questionable circumstances.

Also, there is an opinion that some adoption related documents are fraudulent and/or that adoptions were processed under fraudulent means.

Thus, there is heavy scrutiny regarding adoption related visas. Add to that, that the U.S. Embassy personnel in charge of processing the adoption related visas is still only working part-time on adoption visas.

For example, most recently a child's visa was denied under the following circumstances. When the child was relinquished to the orphanage, both mother and father were living. However, the mother died while the child was being adopted, so that only left a living father. When the child was ready to obtain a visa to join the adoptive family, a DNA test was requested and it turns out that the father was not the biological father! Nobody knows who the "real" father could possibly be. The mother is dead, so nobody can ask her. --- The child who now has no mother and no father is stuck in Haiti and cannot join the adoptive family.

Another example... the U.S. Embassy personnel show up at the orphanage unannounced to see a child who has an adoption visa application filed. The orphanage director is not there and the security guard won't let the officials into the orphanage. The director, contacted via telephone, asks for the officials to come back when she is there. The officials do not come back. During the visa interview, the child is asked questions in non-kid friendly language. For example, the child is asked if he/she knows "Madam _____" (the orphanage director's formal name). Of course, the child does not know who that is because he/she only knows "Mama ____"! Result? Visa Denied!

I can keep writing about other examples...

Make sure that if you are adopting a child in Haiti or you are planning to adopt in Haiti, that you work with somebody who is proper in their paperwork, who knows the Haitian adoption law and the U.S. Immigration law rules.

IBSER Update

2008-10-14T06:03:00.000-07:00

The new IBESR director has started signing adoption authorizations last Friday, October 10th. She has promised to sign out files at an expedient rate.

Just thought that some of you waiting in IBESR would like to know the update.

Yes, the "new rule" is 35 years, but if your file was submitted prior to the "new rule", you should be able to get signed out as long as you were 30 at time of submission.

Appeal for HELP!

2008-09-20T10:37:00.000-07:00

Current conditions in the Gonaives (north Haiti) area especially are horrendous.

For the adoptive parents who read this blog, the Port-au-Prince are is not affected (most orphanages are located in PAP).

I am hoping that through my blog, the adoption community can come together to provide real assistance to the people in the Gonaives area.

Water is critical and there is very little clean drinking water. Here is my suggestion, hope and prayer..

I want us to at least raise $2,000 to purchase one (1) Vortex Voyager portable water purifying system. The Voyager can fit into a backpack and can clean the most filthy water and turn it into drinking water at a rate of 1 gallon every two minutes (= 30 gallons of clean drinking water per hour)! It can run on a car battery, cigarette charger, sunlight, etc. so it can be used anywhere.

You will be given a receipt for your donation, 501-c-3 (U.S. charitable organization).

The money will be used to purchase a Voyager Water Purification System.

Click on this link to learn more about the water purifier:
http://www.airmobile.org/Vortex%20Voyager.pdf

Please read updates of the current Haiti Water Mission at:
http://dieunika.blogspot.com/

Donations can be made by clicking on the following link:

http://airmobile.org/donate.html

Or by mailing checks/money orders to:

Air Mobile Ministries
8850 Grissom Parkway
Titusville, FL 32780

You can check on Air Mobile Ministries by clicking on the following Guidestar Link: http://www.guidestar.org/pqShowGsReport.do?gotoNext=/reports/partners/guidestar/showDpLink.jsp&ein=72-0992001

You can sign up for a free account and it gives you access to Air Mobile's federal tax 990 filings.

Please make a note with your donation that you are from the "Haiti adoption community".

Call for Action --- U.S. Adoptive Families!

2008-09-10T16:47:00.000-07:00

I spoke with McLane Layton this afternoon. She is the executive director of EACH (http://www.equalityforadoptedchildren.org/) and was one of the co-authors of the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 "CCA", when she was working for the U.S. Senator who sponsored the law.

The intent of the CCA was that ALL children who enter the U.S. on "full and final" adoption decrees from the sending country were to receive U.S. Citizenship automatically.

For Haitian, Ethiopian, Guatemalan and Liberian adopted children, there would not have been any IR4 visas, just IR3 visas because these countries' courts issue "full and final adoption decrees" that the U.S. State Department has decided not to recognize as full and final if one or both adoptive parents did not meet in person prior to the finalization of the adoption.

For Fiscal Years 2006 through 2007, from October 1, 2005 through September 20, 2007, 6,438 children entered the United States with full and final adoption decrees issued in the judicial authorities in their respective countries, Haiti, Ethiopia, Guatemala and Liberia.

However, the U.S. Department of State does not recognize these 6,438 children's adoptions as full and final because either one or both adoptive parents did not personally meet the child prior to or during the adoption process.

Therefore, these children are not eligible to obtain automatic U.S. citizenship and if the adoptive family does not "re-adopt" the children who entered on IR4 visas, the children can ultimately be deported from the U.S. to their "home country". As far as the U.S. State Department is concerned, the adoptive parents merely have "legal custody" of the "adopted" child.

EACH is working on legislation to improve the implementation of the Child Citizenship Act to provide citizenship from the point of full and final adoption versus the law now which requires our adopted children to enter the US first for citizenship to attach and enter as immigrants on an immigrant visa versus as children of American citizens.

However, EACH needs adoptive parents to join the organization. (It does not cost anything.)

Strength needs to be in numbers. Please, if you have not joined EACH yet, do so now.

Please help introduce and pass this IMPORTANT legislation. Our internationally adopted children should have the same U.S. citizenship rights as our biologically born children.

PLEASE join EACH at http://www.equalityforadoptedchildren.org/

U.S. Visa Appointments

2008-09-05T06:24:00.001-07:00

After all is processed (including the orphan investigation) and the documents have been checked for authenticity, it can take anywhere between 24 hours to two weeks to get the actual visa printing appointment.

Most recently, the U.S. Consulate has sent out "visa appointment" emails which causes some confusion because at those appointments no visas are issued. In the past, when a family would receive a "visa appointment" email, it was the appointment where the actual visa was printed and given. However, now the child attends the visa appointment and the orphanage is often told to wait for another email to pick up the visa and/or is told to come to another appointment to pick up the actual visa.

One family received an email stating that their visa had been approved, this was two weeks after their "visa appointment" and then it took another 1-1/2 weeks to actually receive the printed visa.

Hello from Haiti

2008-08-31T12:16:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to post a general update...even though there is not much new to report.

Things are pretty much back to normal in the Port-au-Prince area post Hurricane Gustav. The rivers are still higher than normal, there is more mud, lots of puddles are left over, but life is back to normal. I am really concerned for the poor people living in Louisana as it looks like Gustav is going to make a direct hit with much more force than it had when it passed through Haiti.

We had some really heavy rain last night with some seriously loud thunder. It became so cool that I had to use a blanket which is unusual.

IBESR: Madam Beaudoin has promised that if she gets the post as the Minister that she will ensure that somebody good will replace her as the IBESR director.

Parquet: It is my hope that as Claudy Gassant has exited Parquet in Port-au-Prince that Mr. Joseph will be more reasonable with the issuance of adoption decrees. The reason that IBESR had started to implement the "age 35 or older" rule was because of Claudy Gassant. After all, why would IBESR sign adoption authorizations when the Gassant refused to sign the adoption decrees? Rumors have it that at one point Gassant was threatening IBESR directors (there are four that have to sign the adoption authorization - Madam Beaudoin is one of he signatories) with arrest if they were going to continue to sign authorizations for couples younger than 35 years of age.

By the way, other parquets throughout Haiti never implemented the same "rules" that Gassant applied during his tenure at the PAP parquet.

Legalization: I have received some emails from adoptive parents who seem to be confused about the legalization process/steps post-adoption. After parquet, the adoption documents must be certified (stamped) by the Foreign Services Ministry. Additionally, the adoption decree has to obtain an Archive document. That can take several weeks to obtain.

Also, if the child has a birth certificate or there is a death certificate for one of his/her parents, an Archive document has to be obtained as well. (See my previous posts regarding obtaining an Archive.)

Ministry of Interior: MOI is operating efficiently. The files that are "stuck" in MOI are stuck because either the "interview" has not be done yet or there is a mistake on a document that has to be replaced or an Archive or legalization stamp is missing from a document.

Let's hope that some normalcy will return to processing of adoptions through the PAP parquet.

Congratulations to Madam Beaudin!

2008-08-27T16:41:00.001-07:00

Madam Beaudin who used to be the director of IBESR (she used to sign off on adoption authorizations) has been nominated to be the new Minister of Social Affairs.

She is a good lady who has ensured the IBESR works smoother than in prior years and is working for the best interest for Haiti's children. She has promised that should she obtain the promotion that she will ensure that somebody decent will become the new director of IBESR.

Congratulations Madam Beaudin on your nomination!

Adoption STAR

2008-08-25T17:05:00.001-07:00

I have been receiving multiple emails of U.S. families who want to adopt in Haiti through referrals from other current-adoptive Haiti families.

I can assist these families as the International Adoption Coordinator of Adoption STAR, a fully licensed and Hague accredited adoption agency.

http://www.adoptionstar.com/

I recommend that families go through a Hague accredited adoption agency even though Haiti is a non-Hague country and still permits independent adoptions. However, with the United States becoming a Hague country, the preference of the U.S. State Department, which is now the central U.S. adoption authority, appears to be for families to adopt through the assistance of a Hague accredited agency.

I accepted the position with Adoption STAR after thorough research and after meeting with the agency director, board, etc. They are a great agency, passionate in representing adoptive families and children.

If you are an American couple or single who is interested in adopting in Haiti and would like the services of a fully Hague accredited adoption agency, with passionate and professional representation in your adoption, please contact Adoption STAR or me directly at vera@adoptionstar.com

Claudy Gassant Update

2008-08-23T07:24:00.000-07:00

In summary, Claudy Gassant following his "resignation" from Parquet as the chief judge has been appointed to a diplomatic post in the Dominican Republic. According to the article, he had tried to negotiate a more important post, but did not get it. There is also discussion in the article about abusing power and complaints against Gassant.

In English (translation):

Haiti diplomacy:
The ex-commissaire of the Government Claudy Gassant "named" to the Consulate of Haiti to Santiago (North of the Republic Dominicaine)D’intenses negotations for him to find a higher function in Haiti would not have resulted Wednesday August 20 2008,

Radio Kiskeya
The ex-commissaire of the Government near the civil Court of Port-au-Prince, Claudy Gassant, left the Haitian capital Tuesday in day environment for the Dominican Republic where it would have been named to the Consulate of Haiti to Santiago (Cibao, North).

No official communiqué came to inform on the allocation of Mr. Gassant to the Haitian Consulate of Santiago. Close sources of the Haitian Ministry of the foreign affairs nevertheless confirmed, under cover with the anonymity, that an official passport was put back to the ex-chef of the Floor of Port-au-Prince for that it goes in territory neighbor.

Before attaining the Dominican Republic through the border, Claudy Gassant returned the goods of the State that had been put at his disposal,. of which of the weapons and an armored vehicle, learned Radio Kiskeya. The policemen that assured his compared security received the order to reintegrate the Unity of General Security of the National Palace (USGPN) of which they were originating from.

Claudy Gassant announced last week his resignation of the post of Boss of the Floor of the civil Court of Port-au-Prince to the fort of a serious crisis practically having put it to the taken ones with the command of the National Police of Haiti (PNH). It himself there had cut the reputation of a magistrate to the immense strengths, doing not have to realize its acts that to the Boss of the State. All recognizing some for him virtues, notably in the matter of his will to reform the Floor and to reinforce the public action against crime, the corruption and the illicit traffic of the narcotics, representatives of various sectors of the Haitian corporation anyway reproached for him one leaning marked towards the excesses and the abuse of power.

The departure for the Dominican Republic of "the strong man" Floor de20la capital came to deny the predictions of the senator of the West John Hector Anacacis that had left to believe journalists that Gassant was going to be been named to a more important post. Without naming whoever, the parliamentary one ironically had wished the resignation of certain persons that would be ashamed to be again to their posts the moment the ex-commissaire of the Government would attain this "high function". Of no there had seen an allusion scarcely veiled to the commander in chief of the PNH, Mario Andrésol, on the subject of that circulated at the same time rumors of resignation.

Claudy Gassant is itself finally resolved to take the direction of the Dominican Republic after the failure of excessive negotations aiming at him to find a new important post within the device of State, according to of non official the news. These negotations would have implied fervent Haitian defenders of Gassant, left fact so of the administration Alexis/Préval that of important international institutions. [jmd RK]

In French:

Haïti-Diplomatie

L’ex-Commissaire du Gouvernement Claudy Gassant « nommé » au Consulat d’Haïti à Santiago (Nord de la République Dominicaine)D’intenses tractations pour lui trouver une plus haute fonction en Haïti n’auraient pas abouti mercredi 20 août 2008,

Radio Kiskeya

L’ex-Commissaire du Gouvernement près le Tribunal civil de Port-au-Prince, Claudy Gassant, a laissé la capitale haïtienne mardi en milieu de journée pour la République Dominicaine où il aurait été nommé au Consulat d’Haïti à Santiago (Cibao, Nord).

Aucun communiqué officiel n’est venu renseigner sur l’affectation de M. Gassant au Consulat haïtien de Santiago. Des sources proches du Ministère haïtien des affaires étrangères ont cependant confirmé, sous couvert de l’anonymat, qu’un passeport officiel a été remis à l’ex-chef du Parquet de Port-au-Prince pour qu’il se rende en territoire voisin.

Avant d’atteindre la République dominicaine via la frontière, Claudy Gassant a restitué les biens de l’Etat qui avaient été mis à sa disposition, .dont des armes et un véhicule blindé, a appris Radio Kiskeya. Les policiers qui assuraient sa sécurité rapprochée ont reçu l’ordre de réintégrer l’Unité de Sécurité Générale du Palais National (USGPN) dont ils étaient issus.

Claudy Gassant a annoncé la semaine dernière sa démission du poste de Chef du Parquet du Tribunal civil de Port-au-Prince au fort d’une grave crise l’ayant pratiquement mis aux prises avec le Commandement de la Police Nationale d’Haïti (PNH). Il s’y était taillé la réputation d’un magistrat aux pouvoirs immenses, n’ayant à rendre compte de ses actes qu’au Chef de l’Etat. Tout en lui reconnaissant des vertus, notamment en ce qui concerne sa volonté de réformer le Parquet et de renforcer l’action publique contre le banditisme, la corruption et le trafic illicite des stupéfiants, des représentants de divers secteurs de la société haïtienne lui ont tout de même reproché un penchant marqué vers les excès et les abus de pouvoir.

Le départ pour la République Dominicaine de « l’homme fort » du Parquet de20la capitale est venu démentir les prédictions du sénateur de l’Ouest Jean Hector Anacacis qui avaient laissé croire à des journalistes que Gassant allait être nommé à un poste plus important. Sans nommer quiconque, le parlementaire avait ironiquement souhaité la démission de certaines personnes qui auraient honte d’être encore à leurs postes au moment où l’ex-Commissaire du Gouvernement accéderait à cette « haute fonction ». D’aucuns y avaient vu une allusion à peine voilée au Commandant en Chef de la PNH, Mario Andrésol, au sujet de qui circulaient dans le même temps des rumeurs de démission.

Claudy Gassant se serait finalement résolu à prendre la direction de la République Dominicaine après l’échec d’intenses tractations visant à lui trouver un nouveau poste important au sein de l’appareil d’Etat, selon des informations non officielles. Ces tractations auraient impliqué de fervents défenseurs haïtiens de Gassant, faisant partie tant de l’administration Alexis/Préval que d’importantes institutions internationales. [jmd/RK]

Port-au-Prince Parquet Update

2008-08-22T06:15:00.000-07:00

Last week, a new judge was appointed to replace Claude Gassant. The new judge's last name is Joseph (I did not catch his first name). Joseph is a common last name, a lot like "Smith" in English speaking countries.

I am hoping for a smooth transition and hope that this judge is friendly toward affording a future to the children who have already been matched with adoptive families.

I am also hoping that IBESR will reduce the age of the adoptive parents back to 30 as it had been. They increased the age to 35 because of Gassant.

With as many children in as desparate situations as they are in Haiti, we need to pray and hope that many of them can find permanent homes in loving families.

Parquet News, Mr. Gassant has been encouraged to resign by Preval

2008-08-11T18:48:00.000-07:00

Hello, I am posting for Vera because she doesn't have an internet connection.

Claudy Gassant (the man in charge of adoptions at Parquet) was "encouraged to resign" today by President Preval. Here's what happened: Mr. Gassant had an argument with the Petionville's Chief of Police and ended up slapping the Chief of Police. As you can imagine, slapping the Chief of Police doesn't go over well. As a result President Preval called Mr. Gassant into his office and ______(encouraged him to resign - which he did) and the Chief of Police is taking Mr. Gassant to court.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Filing I-600 in Haiti...

2008-08-09T15:48:00.000-07:00

For U.S. families, if it is possible for you to come to Haiti to file your I-600 in Haiti at the Port-au-Prince (PAP) USCIS, then do so.

If the I-600 is filed in Haiti, then the orphan investigation (I-604 portion of the I-600 process) is conducted by USCIS in PAP. That office is efficient, polite, user-friendly and professional.

If the I-600 is filed in the U.S. then the U.S. Consulate office is responsible for the orphanage investigation. Unfortunately, since October 2007, that process has been slow and stressful on the adoptive families, the adopted children and the adoption professionals (contrary to what the Foreign Services Manual tells U.S. Consulate workers to do).

Though I have read some of the praise-stories of a few families on Haitian Angels about the kind treatment they received at the U.S. Consulate, the majority of families have not had that experience.

It will take less time to process the visa portion after the adoption is finalized if you file the I-600 in Haiti.

Also, if you can, you should participate in the Adjudication Orphan First Pilot Program (AOFP) because then the orphan investigation is done before the adoption is finalized. However, you must file that request in Haiti because if you file that request at your local USCIS office in the U.S. chances are that they will "mess up" the request. (It happened in my adoption.)

Haiti Adoption Process:

2008-08-05T02:55:00.000-07:00

I wrote up the following adoption process summary as a "talking point" for families to use as they petition their senators and congressional representatives regarding the "issues" that U.S. families have currently in order to obtain visas for their adopted children from the U.S. Embassy in Haiti.

The following summary is intended to be informational so that our elected representatives have an understanding in regards to the lengthy process and the difficulty in processing these adoptions. Please feel free to insert the detailed MOI process that I have posted in an previous posting as this summary does not have the MOI process as detailed.

After the prospective adoptive parents have completed their adoption approval from their home state and USCIS, most of their dossier documents have to be appostiled and authenticated by the Haitian Consulate or Embassy in the United States.

When the dossier has been submitted to Haiti, the adoptive parents’ documents have to be certified once more at the Haitian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Port-au-Prince.

Once a child has been identified for adoption, multiple steps have to be taken to compile the child’s adoption dossier to submit the entire dossier to IBESR (Haitian Social Services Ministry) to obtain an Adoption Authorization.

The child’s birth certificate, the birth mother’s birth certificate, identification card and/or death certificate (if applicable), and the birth father’s birth certificate, identification card and/or death certificate (if applicable) has to be obtained.

At that point, the orphanage determines what documents are available and which documents have to be obtained. For example, if the mother does not have the child’s birth certificate, it has never been made, then the orphanage has to determine if there is a mother and father or just a mother or father. The mother and/or father have to go to the Tribunal (i.e. area court house) to obtain a birth certificate for the child.

Birth Certificate: Sometimes, the birth parent(s) had a birth certicate issued but have lost the certificate. When this happens, the orphanage has to try to obtain an Archive birth certificate document from the Port-au-Prince Archive Office, if the certificate is at least two years old. (There is only one Archive Office for all of Haiti. All birth and death certificates are supposed to be recorded in a log book at the local Tribunal. Once per year, the book is supposed to be taken to the main Archive Office. However, often the log books only arrive in the Archive Office every two years and/or the book is lost. When this happens, to obtain an Archive birth certificate can take several months. When the particular log book cannot be found, the Archive Office has to issue a “negative” which certifies that they cannot issue the particular Archive Birth or Death Certificate. Then, a notary document at the Archive Office is produced with the information that is supplied or a copy of the certificate, and then a brand new birth certificate or death certificate can be issued. This process can take several months.)

There are three types of birth certificates issued in Haiti, a father’s declaration, a mother’s declaration or a third-party declaration.

If the father is dead, then it cannot be a father’s declaration, if the mother is dead, then it cannot be mother’s declaration.

According to the Articles 55 and 56 of the Minor 3 of the Haitian Civil Code, if the child is “natural” (when father and mother were not married) the child can only be declared by the mother if the father is not willing to declare the child as his own at the Tribunal. At that time, only the mother can declare the child in a mother’s declaration birth certificate.

(This is an important point because currently, the U.S. Embassy is making birth mothers "declare" to them who the child's father is. This is in direct opposition to the Haitian law. It is my understanding from reading the Foreign Services Manual that the U.S. consular officers are to work within the local law requirements.)

If the father claims the child or is married is married to the mother, then a father’s declaration birth certificate is issued.

If there is not mother or father alive, the child is completely abandoned or a relative or friend makes a birth certificate, then a third-party birth certificate is issued.

It is very common that children do not have a birth certificate. Also, it is common for the parents to not have a birth certificate either. Many of the relationships in Haiti are of short duration, long enough to produce child, and the father will not chose to declare the child or is long gone before the birth of the child.

Often, if the birth mother and/or father have had a birth certificate as a child and it has been destroyed or lost over the years, which is common, they often do not know where the original had been issued. Without this information, the Archive birth certificate cannot be issued.

Death Certificates: If the father or mother dies during this relationship and the family does not choose to produce a death certificate for the person, then a death certificate is not available. If there is a funeral, the person paying for the funeral will receive a certificate from the funeral director to obtain a death certificate. Often, the girl friend who has a child or is pregnant with the dead father’s child is rejected by the family and is refused the certificate. Often, the mother of the child will not know the information required to have a death certificate issued without the assistance of the dead birth father’s family.

Like the relationships being short term, rent is usually paid every six months. If somebody does not pay the rent, many times their property is confiscated or destroyed, leaving the parents with no personal records of their own.

A person has to have an identity that is only proven via a birth certificate. Without a birth certificate, the parents do not have an identity card. Without the parent having a birth certificate, therefore he/she does not have an identity card.

At this point, the parent may obtain a delayed birth declaration for themselves and or their child. The late declaration birth certificate is often not acceptable to the U.S. Consulate, however, it appears that the consulate may not understand the reality of the situation regarding birth certificates in Haiti.

The children who become available for adoption come from the lowest economic circumstances in Haiti and tend to come from families who are homeless, uneducated and who do not have existing documents.

When a child becomes available for adoption and the circumstances of lack of documents is presented, some documents have to be late declarations in order to obtain an identification card for the parent(s). Also, in those cases, the child’s birth certificate will be a late declaration.

Court Declaration: After the birth, death and/or identification documents are obtained, the parent(s) must go in front of a judge at the Tribunal (local court) and the parent(s) declare to the judge that they intent that they intent to give the child for adoption. The parent(s) is/are obligated to sign the declaration. Parent(s) who cannot sign the declaration because they are illiterate, will sign log book the document is registered in by fingerprint.

At that point, the orphanage has custody of the child and has permission to place the child for adoption.

Child’s Dossier: Then the parent(s) or the “tutor” (if the child no living parents who is appointed by the Tribunal from relatives or friends) meet with the social worker and tell the entire history of the child, their family, etc. and circumstances. The social worker questions the person and is part of the decision process to determine if the child is really in need of adoption or not.

There is an additional assortment of documents that are signed by the parent(s) or tutor, some from the orphanage, some from the adoption agency, according to particular people involved. All signatures are witnessed or notarized by a member of the court or legal notary.

Once the birth and/or death certificates have been obtained, the birth parent(s) and child have a blood test done to screen for certain illnesses. The child has a physical and psychological exam.

Different official offices involved in the process have certain requirements to be fulfilled. Once the documents are obtained, the legalizations have to be completed. This includes legalization by the Tribunal, signed and sealed by the Parquet, the Justice Department, and the Department of Foreign Affairs. All these offices have criteria to evaluate the authenticity of the documents. These requirements must be met before the documents are signed and sealed.

Some of the documents have to be presented to the Archive Office.

IBESR: Once the documents are completed and compiled, the entire dossier, containing the adoptive parents’ documents and the prospective child’s documents are submitted to IBESR (Haitian Social Services) to be studied, and approved by four different officials at the IBESR. This approval comes in form of a Adoption Authorization document.

Usually, it takes several months for the IBESR approval process to be completed.

Tribunal: Once the Adoption Authorization is issued, the entire dossier is taken to the Tribunal where all the dossier documents are evaluated for authenticity and the authorization to type up the adoption decree and judgment decree is given.

Parquet: The dossier and unsigned adoption and judgment decree are taken to the Parquet where the dossier is examined one more time. If all is found in order, the judge at the Parquet issues a letter of approval and the adoption decree and judgment decree are signed and stamped. The Parquet also legalizes the Court Declaration (Tribunal document).

Department of Justice: The adoption documents are submitted to the Department of Justice for further authentication.

Foreign Affairs: All adoption documents are submitted to Ministry of Foreign Affairs for additional authentication.

Archive Office: At this point all adoption documents are submitted to the Archive Office where the documents are registered. The Archive Office issues an authenticity certificate that certifies all the adoption related signatures of the officials from the Tribunal, Parquet, Department of Justice and Foreign Affairs.

Notary: The notary looks over all the documents and the original power of attorney that the adoptive gave and determines that all the requirements have been met to present to dossier to the Immigration Office and Ministry of Interior to obtain an adoption passport approval. A fee has to be paid to the Department of Contributions (DGI). This receipt has to be submitted to the Immigration Office with the adoption related documents.

Immigration Office: The adoption dossier has to be submitted to the Immigration Office which in turn forwards the entire dossier to the Ministry of Interior.

Ministry of Interior: Once the dossier is brought via courier to the Ministry of Interior (MOI) from the Immigration Office, it is registered and all documents are examined by lawyers for mistakes or inconsistencies. An orphanage representative has to attend an appointment at MOI to verify all information on the documents.

If there is a mistake or an inconsistency on any of the documents, the orphanage representative is given the document(s) for correction or re-issuance. Sometimes, the MOI lawyers may not “like” a certain stamp or simply may find a spelling error. The documents have to be corrected. Sometimes, MOI requests additional judgments, for example, if the mother is deceased and has a delayed registration of the death certificate, MOI may request a judgment where relatives of the dead mother have to attend court to make a sworn statement about the birth mother’s death.

For many adoptions the MOI step has taken 12 or more months because MOI is very thorough in its examination of the documents.

A letter of authorization is issued by the Director of Political Affairs to the Immigration Office that permits the issuance of an adoption passport for the adopted child. The adoption dossier and letter is sent back to the Immigration Office via courier.

Immigration Office: Once the file has returned from MOI, the orphanage representative collects the adoption dossier, fills out a passport form and passport photos of the adopted child for passport issuance.

Once the adoption process has been completed and the adoption passport is issued, the child has his/her visa physical and the documents are submitted to the U.S. Consulate for the “orphan investigation” (I-604) if the adoptive parents applied for the I-600 in the United States.

If the adoptive parents participated in the Adjudication Orphan First Program or applied for the I-600 in Haiti, the USCIS office in Haiti conducts the “orphan investigation”.

Updates...

2008-07-31T18:59:00.000-07:00

Sorry, but I have had very limited internet access during the last week and have not really had a chance to post any promised updates.

Parquet Meeting:
I am not sure if the main reason that Parquet had a meeting with orphanage directors last week was soley because of the Nightline News Report that the reporter did on "buying children" (remember from a few weeks ago?)...but that seems to have been at least one reason as to why Parquet officials (Gassant) had announced that no more adoptions were going to be processed.

However, during this meeting, it was determined that the reporter could not have been able to take a child out of the country, especially to the United States, and that calmed things down a bit.

Realistically, what would have probably happened to the reporter if he had actually obtained the child, he would have most likely been arrested by the police men who were supposedly corrupt. They would have collected any bribe money and then would have arrested the person trying to leave with the child...because that is how it works in Haiti. :-)

Adoptions are going to be continued to be processed throughout the summer.

UNICEF & IBESR Meeting:
Also, UNICEF had another meeting with IBESR officals with some orphanage representatives present. As usual, UNICEF was expressing its concerns about women selling their babies to orphanages for adoptions.

(Remember, in December 2007, I had a meeting with UNICEF where the gentleman that I met with said the same thing, told me that he had proof about this happening, but never produced it.)

Well, one of my friends who is an orphanage director asked UNICEF that if they are so sure that is happening and know of where and when it has happened, then why have the UNICEF officials not called the police, reported the incident and have the pesons arrested. Wouldn't that make UNICEF an accessory to a crime? Hmmm....

What UNICEF does not seem to understand is that most children adopted in Haiti to international families are not babies. There are so many children in need of families, including babies, that there is no need to pay for a child. But, UNICEF does not seem to understand that. So, the "urban legend" of the child buying continues.

MOI: They are working and signing out files. The passport office is issuing passport.

Parquet

2008-07-22T10:44:00.000-07:00

July 22, 2008: I have been told by several (reliable) sources that Parquet is not closed and that they are still processing adoption cases. I will post more as I learn more. I am back in Haiti as of the end of this week.

July 21, 2008: There are two reasons cited as to why Parquet in Port au Prince, is not going to process any adoption decrees over the summer.

Reason #1:
There are lots of criminal cases that need to be processed, so the adoption cases are being put on hold.

Reason #2:
The U.S. Embassy and UNICEF have been pressuring the Haitian government in regards to the way adoptions are being processed. In response Parquet in PAP is going to close to revise and review the process.

Further UNICEF & Adoption Issues Reading...

2008-07-17T18:46:00.000-07:00

Here are some links and quotes from those links that discuss UNICEF's position and involvement in International Adoption, the following two are posted by an adoption activist when UNICEF became involved in shutting down adoptions in Guatemala.

http://international.adoptionblogs.com/weblogs/families-without-borders-unicef-you

Continued from the previous post where we were starting to look at a UNICEF contribution called "State of the World's Children 2007".

The "Women and Children: The Double Dividend of Gender Equality" title does have a lovely ring to it, but it's hollow, folks.

UNICEF director Ann Veneman says in a press release, “If we care about the health and well-being of children today and into the future, we must work now to ensure that women and girls have equal opportunities to be educated, to participate in government, to achieve economic self-sufficiency and to be protected from violence and discrimination."

Anyone want to join me in a "Duh!"?

How about in a hint that her "we must work now" ruse doesn't fly when it so obviously and completely neglects the fact that they've done so little up until "now" that woman and children are in terrible shape even though millions of dollars have gone through UN hands, and that anyone who buys the "now" part of that probably has something to gain, and that the seven "key interventions to enhance gender equality" fail to address any place that the amazingly expensive UNICEF machine will contribute effectively "now", if at all.

How about the UNICEF's bright idea that private relinquishment adoptions are stopped so older, institutionalized children get adopted instead? Yeah ... that sounds good. No reason not to start off a whole new generation of older, institutionalized kids, and that's what the relinquished babies would have to look forward to.

One of my very favorites is UNICEF taking issue with poverty being a reason behind relinquishment and adoption. How Marie Antoinette can they get? I'll believe that is really a part of an acutal UN agenda when they start spurning limos, private jets, shiny new SUV convoys and designer suits and start flying coach and taking the bus. Maybe, just maybe, then they'll have some idea of what life is really like when poverty grinds away at the very soul of people.

That's all I can do today. I have a headache and my daughter would like more of my lap. Visit Families Without Borders, attend the 'ethics' conference if you can and ask some tough questions of those with simplistic 'solutions'. Write letters to people in charge of stuff and make sure they understand that international adoption is an important option that must be preserved."

http://international.adoptionblogs.com/weblogs/unicef-you
"Can we point out how downright silly many of UNICEF's arguments against international adoption are? The hierarchal system insisted upon, for example, that can so quickly be checked and discounted: bio parents, then other nationals, then foreigners living in country, then as a last, last resort, parents in gasp! a whole other country.

Biological parents die, and those that don't still have a right to chose a different life for their children. Being poor is not the same as being stupid, and to insist that these parents don't know what they're doing when they decide to relinquish a child for adoption is insulting to all of them.

And anyone who thinks that children in Guatemala, India, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Haiti and on and on are likely to be adopted by local families really needs to get out more.

How about the UNICEF's bright idea that private relinquishment adoptions are stopped so older, institutionalized children get adopted instead?

Yeah ... that sounds good. No reason not to start off a whole new generation of older, institutionalized kids, and that's what the relinquished babies would have to look forward to.

One of my very favorites is UNICEF taking issue with poverty being a reason behind relinquishment and adoption. How Marie Antoinette can they get? I'll believe that is really a part of an acutal (sic) UN agenda when they start spurning limos, private jets, shiny new SUV convoys and designer suits and start flying coach and taking the bus. Maybe, just maybe, then they'll have some idea of what life is really like when poverty grinds away at the very soul of people.That's all I can do today. I have a headache and my daughter would like more of my lap.

Visit Families Without Borders, attend the 'ethics' conference if you can and ask some tough questions of those with simplistic 'solutions'. Write letters to people in charge of stuff and make sure they understand that international adoption is an important option that must be preserved."

Here is UNICEF's "official" position statement on international adoptions. As you read this, please note that in every country that UNICEF has come involved in "reforming" the adoption process, what the above poster has written about has happened.

http://www.unicef.org/media/media_15011.html

The Convention on the Rights of the Child, which guides UNICEF’s work, clearly states that every child has the right to know and be cared for by his or her own parents, whenever possible. Recognising this, and the value and importance of families in children’s lives, UNICEF believes that families needing support to care for their children should receive it, and that alternative means of caring for a child should only be considered when, despite this assistance, a child’s family is unavailable, unable or unwilling to care for him or her.

For children who cannot be raised by their own families, an appropriate alternative family environment should be sought in preference to institutional care, which should be used only as a last resort and as a temporary measure. Inter-country adoption is one of a range of care options which may be open to children, and for individual children who cannot be placed in a permanent family setting in their countries of origin, it may indeed be the best solution. In each case, the best interests of the individual child must be the guiding principle in making a decision regarding adoption.

Over the past 30 years, the number of families from wealthy countries wanting to adopt children from other countries has grown substantially. At the same time, lack of regulation and oversight, particularly in the countries of origin, coupled with the potential for financial gain, has spurred the growth of an industry around adoption, where profit, rather than the best interests of children, takes centre stage. Abuses include the sale and abduction of children, coercion of parents, and bribery, as well as trafficking to individuals whose intentions are to exploit rather than care for children. (Editorial Note: Please see my previous posting. UNICEF keeps talking about this happening, "sale and abduction of children, coercion of parent". UNICEF has not provided proof of this happening i.e. in Haiti, though they always cite this as a reason for their involvement. I would love to be provided with actual proof.)

Many countries around the world have recognised these risks, and have ratified the Hague Convention on Inter-Country Adoption. UNICEF strongly supports this international legislation, which is designed to put into action the principles regarding inter-country adoption which are contained in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. These include ensuring that adoption is authorised only by competent authorities, that inter-country adoption enjoys the same safeguards and standards which apply in national adoptions, and that inter-country adoption does not result in improper financial gain for those involved in it. These provisions are meant first and foremost to protect children, but also have the positive effect of providing assurance to prospective adoptive parents that their child has not been the subject of illegal and detrimental practices.

The case of children separated from their parents and communities during war or natural disasters merits special mention. It cannot be assumed that such children have neither living parents nor relatives. Even if both their parents are dead, the chances of finding living relatives, and a community or home to return to after the conflict subsides, continues to exist. Thus, such children should not be considered for inter-country adoption, and family tracing should be the priority. This position is shared by UNICEF, UNHCR, the International Confederation of the Red Cross, and international NGOs such as the Save the Children Alliance.

UNICEF & Adoptions

2008-07-17T18:00:00.000-07:00

I have had questions from you as to why UNICEF gets involved in adoptions. Below, I am re-posting a post that I had written for my other blog on December 13, 2007. It was a report based on a meeting that I had with UNICEF in Haiti:

December 13, 2007

I do not have much time on the computer, but I wanted to give a quick update. I met with Adriano Gonzalez-Regueral, he is the main Unicef representative in Haiti. Also, present was Claude Mane, his title isAdministrateur adjoint de Project Protection de l'Efant.

I was told that UNICEF is concerned with trafficking of children in adoptions.

Adoptions to France came up in our discussion since 500+ children went to France in 2006 from Haiti. I need to know more about French adoption laws and their safeguards against child trafficking.

For adoptions by families in the U.S. there is an orphan investigation before a child can come to the U.S. that is supposed to determine that everything was proper, etc.

Anyway... there is a lot more to tell... one of the comments he made was "There are too many children adopted in Haiti" for inter-country adoptions. (I think that comment was very telling.)

I told him about the problem in the Ministry of Interior (MOI) and he asked me to provide alist of kids whose files are still in MOI who have been there for more than 2 months. He also asked me to identify the kids that are sick and/or have special needs. He said that UNICEF cannot "implement but can only support"...but he agreed that the children should not be waiting this long for passport approvals.

I am going back next week Wednesday or Thursday with the list of kids who are stuck in MOI...please can you guys help me with that? He said that this was the first time hearing about an MOI problem and that he usually deals on the Minister Level and not in the lower levels where things "get done".

One other comment he made was that though he is sympathetic toward adoptive parents, his focus is on the children and he is not fighting for the rights of adoptive parents.

I agreed with him and said that children should not end up being the victims of the cleaning up of a system of adoptions that supposedly includes children that have been sold to be adopted.

What is happening with children who are already adopted and are waiting for months for passport approval is one of the "fall outs" of the "preventing" of child selling/buying. Bottom line, the children are suffering and the children have a right to be with their families who adopted them.

In our discussion, he made a comment that there are women who sell their babies to adoption organizations and then use the money to provide for their other children at home. I asked him if he had concrete proof of that happening.

He said, "Yes." But then he changed the subject and would not come back to that part of the conversation. The positive part of the meeting is that the Unicef representative is willing to ask about the files that are stuck in MOI, though, of course he explained (as mentioned above) that he has no power, but he can support.

UNICEF & Guatemala Rumor

2008-07-17T06:33:00.000-07:00

I learned yesterday that UNICEF supposedly paid $20 Million U.S. Dollars to the previous president of Guatemala to stop adoptions in Guatemala.

The money was supposed to have gone to building orphanages and for children's care since adoptions were being shut down in Guatemala. However, none of the money went to its intended purposes.

Right now, I am treating this report as a RUMOR, and the only reason that I posting it on my blog is in the hopes of some you (the readers) can assist me in confirming this to be a fact or to discredit it.

What concerns me is that UNICEF is very active in Haiti pressuring government and judical officals to slow down and basically shut down adoptions by implementing adoption qualification rules that makes it difficult for anybody to adopt a child.

I spoke to somebody who spends a lot of time in Guatemala and she reports that it is a desparate situation for children since adoptions shut down since there aren't many alternatives available for the care of unwanted children.

So if it is true that UNICEF provided $20,000,000 to the previous Guatemala President and it was not spent on the intended purposes, I want to know.

Thanks....

Ministère d'Intérieur

2008-07-12T21:30:00.000-07:00

Pour mes chers amis de France - Une explication comment les documents sont travaillés à l'intérieur de du ministère de l'intérieur:

1. Un petit rappel du processus à MOI le représentant de l’orphelinat dépose tous les originaux des documents haïtiens pertinents au Bureau de l’Immigration. Ce dossier comprend le certificat de naissance, papiers d’archives – ce qui est un genre de document notarié authentifiant la naissance; les documents d’adoption, etc. On donne au représentant de l’orphelinat un reçu portant un numéro – le numéro du dossier du Ministère de l’Intérieur.

2. Le département de l’Immigration apporte le dossier au Ministère de l’Intérieur et on l’achemine à l’Unité Juridique où les avocats revoient le dossier afin de s’assurer qu’il n’y a pas d’erreurs.

3. Pendant que le dossier est au sein du Ministère de l’Intérieur, le représentant de l’orphelinat doit y aller et remplir le « formulaire long » ou le « formulaire d’entrevue » où l’on ajoute d’autres informations concernant la famille biologique, l’enfant adopté et la famille qui adopte. Ce formulaire de deux pages est rempli et on y appose des photos de l’enfant et des parents adoptants. Ce formulaire reste au Ministère de l’Intérieur pour les fins d’archives des enfants adoptés qui quittent le pays.

4. Le représentant de l’orphelinat doit s’informer auprès des préposés au Ministère de l’Intérieur s’il y a des erreurs dans les documents. Le cas échéant, le représentant de l’orphelinat doit les faire corriger. Le représentant de l’orphelinat rapporte tout document corrigé avant que le dossier soit signer et régler.

5. Le Directeur des Affaires politiques signe une lettre autorisant l’émission du passeport. À ce stade, un préposé du Ministère de l’Intérieur rapporte le dossier et la lettre au Ministère de l’Immigration.

6. À ce stade, le représentant de l’orphelinat cherche les documents à l’Immigration et prépare la demande de passeport. La demande et les photos sont déposées à l’Immigration et on émet un passeport haïtien au nom de l’enfant selon l’adoption.

What is MOI?

2008-07-09T22:00:00.000-07:00

MOI, stands for the Ministry of Interior. It used to be that adopted children could travel to their forever family on a Haitian passport that was issued at any time during the adoption process. That passport was in the adopted child's birth last name (when a child is adopted, his/her last name changes to the adoptive family's last name).

With UNICEF's increased scrutiny into Haitian adoptions, the Haitian government decided to add an additional step after the adoption and to only permit adopted children to leave on a passport that had the adopted last name.

That is how the MOI step really came about (before that time, documents were always checked over by the Buereau de Juritique inside of MOI, but it was usually a quick process).

Now, in order to obtain an adoption last-name passport, the orphanage has to submit all the original related Haitian documents to the Immigration office. That is the first step in obtaining the passport.

The immigration department brings the document file to MOI where the documents are studied for any mistakes. That is step two.

While the document file is inside of MOI, the orphanage representative has to go to MOI and do the "long form" or also called "interview form" where additional information is provided about the birth family, the adopted child and the adoptive family. A two-page form is filled out and passport photos of the adopted child and adoptive parents are glued onto that form. The form stays in MOI as a record of adopted children who are leaving the country. That is step three.

If there are any mistakes on the documents, then the orphanage representative is responsible for getting the mistakes taken care of. That is step four (if there are mistakes). The orphanage rep. brings any corrected documents back before the file can be signed out.

The Director of Political Affairs signs a letter that authorizes the issuance of the passport. Then the file and letter is taken back to Immigration by one of the MOI employees.

At that point, the orphanage rep picks up the documents from Immigration (sorry, I had mistakenly written "MOI" - it should have said "Immigration") and gets the actual passport application ready. The application and photos are submitted to Immigration and they issue a Haitian passport in the child's adopted name.

MOI Update...

2008-07-08T15:23:00.000-07:00

There is no "blocking" at MOI and files are steadily being signed out of the Ministry of Interior.

Please check with your orphanage, maybe there are issues with documents that have to be corrected in some of the adoption files?

"Nightline" Investigates: How To Buy A Child In 10 Hours

2008-07-08T06:41:00.000-07:00

"Nightline" Investigates: How To Buy A Child In 10 Hours
POSTED: 9:01 am EDT July 2, 2008
UPDATED: 10:17 pm EDT July 7, 2008

Special Edition of "Nightline" Explores Modern Day Slavery Tuesday, July 8th.

In early June, ABC News correspondent Dan Harris took a three-and-a-half hour flight from New York City to Port Au Prince, Haiti to buy a child slave. Within ten hours of leaving ABC News headquarters in New York City, "Nightline's" hidden cameras captured three separate offers made to Harris for the sale of a ten-year-old child slave. Prices ranged from $150 to $10,000. One broker promised to personally train the child. Another promised a "pretty" girl and offered to provide false adoption documents (*see note below) to allow the child to be taken out of the country.

Harris then met and interviewed child slaves and their masters, and explored the dire conditions that drive many rural families to send their children to live in urban households with the often unfulfilled promise of a better life and an education. Finally, he followed the heroic efforts of one mother to retrieve her child from slavery.

Harris' journey is part of a five-month long investigation into child slavery in Haiti to air as a special edition of ABC News "Nightline" on Tuesday, July 8.

http://www.wsoctv.com/station/16767869/detail.html

* I was not able to watch this program, so I do not know if the reporter pointed out that he could not have sucessfully taken the child out of country and into the U.S. of such fake documents. Also, he had no record with USCIS to allow him to bring an adopted child into the U.S. Actual adoption takes around two (2) years in Haiti because it is such a lengthy and drawn out process. I would have loved to have seen those "adoption documents" that had been offered to the reporter. I am pretty sure that the reporter did not address this issue on the program.

Child slavery is a HUGE problem in Haiti. However, the problem is within country and across porous borders to the Dominican Republic and neighboring islands.

I spoke to UNICEF about this problem last December. Basically, UNICEF told me that there is a huge concern regarding household slavery (restavecs) within Haitian households. He said that UNICEF cannot do much about that because they cannot tell who is the household slave and who is a child of the family. Also, it is done behind closed doors.

The other real problem is the human slavery trafficing across the border to the Dominican Republic and neighboring islands of children and women. Many of the human slaves are used for household slavery and/or for sexual exploitation. He said that UNICEF cannot do much about that because they cannot control that traffic across those borders. They have estimates as to how manch children are smuggled across the border to the Dominican Republic, but those are just estimates from NGOs that operate in the area. UNICEF or the Haitian government has no means to control this across borders traffic.

So, I hope that this TV special is helping put the spotlight on the plight of Haitian children in terms of human slavery exploitation without making legal adoptions the scapegoat.

What to look for...adoption decision process...

2008-07-04T17:36:00.000-07:00

What to look for when selecting an adoption agency/organization in Haiti (or any other non-Hague country): This selection process discussion also pertains to non-U.S. families, but this discussion is very specific to U.S. families wanting to adopt from Haiti.

Decide whether you want to adopt independently or through the assistance of an adoption agency in your home country.

If you decide to go the independent route and you are a U.S. family, please realize that the U.S. State Department is the central adoption authority in the U.S. and the U.S. State Department is also the entity through which the Foreign Services Officers are employed. It is the Foreign Services Officers who approve or deny adopted children’s visas. Currently, the U.S. State Department is scrutinizing all Haiti adoptions from the standpoint that “all are fraud”, then they work their way backwards, so to speak. As an independent adopter, you do not have the support of a recognized U.S. adoption agency and if there is a problem at the end, during the visa issuance stage, you are “on your own”. Currently, independent adoptions are still permitted. It is my understanding that this will be allowed until the year 2010.

If you choose the independent route, ensure that you speak with other adoptive families who already have their children home. You will find that many families speak nicely of their orphanage while they are in process of their adoption, but in my opinion, that is not a reference to seek. When you speak to families who already have their children home, make sure to do this privately and not on a public forum. On a public forum (i.e. a yahoo group) you may not get honest feedback since anybody can be on the group reading the messages, including the orphanage’s staff.

If you choose the independent route, make sure that you can visit the orphanage to observe how the children are cared for, to observe the working of the people who process the adoptions, etc. A trip to the orphanage should not be to select your child, but it should be to ensure that this is an organization that you would want to work with in terms of your adoption. Anybody can have a beautiful website that looks impressive, but you need to find out through your own investigation whether this organization is ethical, works hard on the adoptions, treats the children well, etc.

If you choose the independent route, you will have to be ‘hands-on’ with your adoption and this suits some families more than others. For example, you have to compile your own dossier and work with USCIS, etc. without much assistance. However, there are groups of previous adopters who are very helpful in answering questions and guiding you through the process. Additionally, some orphanages are more supportive in helping families through the dossier paperwork jungle than others.

Whether you chose the independent or agency route, find out if you can visit with your child during the adoption process.

This is important for several reasons, obviously for bonding purposes, but also if you and your husband (or the single adoptive mother) visits the child in person during the adoption process, the child will enter the U.S. on an IR3 visa which upon entry to the U.S. makes the child an automatic U.S. citizen.

If you do not visit during the adoption process, then the child enters on a “non-final adoption” (definition of the U.S. State Department, even though the Haitian adoption decree states that it is a final adoption) and the child will enter the U.S. on an IR4 visa which is a “resident alien” visa. Families have to go through the readoption process in the U.S. and then have to submit an N-600 form with $470 to USCIS to obtain the child’s U.S. citizenship paper.

If you choose the agency route, some of the same research has to be done. The U.S. became a Hague Convention Country in 2008. You do not have to use a Hague accredited adoption agency to pursue an adoption in Haiti since it is not a Hague country. But, why would you not want to use a Hague accredited agency? After all, a Hague accredited agency has passed “muster” with the U.S. State Department and under Hague Convention standards. Hague accredited agencies are held to a higher standard.

In defense of some adoption agencies were not able to obtain Hague accreditation, they were not able to do so because part of the Hague accreditation process is to obtain an insurance bond/policy that some agencies were not able to afford. However, other agencies did not pursue the accreditation process or were denied accreditation for other varied reasons.

When you choose an agency, you need to find out how often they visit the Haitian orphanage in person. Does the adoption agency mostly have contact via telephone and email or does the agency personnel frequently spend time in-country. How familiar is the agency personnel with the process in Haiti? What level of supervision and accountability exists between the adoption agency and the orphanage? Does the agency personnel work in Haiti processing adoptions working alongside the Haitian orphanage personnel?

Also ask for the orphanage name. Find out if the orphanage they work with exclusively work with the adoption agency or is it an orphanage that contracts with multiple adoption agencies.

Find out what support services the agency uses for its families. For example, during the dossier compilation stage, how much does the agency assist? Is there one consistent contact person who will assist you?

Find out if you can visit the orphanage and what the policy is to spend time with your child. (see above regarding IR3 and IR4 visas)

Ask to speak to families who have their children home already.

Also, find out what the agency’s grievance policy is.

Your job as a prospective adoptive parent is to do your homework prior to selecting which adoption route to go. Research, research, research…

Often families select an agency or an orphanage based on speed of response back to their inquiries. That is not a good sole indicator. However, many families use that as the main indicator of selecting the agency or orphanage. Though responsiveness to inquiries is important, but look at the real indicators discussed above.

Update....

2008-07-04T17:31:00.000-07:00

To protect the privacy of the families, I cannot give detailed information beyond what I am posting:

Yesterday, one family whose child's visa had been denied was able to obtain his visa after a lengthy process to get the embassy's decision reversed. It was really God's work because He worked some serious miracles in this case.
Unfortunately, at the same time another family's child's visa was denied yesterday and the family will have to go through the formal USCIS appeals process in their home state. Please keep this family in prayer so that miracles can happen and this child can come home to his/her forever family.

Passport Printing Update...

2008-06-29T11:46:00.000-07:00

There was an issue with the passport printing machine in Port au Prince, but is has been resolved.

There were "rumors" that the machine was out of ink, but that was not the case. The electricity cable to the passport machine had gone missing. Without electricity, you cannot print passports. Thus, there were a few days when no passports could be printed.

However, there is a cable now and last week, passports were being printed.

U.S. Families Advice:

2008-06-28T10:18:00.000-07:00

Over the past few weeks I have received several emails from U.S. families whose I-600 applications were denied by USCIS.

If this happens, you only have 30 days to appeal the decision of USCIS. This appeal is done in writing and there is no court-hearing of sorts. If, following the appeal, your I-600 remains denied (i.e. the previous decision is not overturned during the appeal), you have no remaining remedy.

Here is my advice to you: If you receive an I-600 denial from USCIS, consult with an immigration attorney who knows what they are doing. You get "one shot" at overturning that USCIS decision, do not try to do it on your own.

If you have adopted a child and your I-600 or the I-604 (orphan investigation) was denied for whatever reason, you appealed and that appeal was denied, the only option you have (if you have a legal adoption) is to live with the child for two years - in country, and then to apply for a visa for a family member. That is done via an I-130 form.

(Additional Information)

According to U.S. law, a child to be brought to the U.S. pursuant an adoption must meet the definition of "orphan".

The child must be under the age of 16* at the time an I-600 Petition is filed with the USCIS or a consular officer on his or her behalf;

The child meets the U.S. immigration law definition of “orphan” because:

1. The child has no parents due to the death or disappearance of, abandonment or desertion by, or separation from or loss of both parents; or (See U.S. Law Definitions below)

2. The sole or surviving parent is incapable of providing proper care and has, in writing, irrevocably released the child for emigration and adoption**;

3. The adopting parents must have completed a full and final adoption of the child or must have legal custody of the child for purposes of emigration and adoption in the U.S.; and

4. The child has been or will be adopted by a married U.S. citizen and spouse jointly, or by an unmarried U.S. citizen at least 25 years of age, with the intent of forming a bona fide parent/child relationship.

*A child adopted at age 16 or 17 will also qualify, provided he or she is a natural sibling of a child adopted, or who will be adopted, under the age of 16 by the same adopting parents.

**Prospective adopting parents should note that the terms “disappearance,” “abandonment,” “desertion,” “separation,” “loss,” and “sole” and “surviving” parent all have specific legal meanings, as defined in section 204.3(b) of Title 8 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations. Whether a child qualifies as an orphan is determined by reference to the U.S. regulatory definitions and not by any local (foreign) law designations that may be used to identify a child as orphaned. In some countries it is possible to adopt a child who is not an “orphan” as defined by U.S. immigration law. Parents are urged to seek advice about the possibility that an adopted child would not be considered an orphan and therefore would not be able to accompany his or her adopting parents to the United States. Immigration attorneys, reputable adoption agencies involved in international adoption, DHS/CIS and the Department of State officials all have information that will assist you in addressing this serious concern.

Title 8 - Sec. 204.3(b):
Definitions. As used in this section, the term:
Abandonment by both parents means that the parents have willfully forsaken all parental rights, obligations, and claims to the child, as well as all control over and possession of the child, without intending to transfer, or without transferring, these rights to any specific person(s).

Abandonment must include not only the intention to surrender all parental rights, obligations, and claims to the child, and control over and possession of the child, but also the actual act of surrending such rights, obligations, claims, control, and possession.

A relinquishment or release by the parents to the prospective adoptive parents or for a specific adoption does not constitute abandonment.

Similarly, the relinquishment or release of the child by the parents to a third party for custodial care in anticipation of, or preparation for, adoption does not constitute abandonment unless the third party (such as a governmental agency, a court of competent jurisdiction, an adoption agency, or an orphanage) is authorized under the child welfare laws of the foreign-sending country to act in such a capacity.

A child who is placed temporarily in an orphanage shall not be considered to be abandoned if the parents express an intention to retrieve the child, are contributing or attempting to contribute to the support of the child, or otherwise exhibit ongoing parental interest in the child. A child who has been given unconditionally to an orphanage shall be considered to be abandoned.

Please also refer to:
http://travel.state.gov/pdf/Prospective_Adoptive_Parents_Guide.pdf

* This posting is not intented as "legal advice".*

Haiti Updates...

2008-06-22T09:36:00.001-07:00

I do not have much to report, aside from inconsistency.

Some families do not seem to have trouble getting signed out of IBESR and others do. There is no explanation. One of the things that I am going to encourage families to do is to ensure that they are working with an experienced adoption attorney. Just because somebody is an attorney does not mean that that attorney has specialized experience.
Presidential Pardon for families with bio kids are being issued, contrary to what some orphanages are being told or are experiencing. However, there may be a different procedure obtaining this pardon while the file is still in IBESR and while the file is in Parquet. Thus, this may be the reason of the inconsistent reports.
I received one report last week that no passports were being printed because the Immigration Office is out of ink. I have not been able to confirm this report.
U.S. Embassy visa process - some visas have been issued, but I know that there are many families still waiting. The person who was the visa officer before is now promoted to the person in charge of all immigrant visas.

Question....

2008-06-19T19:10:00.000-07:00

I was wondering if any of you, my dear blog readers, have adopted from the following countries. If so, can you email me at achildsvoice@live.com ?

If you post a comment on the comment section, it does not automatically show your email address, thus it is difficult for me to respond to you directly. Therefore, if you post a comment, can you include your email address? Or can you email me directly? THANKS!

Dominican Republic
Panama
Jamaica
Mexico
Costa Rica

This is what I know so far...

Dominican Republic - some people are positive that adoptions can happen from there. BUT it is a very "structured process". All adoption applications have to be made to CONANI, the central adoption authority. Most families that I have spoken with gave up and adopted elsewhere instead. However, these families requested to adopt babies. There is a 60 day required in-country stay, this alone would rule out some families adoption possibilities.

Panama - I have absolutely no information.

Mexico - Most adoptions have to go through the social services (DIF), but there are two states in Mexico that allow private adoptions. As long as the child adopted meets the orphan definition, the child should be eligible to come to the U.S. However, currently the Dept. of State is trying to decide if they will allow private adoptions. Spainish and Irish families are actively adopting via private adoptions in Mexico. Both are Hague countries.

Jamaica - I am trying to learn if U.S. families that obtain an "adoption license" can get an IR4 visa for their child to adopt the child in the U.S. Also, I am curious as to the timelines for an "adoption license".

Costa Rica - I have not been able to make any contact to their adoption authority. Their telephone number does not accept incoming international calls. Costa Rica is a Hague country and will only work with a Hague country/licensed agency. Anybody with any information?

Updates...

2008-06-11T06:46:00.000-07:00

IBESR - is signing out dossiers, for families with or without bio kids.

I have heard of a couple of files where one of the parents is 29 and the other over 30 that were sent back to the adoption attorney with a refusal to sign out those dossiers.

Parquet - Judgments are being signed for families with or without bio kids. I have been getting emails from families that have had their dossiers in parquet for months! I really do not know what to suggest aside from having the lawyer schedule an appointment in parquet to find out why the files has not been signed out.

Also, Mario Joseph, one of the leading human rights attorneys had offered his assistance to creches and families stuck in parquet. However, none of the creches that have files stuck in parquet took up the offer. So, if your file has been in parquet for a really long time, you may want to speak to your creche.

Ministry of Interior - They are really working hard processing files. However, you need to make sure that your creche representative goes and does the "interview" to fill out the two-page information form. I have a format form that I would gladly share that MOI likes to use in obtaining all the necessary information. It cuts down the interview time from about 60 minutes to 15 minutes.

Also, one of the major hold-ups of files in MOI is that they are extremely picky as to the Haitian adoption documents, birth certificates, death certificates, etc. The lawyers in MOI go over them with a fine-tooth-comb. If there is just one little typo (i.e. "le mere" instead of "la mere"), the entire document is rejected and has to be replaced. For example, if it is archive document or a judgment, it can take one to two months to replace, and that is with the creche working diligently on it. MOI is a full-time job, especially if the creche has a lot of files waiting to be processed.

Also, MOI is now requiring three (3) passport photos of the child that was adopted. In the past, they required only two (2) passport photos. You may want to make sure that your creche knows of this new requirement.

French Embassy is processing visas at a reasonably fast rate.

Canadian Embassy is processing visas within a 24 hour period.

U.S. Embassy is as slow as molasses! Hopefully visas will be processed at a more reasonable pace. Some families have been waiting as long as five months for a visa appointment!

P.S. Did you know that one of the creche directors prints out my blog and brings it to the U.S. Embassy for personnel to read? :-)

Yes, it is true....

2008-06-03T21:02:00.001-07:00

...the U.S. adoption visa consular officer that served in the U.S. Embassy in Haiti is no longer working in that position. The new officer is a gentleman who is Haitian-American.

The previous adoption visa officer still continues to work inside the U.S. Embassy in Haiti, but that person is no longer in charge of adoption visas.

I am sure that I am expressing a lot of adoptive parents' hope that with the new adoption visa officer a level of professionalism, civility and fairness will return to that department.

Happenings at the U.S. Embassy in Haiti...

2008-05-28T06:43:00.000-07:00

Currently, approximately 50 children are waiting for their visa appointments in the U.S. Embassy in Haiti. Some have waited as long as five months now for their visa appointments. Adoptive parents are frustrated and anxious to get their adopted children's visas. Unfortunately, in addition of waiting for such a long time, there has been a certain level of unprofessional treatment that families and adoption professionals have received by embassy personnel. This makes it even more difficult in light of the long wait.

Currently, every adoption is scrutinized and the embassy personnel starts examining adoption files with the assumption that all documents are fraudulent and that the adoptions in Haiti are illegal. Working backward from that assumption, basically adoption professionals have to prove the opposite in an unfriendly environment.

Additionally, embassy personnel searches the internet, including blogs and yahoo discussion groups in an attempt to find damaging information regarding adoption professionals, orphanages, etc.

"Witch Hunt" is the term that has been repeatedly used to describe the current visa process.

Today, I read the following article on www.cnn.com regarding adoptions in Guatemala and Vietnam.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/28/international.adoptions/index.html

Please read the article because then it will make more sense to you what is happening in Haiti right now. The visa personnel is basically trying to prove that the same irregularities as in Vietnam are happening in Haiti, with the goal to shut down U.S. adoptions in Haiti.

Here is the specific portion of the Vietnam adoptions discussed that apply to Haiti.

'Serious irregularities' in Vietnam

Similar concerns of corruption recently emerged in Vietnam, where investigators had found "serious adoption irregularities," according to a report by the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi.

Documents had been forged or altered, the embassy said, and some parents were paid, tricked or forced into giving up their children for adoption. In some cases, the embassy said, children were offered for adoption without the knowledge or permission of their parents.

The Vietnamese government has denied the accusations.

Even so, it said in April that it would terminate its adoption agreement with the United States, saying it won't accept applications after July 1. The program is scheduled to end September 1.
Parents in the United States who were matched with an adoptive child in Vietnam before July 1 will be allowed to adopt that child. Prospective parents who had invested time and money, but had not been matched with an adoptive child, appear to be out of luck.

Private adoption agencies insist that nearly all adoptions from Vietnam are problem-free, and they want the adoptions to continue.

"It's hard to let go, because we know we can advocate for these children and make a real difference," said Linda Brownlee, executive director of the nonprofit Adoption Center of Washington, which places children for adoption from Russia, China, Cambodia and Vietnam.

She hopes the United States and Vietnam reach an agreement so that adoptions can continue.
"Without it, I think children are going to be harmed. They are going to die needlessly, and there is going to be trafficking," Brownlee said.

If the U.S. government follows the same path in Haiti as they are doing in Vietnam, then children will die needlessly in Haiti as well. Also, child trafficking for domestic slavery and sexual exploitation will even become worse.

National Lawyers Guild Congratulates Raboteau Massacre Victims on Historic Victory

2008-05-27T15:47:00.000-07:00

Mario Joseph, the Haitian lawyer who represented the plaintiffs is a personal friend of mine. Congratulations Mario!!!

The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) congratulates the victims of the Raboteau Massacre on their recent victory after a 14-year struggle in the courts of Haiti and the United States . On May 16, the victims received over $400,000 in court-awarded compensation.

NLG President Marjorie Cohn noted that “the Raboteau victims have provided all of us a lesson in fighting for justice. They have now won landmark cases in two countries from one of the poorest neighborhoods in the poorest country in the hemisphere. The Haitian prosecution in 2000 was one of the most important human rights cases anywhere in the Americas . The U.S. cases showed that persecutors and their money cannot hide from justice in the United States .”

The Raboteau Massacre was a joint military/paramilitary attack on a pro-democracy neighborhood during Haiti ’s 1991-1994 de facto military dictatorship, carried out on April 22, 1994. With the help of the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI), a public interest law office in Port-au-Prince , the victims pursued senior military and paramilitary leaders in Haitian courts. The BAI is led by Mario Joseph, Haiti ’s most respected human rights lawyer, and a member of the governing Bureau of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, an NLG affiliate.

The case was tried before a jury in Gonaives , Haiti , during six weeks in 2000. The jury convicted 53 soldiers and death squad members (37 of them in absentia), and the court awarded the victims 1 billion Haitian Gourdes (US $26.3 million) in damages. One of those convicted in absentia, Col. Carl Dorélien, a member of the de facto dictatorship’s Military High Command, fled to Florida after democracy was restored to Haiti in 1994. He later won $3.2 million in the Florida State Lottery.

The Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA) filed two civil suits against Dorélien in Florida . The first was filed in state court to enforce the Haitian judgment. The second was filed in a Miami Federal Court under the Alien Tort Statute and the Torture Victims Protection Act on behalf of one of the survivors of the Raboteau Massacre and a former union leader, Lexiuste Cajuste, who was brutally tortured by the Haitian military in 1993. In 2007, the state court ruled that the Haitian judgment was enforceable in the U.S. , and the jury in the Miami case awarded the Raboteau victims and Cajuste $4.3 million in damages. Dorélien has now exhausted all of his appeals.

“This case has been a model of international cooperation on human rights cases,” said Moira Feeney, an NLG member who spearheaded the case at CJA. “Attorney Joseph’s persistent preparation and the BAI’s victim-centered approach provided a strong foundation for building the cases in U.S. courts.”

“This day was a long time in coming, but it could not have come at a better time,” said NLG member Brian Concannon Jr., Director of the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), who has worked on the case since 1995, with the United Nations, the BAI and IJDH. “With Haiti caught in a food crisis, the money will be a life-saver for some. With Haiti struggling through a democratic transition, the lesson that persistent, non-violent fighting for justice can bear fruit can be an inspiration for the whole country to work for a more stable and just future.”
The National Lawyers Guild is the oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the United States . It was founded in 1937 as an alternative to the American Bar Association, which did not admit people of color. Its headquarters are in New York and it has chapters in every state. The Guild prepared the first two major human rights reports following the February 2004 coup d’état against Haiti ’s elected government. Guild President Cohn has written extensively on the international law implications of the U.S.-supported 2004 coup d’état in Haiti.

The Bureau des Avocats Internationaux is a public interest law office serving Haiti ’s poor in Port-au-Prince , Haiti . http://www.ijdh.org/bureau.htm.

The Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti is an Oregon-based human rights organization that works for constitutional democracy, justice and human rights in Haiti through litigation, information dissemination and grassroots advocacy. www.ijdh.org.

CJA is a San Francisco-based human rights organization dedicated to ending torture and other severe human rights abuses around the world and advancing the rights of survivors to seek truth, justice and redress. CJA uses litigation to hold perpetrators individually accountable for human rights abuses, develop human rights law and advance the rule of law in countries transitioning from periods of abuse. www.cja.org.

Ministry of Interior - Passports Update

2008-05-27T08:44:00.001-07:00

I was able to do six interviews at MOI on Friday morning. :-)

That office is the hardest working Haitian government office. They come to work punctually and work all the way through their lunchtime most of the days. This is not how many other offices work in Haiti. I also saw the Director of Political Affairs who has been very polite and friendly toward me.

During that time, I had a chance to speak with Madame Duret. I told her that I have been receiving emails from adoptive families whose children's files have been in MOI for a while. Madame Duret told me that many times, orphanages drop off the files at the Immigration office for MOI approval, the files are sent to her office and then the files just sit there because orphanage representatives do not come to do the "interview".

Also, she said that the turn-around time of a file where the interview has been done and there are no mistakes in the file is around one month or less. She said that the files that are "stuck" in MOI are the files where a document needs to be corrected. It is not up to MOI to get the documents corrected but it is up to the orphanage to get the document corrected and turned back in.

For example, an Archive document for the birth certificate can have a typo on it. This kind of mistake is not the orphanage's fault, but the Archive official's fault who typed the document. However, it needs to get corrected, the corrected document has to be submitted and then the file can be signed out. A mistake like that can delay the file for several months.

UN visibly absent in Port au Prince

2008-05-27T06:32:00.000-07:00

I made an observation that the UN is visibly absent from the streets of Port au Prince.

Last month when the food demonstrations started, the UN showed up and was present in force. While I observed protesters that were peaceful (on the first day of PAP demonstrations) on one side of the block, on the other side of the block were big white UN tanks with troops and rifles.

Even before the demonstrations, on a daily basis, there were UN tanks and UN patrols all over the area. For example, if you took that turn by the "Three Hands" traffic circle toward Citie Soleil, by the Airport Road, there was always a UN checkpoint. Those checkpoints have disappeared.

Now, the only one that I have seen is one on the way out toward the north, Route 1, by the garbage dump.

Also, the UN troops are not longer hanging out at the hotels, restaurants and beach resorts during the weekend. We like to go to Waho Bay to eat lobster on the weekend and we always used to joke that we had to get there before the UN ate up all the lobster. Last weekend, none were to be seen...UN troops that is...

Myanmar (Burma) - Take Action Email

2008-05-18T08:03:00.000-07:00

As you are probably all aware of, on May 3rd, Myanmar (Burma) as hit by a cyclone that destroyed much of the country. Instead of permitting international aid, the government of Myanmar has been refusing aid for its people. However, "private" organizations have been allowed into the country.

One of these organizations is Air Mobile Ministries (http://www.airmobile.org/). Barbara Walker and Joe Hurston left last Sunday to Myanmar to bring water purifiers to the cyclone affected areas. I wish that I could have gone with them... Good News! Barb & Joe are back from Myanmar. You can read some updates on Joe's blog. But, please braise yourself because it shows a photo that he took of dead babies and toddlers in the water. http://dieunika.blogspot.com/

I encourage you to write an email to the Embassador of Myanmar to voice your support to allow international relief agencies access to the country. According to news reports, many many children and adults are on the verge of starvation and death. The Myanmar government needs to open its doors.

If you are in the U.S., you can click on the following two links to send an email the the Ambassador of Myanmar in the U.S.

Click on: » Take Action: Ensure humanitarian aid reaches Cyclone Nargis victims

Other Countries:
Here is an online list of all the Myanmar Embassies around the world. The list includes physical mailing addresses and email addresses as well.

http://www.ananda-travel.com/UK/myanmar_embassy_list_uk.htm

If you do not know what to write, here is a proposed text:

Subject: International relief for the victims

I stand in solidarity with the victims and the Union of Myanmar in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. I am relieved to see that the international community has effectively responded through their willingness to assist the victims by providing the most essential life-saving supplies.

However, I am growing concerned that not all of this aid will be able to be delivered, due to government-restricted access and aid being distributed through discrimination, and not need.
The relief, aid, rehabilitation, and subsequent development of the Union of Myanmar will depend heavily on how it responds to the needs of its citizens in all parts of the country. Ensuring access to all impacted regions of the country will help ensure that aid is adequately delivered. I hope that you will ease visa restrictions and customs procedures that have already hampered access by international relief workers over the course of the past few days, and has slowed the delivery of desperately needed aid, especially to the hardest hit areas, and to the over one million people that have been displaced.

I am also concerned that international relief funds might be misused to forcibly relocate populations. Any relocation of internally displaced persons from camps or disaster areas must be voluntary, unless the safety and health of those affected requires evacuation. They should not be coerced in any way, including through the suspension of assistance to those persons. The right of internally displaced persons to return voluntarily to their former homes or lands in safety and with dignity should be respected and the authorities should assist them in either returning or resettling in another part of the country.

I ask that you fully cooperate with the international relief and rehabilitation efforts underway, and that there be transparent mechanisms for the delivery of international aid. Human rights violations in disaster settings greatly impair the effectiveness of humanitarian workers and add unnecessary complexity to the reconstruction of the country. I hope that as a sovereign power, you will exercise your most fundamental duty – the responsibility to protect your population.

My thoughts will continue to be with the victims during this difficult time.

If it's not one thing...it's another...in Haiti

2008-05-16T18:41:00.000-07:00

This week, the gas stations have been out of Diesel type gasoline.

"No Diesel. Maybe next month." --- There is regular gasoline available, but there are many vehicles, trucks and buses that use diesel for fuel.

Additionally, diesel is used to run electricity generators in businesses, government offices and court houses. If there is no diesel, there is no electricity and subsequently no work gets done...

Regular gasoline is available. Fortunately, my car runs on gasoline. :-)