NationStates Jolt Archive

Tue Oct 30, ABECHE, Chad (Reuters) - Chadian authorities charged nine French nationals on Tuesday with abduction and fraud after they were detained trying to fly 103 children to live with families in Europe, Chad's government said.
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The accused include the president and other members of French organization Zoe's Ark, which has said it intended to help the children, not abduct them, and that it acted legally. Two French journalists are also among the group.

The children were due to be housed in host families who paid the group several thousand euros each.
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Some of the children have said their parents were still alive and they were lured from their villages on the Chad-Sudan border with offers of sweets and biscuits.

Zoe's Ark had previously said it aimed to have children adopted but stopped referring to adoption, which is not authorized in Chad or Sudan, after France's Foreign Ministry issued a warning about the group in August.http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/071030/world/international_chad_france_children_dc_5

I dont know anything on this issue.. I am not aware of this Zoe's Ark group.
One thing I can deduct -so far- is that it was not a legal operation.. as the group claims.

I've been following this for the past few days. The French government has rebuked them, as said it wasn't going to intervene in the Chadian justice system.

The Zoe's Ark people claimed the kids were orphans, in need of help. It appears that isn't true. When confronted with that, they said they had been told by Sudanese villagers that the children were orphans.

The whole thing is very murky right now.

Here (http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/news/france/20071101-chad-france-journalists-diplomatic-crisis-zoe-ark-children-kidnap-sarkozy.html) is the latest (with video & links to related articles).