I asked Corey if she would allow me to share with you the reasons that she (and I) do not support UNICEF.
by Guest blogger
Corey Waters1) For those of you unfamiliar with UNICEF’s work, they are passionately anti-child trafficking. WHICH IS GOOD. The problem comes in when a large organization equates adoption with child trafficking, as UNICEF has done, and actively works to interfere with adoptions. Now, I am not saying that there are not situations where international adoptions need to be reformed and sometimes shut down while those reforms take down. Child slavery? Horrible. Child sex trade? Horrendous. Baby buying? Reprehensible. Does adoption need oversight and protection? ABSOLUTELY. Do I wish that adoption did not have to exist? YES, I do. I wish that children were never orphaned, never abandoned, never relinquished. BUT THEY ARE. And I don’t think that institutions (orphanages) are good places for children to grow up… especially orphanages in Haiti, where I know for a fact my children were neglected, beaten, emotionally abused, and sexually assaulted.
2) In the aftermath of Haiti’s earthquake, UNICEF has used their political clout and financial power to push their own agenda in Haiti, and the Haitian government has bent and swayed under that pressure. Children whose cases were in the process of adoption, who had already been shown eligible for adoption prior to the earthquake, who had adoptive parents with approved homestudies and extensive background checks were granted humanitarian parole and allowed to come and live with their families. (And let me clear up a fallacy that I keep seeing in the media: these adoptions are not “expedited”.. these adoptions are NOT COMPLETE! The children have been allowed to come LIVE with their adoptive families, but the adoptions are not finalized, the children do not have citizenship yet. Humanitarian parole is an immigration status only.. it has nothing to do with adoption. How do I know so much about HP? We tried to get it for Tina when the Haitian government was overthrown in the middle of her adoption… denied!) Anyway. During the short period of time that these children were being allowed out of Haiti on Humanitarian Parole, representatives from UNICEF were on the ground in Haiti, actually PUTTING THEIR HANDS ON PEOPLE, telling them they did not have the right to take these children out of Haiti. (I personally know a woman that this happened to.) UNICEF had NO JURISDICTION and NO RIGHT to do this. These children had the approval of the Haitian government AND the US government, they had been in the process of adoption FOR YEARS, and they had VALID TRAVEL VISAS. Not to mention, you just cannot go around PUTTING YOUR HANDS ON PEOPLE.
3) UNICEF continued to push their anti-adoption agenda on the Haitian government, until the government insisted they needed to approve each child on a case-by-case basis. Now, I am 110% in favor of ensuring that each child coming out of Haiti actually be eligible for adoption. But this is not what this is about. These families, who have now been sleeping on the floor of the US Embassy in Haiti with their children for days, have paperwork proving that they have adoptions in process. But UNICEF feels that Haitian children should stay in Haiti. That it is better for a child to stay in the country that they were born in, even if it means they are raised in an orphanage. And the Haitian government is being cowed by the pressure. These are real children we are talking about. My friend’s child is caught in this battle over her child.. except unlike the story in 1 Kings 3 where Solomon has to decide which of the two mothers is the real mother of this child, in this case, Debra and Ernst are fighting, fighting, fighting for the son they love.. and on the other side, UNICEF is fighting to keep him in Haiti where he has nothing and no one. (And I do not mean that as a detriment to Lori and Licia who have kept him at the Rescue Center and loved him and brought him to health, but they are not his parents, and they cannot take on every child that comes into the center.)
4) Yesterday, Heartline staff were instructed in writing to report to the USS Comfort to pick up patients they had brought there for treatment. When they did so, UNICEF staff were there, taking those patients to some camp, and would not disclose details. Staff at the Comfort ship had no idea this was going down. I imagine that the patients had no choice but to “consent” to this plan, and were terrified. You have to remember that it was not that long ago that Papa Doc and his TonTon Macoutes ran Haiti, and this cannot be far from any Haitian’s mind. How an international organization feels that it has the right to step in and take people where they do not want to go is beyond me... I am shocked, frightened, and outraged for these patients, who trust Tara and Troy, John and Beth, and who are now pawns in a political game. Now why would UNICEF be interfering with Heartline’s work? Does it have anything to do with Heartline’s orphanage? Are they taking ALL patients from the Comfort, or just Heartline’s? I don’t know. But I find it very, very odd.
5) What can we do? Well. Never give a dime to UNICEF, for starters. But in this situation, RIGHT NOW, I am going to petition the following people (I’m using email, but use whatever medium you like), and I ask you to do the same. And to spread the word, by blog, facebook, email, or twitter. (I will tell you, I have largely kept out of this up until this point, because I do not want to draw the attention of anti-adoption advocates; I just do not like to draw their ire and listen to their ranting on my blog. ) But Ronel deserves a voice. Ronel wants to come home. Will you help him?
Feel free to copy and paste my letter.
Dear Mr. Ambassador,
I am writing to express my support of granting humanitarian parole for Haitian children with identified adoptive parents who were in the process of adoption prior to the January 12 earthquake.
These children have paperwork proving their eligibility for adoption. They have identified adoptive parents with approved homestudies who have had extensive background checks. Humanitarian parole will not only allow these children to come to the US and stay with the families that love them during a time when Haiti is in extreme crisis, but it will also free up space in the orphanages for newly orphaned children.
Humanitarian parole has already been generously granted to many Haitian children in this situation; however, the process has slowed significantly, and many families now find themselves holding paperwork proving that they have adoptions in process, but unable to move forward with humanitarian parole. Children’s lives hang in the balance. Many of these children are at the US Embassy in Haiti, sleeping on the floor with their parents, as their parents advocate for their parole. Please do not let them down. Please advocate on their behalf.
Sincerely,
Corey C. Waters
Mother of 6, 5 of whom were adopted from Haiti
Raymond Joseph
Haitian Ambassador to US
embassy@haiti.org
p 202-332-4090
f 202-745-7215
Kenneth H Merten
US Ambassador to Haiti
Tabarre 41, Blvd 15 Octobre
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Haiti-earthquake@state.gov
P 509 22 29 8000
F 509 22 29 8028
Hilary Clinton/Dept of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
email form for Sec. Clinton
Main Switchboard:
202-647-4000
