The pinnacle of irony, that pierces deep in Africa, never seems to get away from Darfur or Chad either. Yet another black chapter added in the human history. The most condemnable and abhorred act that makes us hang our head in shame for being humans. Yes, if you are thinking about recent human trafficking in Chad, you are right. Finally, UN breaks the ice on the issue and left everyone flabbergasted with UNHCR’s revelation that 103 children whom the French humanitarian organization agency was allegedly sending away from Chad, were not orphans.
Whether or not the charges brought against the Zoe’s Ark members are true, the real loser in this whole episode seems to be the French government, which enjoys a tremendous relationship with the Chadian government.
There are many possible theories to the alleged abduction saga. It is a very common thing to find European and American families adopting orphaned children from various war ravaged countries and the aid agencies working on the ground get notified about this and in turn make the adoption arrangements possible. But, with the worldwide increase of child trafficking at an all time high, traffickers disguised as aid workers easily smuggle out suffering children from the war torn countries of Africa in return for hefty profits. The Darfur crisis has certainly helped in child trafficking.
The Foreign ministry has already come out and denounced the operation on the part of Zoe’s Ark, calling it illegal to take children away from a country without following international regulations. Some say it is a face saving act by the French government, which is playing an important role in bringing peace to volatile Chad.
France already has its troops in Chad and would contribute half of a 3000 strong EU force to be deployed in eastern Chad to protect Sudanese and Chadian refugees. The critics of the Idriss Deby government feel that the whole kidnapping scenario has been manipulated by Chad to prevent the EU peacekeeping mission getting ahead and in turn continue with the all out assault against Chadian rebels, further destabilizing the country.
As the Chadian president himself made it clear that if charged, the guilty parties would face heavy punishment and with this, the future of the 16 Europeans remain unclear. But either way, there should be an independent investigation by the United Nations as the motives of both the Chadian government and Zoe’s Ark could be misleading.
Link: Guardian
Image Link: Reuters
