Zoe’s Ark lied to Air firm hired to transport Chadian children

As discussed in the blog on Nov. 7, members of Zoe’s Ark were arrested Oct. 25 for attempting to “rescue” African children from war-torn Sudan.  They planned to fly the children, who they alleged were orphans, from Sudan’s Darfur region to Europe, where the children would be put into foster care. However, U.N. officials report that most of the children were not orphans at all. Some of the children’s parents have said that the organization’s members told them their children would be taken to eastern Chad to be educated, but not to France.

            Zoe’s Ark members lied to Chadian parents and to Girjet, the Spanish air charter company hired to transport them. Group members told Girjet they were supported by the United Nation’s refugee agency, UNHCR, and the French President’s wife, Cecilia Sarkozy.  

            However, the UNHCR and French government have denied involvement in the humanitarian group’s plot to take 103 African children out of Chad.  In fact, French officials were undoubtedly angered by the situation, which has strained relations with its former colony, a country  that desperately needs European Union peacekeeping forces in its eastern region.

            Zoe’s Ark went so far as to place fake bandages on their heads and bodies after telling Girjet that the Chadian passengers needed “special surgical and medical attention.” Girjet also received e-mails from French doctors authorizing the children to travel.

The seven Girjet crew members, three French journalists and a Belgian pilot who were arrested with Zoe’s Ark have been released. The six group members remain in custody.

See the related Washington Post story.