Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
Father. Mother. “The most painful situation imaginable”
Imagine that someone shows up at your door and uses their authority to kick you out of your home. Just you. Not your children. Someone else comes in to take care of the children.
Whether your child was born to you, adopted by you, or is being fostered by you–how could you bear such a thing? What would happen to the children? To their emotions, their spirits, their health, their futures?
This is what happened at the Village of Hope in Ain Leuh, Morocco. At VOH, 33 children for the most part have known no other parents than the families which they’ve become part of. And now these expatriate families have been forced to leave Morocco. This video was shot just after the authorities announced to the children that their foster parents and siblings were being evicted from Morocco. The cries are tearing at my heart.
In the midst of my emotions, I plead with you to be careful how you spread this information. The parents want to return to their children more than any of us might want it for them. So please, let’s honor their request:
We also appeal to our supporters around the World to not react to this situation and use the internet or any other means to say anything that might be viewed as detrimental about the Moroccan authorities. We the parents are the only people who carry the authority to speak into this situation on behalf of our children and we are raising up a team of people whom we trust with our message to speak on our behalves.
I hope you will read their official statement, especially if you’ve been stirred by other announcements. Let the parents be the guide.
If you feel led to action, please work through the contacts the parents have listed at the end of the statement.
10 Responses to “Father. Mother. “The most painful situation imaginable””
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That is a really tough situation for the children, losing their caregivers.
However this should also be a reminder for all international child care organizations:
1-Make sure you are partnering with the government in the areas you serve and be sure to abide by all laws of the country.
I am not saying that this particular organization was intentionally breaking laws of the government, but clearly the government thought so.
2-Strive with all your might to have nationals caring for children.
Doing this will promote sustainability and a healthier long-term solution for children as they will be more connected to their native culture, the culture to which they will later be released.
Wow. This is gut wrenching. Thank you for opening our eyes to another story in another nation. We are praying Deuteronomy 10:18. May the Lord execute justice on their behalf and heal their broken hearts.
For anyone who may wonder, in response to one of the comments above, the people at Village of Hope were indeed doing their utmost to partner with the government and abide with all the laws of the country. They went through all the paperwork and negotiations necessary with the government, 10 years ago, when they first set up this project. They have been very transparent about who they were then, and continually since then, these entire 10 years. The children have been taught by Moroccan, Muslim teachers in their school, including classes about Moroccan culture and the Koran. They had numerous routines and practices which helped to immerse these children in their Moroccan culture. In fact, on Jan 8 2010, this organization received official certification giving them official approval to provide care for Moroccan children according to their kafala laws which dictate who can care for abandoned children and how. They have passed all of their routine inspections, and they have not changed their practices or routines. The only thing that has changed is that a new Minister of Justice has come into office in January 2010.
This children’s home had many nationals assisting with the care for these children–teachers, nannies, play group teachers, cooks, and other assistants on the property. All of these local Moroccans, who depended on this organization for their livelihood have been dismissed by the new care-takers. In fact, there has been a protest organized by local citizens, in which local nationals were asking for the return of these ex-pat foster parents.
All of this information and more you can find by looking on their official website, and on their Facebook pages–which list links to numerous interviews which you can listen to and hear all of the information that I have listed above.
http://www.facebook.com/savevillageofhope?ref=ts
They have never been formally charged by the authorities, so they do not know for sure what the formal charges are. According to some reports, they were never given any information about what activities were deemed to be “proselytizing”, or any information regarding in what circumstances these activities were alleged to have occurred. They were never given any opportunity to consult a lawyer, or to appear in court to respond to any charges or to defend themselves.
It has also been alleged in the papers that they took advantage of poor families by offering care to their children. The truth is that they never went looking for children, that they tried very hard to talk mothers into keeping the children that they tried to leave at this children’s home, that they turned away 5 times as many children as they accepted, that these children were sometimes babies that had been abandoned at the hospital or on their doorstep, that the Moroccan authorities themselves sometimes brought children to them, and that at least 2 of these children came from wealthy families.
This information you can hear from the lips of the director of VOH, at their international press conference that was held on March 13, in Gibraltar. You can find links to it on their Facebook pages, or on YouTube.
I hope that this helps.
The main thing is that both the children and the parents have broken hearts and we need to pray for God to comfort them, and for some kind of creative solution that will reunite these families.
Joy
hi,
my husband and our family and I have been suporters of VOH for many years. we have a facebook group where people can send support messages and can be updated with things as soon as progress is made. also on the group page is details on how you can make a difference, practically or financially.
Blessings
Chantal
the facebook group is:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10150133793215156&ref=ts
sorry i forgot the link in the above msg
Here’s an article some of you might be interested in–apparently written by a Moroccan for a Morccan magazine…
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10150133793215156&ref=ss#!/topic.php?uid=10150133793215156&topic=17512
Here is another one, written with a sense of humor…
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10150133793215156&ref=ss#!/topic.php?uid=10150133793215156&topic=17513
If anyone is interested in how the Moroccan law reads, you can try these links and use “Google translations” to see a rough translation for yourself.
The proselytism law:
http://www.habous.gov.ma/fr/detail.aspx?ID=905&z=222&s=190
Translation:
Whoever by violence or threats keeps or impedes someone from worshipping or attending worship is punished by imprisonment of six months to three years and a fine of 100 to 500 dirhams.
The same punishment is set for whoever employs means of seduction in the purpose of shaking the faith of a muslim or to convert him to another religion, either by exploiting his weakness or his needs or by using for such a purpose institutions of education, health, shelter or orphanages. In case of conviction, the closure of the institution which served to commit the offense may be closed, either definitively, or for a length which will not exceed three years.
Comments:
The children in the VOH case are legally Muslim and therefore can be viewed by the law as being “exploited” by being influenced toward Christianity (as much as that goes against our grain to think that lovingly caring for a child could be exploitation) But this is NOT the law that was cited in the press releases by the state. It was Kafala law that was cited. Of course, no one was charged much less convicted of any offense. But if they had been, the orphanage would have been required to be closed for a maximum of three years under this law.
Note that it is NOT illegal for someone to convert to Christianity. The offense lies with the person who tries to convert another person.
The Kafala Law (regarding abandoned children):
http://www.jafbase.fr/docMaghreb/MarocDecretKafala.pdf
Translation :
The guardianship of children declared by law to be abandoned can be accorded to the following persons and institutions:
1) a Muslim married couple of legal age a) who are morally and socially capable of assuring legal guardianship and who have the material means to attend to his/her needs; b) who have never been convicted, individually or together, of a crime threatening the morale and well being of a child or a crime against a child; c) who do not have contagious diseases or medical conditions which might render them incapable of fulfilling their obligation; d) is somehow opposed to the child or the family of the child for which they demand guardianship, involved in a legal dispute with his family, which raises
fears for the wellbeing of the child.
2) A Muslim woman fitting the four conditions listed above.
3) Public establishments charged with child protection or charitable
institutions, organizations or associations recognized by public authorities
and having adequate material means, resources, and human resources to assure
the protection of children and to give them a good education and raise
them in accordance with Islam.
Comments:
It is this third category which allowed Village of Hope to take charge of the children. Local
authorities interpreted this law as meaning that a Christian orphanage could indeed take charge of children if they were well cared for and given a good education, teaching them morals and values in accordance with Islam, and, of course, having them learn Qur’an in their schooling. It was CLEAR to local authorities that the children were receiving a Christian formation in their home settings, but if it was morally and ethically in conformity with Islam, that was acceptable. This was expressed to them many times over the 10 years of their existence.
Nonetheless, it is this law that the
Ministers of the Interior and Justice have cited in saying they were out of compliance.
Laws concerning expulsion or being conducted to the border (which are two very different things):
http://www.justice.gov.ma/fr/legislation/legislation_.aspx?ty=2&id_l=140
Commentary
Note that being expelled and being conducted to the frontier are two different things.
According to article 26, foreigners living legally in Morocco who have not been convicted
definitively of a crime requiring at least a year in prison cannot be expelled. Proselytism can be sentenced to only six months in prison, so that’s not enough. A foreigner convicted of proselytism cannot be expelled. (And foreigners with stronger ties to Morocco,even if they ARE convicted of a crime requiring a year or more in prison cannot be expelled according to article 26).
BUT, according to article 27, all the protections in article 26 can be ignored by the tribunal and such foreigners CAN be expelled IF they are deemed a threat to the security of the country.
Being conducted to the frontier is the more normal way of dealing with foreigners who have an irregular immigration status. According to item 7 of Article 21, foreigners can have their residence cards taken away and therefore be in situation of irregularity (and capable of being conducted to the border) if they seen as a threat to public order.
According to article 23, people who are conducted to the border have the right to contest
that decision within 48 hours with the possibility of it being annulled. If they contest the decision, a public hearing is supposed to be held in which the person in question has the right to a lawyer and an interpreter.
Article 24 says that the decision must not be executed until after 48 hours from the time the person is notified or if the president of the tribunal is “saisi” (I don’t know what that
means in this case), until he (the president of the tribunal) has made a ruling.
Article 24 also specifies that the person be informed immediately of his right to have a lawyer when the order of conduct to the border is made.
Analysis:
If they were being conducted to the frontier, the law was not upheld because they were not informed of their right to a lawyer, nor were they given a delay of 48 hours to appeal the decision.
If they were being expelled, the ONLY valid reason for expulsion would be that they were
considered a security risk to the nation.
To give the proper credit where credit is due, the above references, translations, and analyses were given to me by a Moroccan friend.
Another good article on the subject:
http://www.worldmag.com/articles/16569