Can you give us the web address of an article about this. It is always correct to rescue children but we need context.

I was thinking along the same lines -- the poll question is a little ambiguous.

I know the story, but I don't know how many people do. (And I read it in the paper, so I don't have a link for you, Serena. Sorry.)

Need to know more.

Here's what I remember off the top of my head...

This French charity was "rescuing" boys and taking them back to France.

The boys were bandaged up and the men from the charity claimed the boys were from Sudan. Turns out they were actually from Chad and the bandages were mostly faked.

This situation actually brings up a few questions that go much further than the simple poll question...

- At what point does this "rescuing" actually become "kidnapping"?

- Should we really be "rescuing" children -- taking them from their home countries and putting them in a foreign land -- if the only reason is because they come from an undeveloped country? (I admit, I don't know the reasons behind their "rescuing" -- though the question still stands.) Or should we be focussing our efforts on helping kids in their home country? Does this have a simple answer, or is it more like it "depends on the situation"?

I must admit that I really don't have a great sense of what is happening here.

However, it seems that this is one of those rock and a hard spot type of sutuations.

Situations where children are hungry, neglected, abuse or forced into labour are heart wrenching...however so are situations where children are removed from the only world they know and dropped into a situation where they don't understand the culture and are very much alone.

The ideal answer is to somehow make there home situation better....however that is a tall order.

the "i don't care" button threw me - I was looking for an "I don't know" button, but maybe it was a push to learn a bit more Ok, well, I still don't know, but from what I see, there is too much arguement about if the kids had families (many did); and whether they were really sick (many weren't). So I voted "Wrong"

But, what is the state in Chad right now? Were the parents hoping to get their kids to a better place? I don't know enough about these things, beyond speculations in the news. I couldn't vote "yes", though I suspect there maybe be good reasons to do so.

I have not heard much about Chad lately. It is surprising how much goes on in the world we don't hear about. However, seeing the question immediately brings to mind a desire to reformulate it. "What can and should we do to rescue Chad for its children?" I suspect structural adjustment demands by the World Bank and the International Monetary fund, through who our banks make some significant gains, have something to do with the problems. in Chad

I, too, voted that it was wrong. I think that this specific incident is definitely wrong. However, if these "rescuers" had not lied and they were, in fact, rescuing hurt and orphaned children from Sudan, would that change things? I don't know.

I definitely think that something should be done to help these kids and so many others like them, but I don't know if pulling them all out of their home country is the solution. Like others have said above, change should be made in Chad -- the country should be improved in such a way that people no longer feel the need to rescue children. But how do we even do that? And is it really up to us?

I voted "Wrong" as well. I have a real problem with mindless "rescuing", particularly when it involves moving children to a new culture, away from the few roots that they have. As a social worker (in earlier days), I saw Native children moved out of their reserves and placed in "good" white foster homes who ended up in a real identity mess. I have also seen the same situation which worked out well because it was done in cooperation with the reserve elders, and where contact was preserved.

It is not an easy question. I do not believe that any of us has the right to think we know know all of the factors that go into providing an orphaned child a life that will be healing. I have seen too much of the dysfunctional triad which was represented in a triangle: RESCUER -- VICTIM -- PERSECUTOR. This is a lifestyle for many people. In the same way I have seen the rescued (children being apprehended by Child Protection) end up acting out in worse ways than they did when they were being "neglected or abused". An orphaned child should be cared for by his/her own people, wherever possible. If not possible, this needs to be done in a mindful way, not as a knee-jerk reaction.

Not it's not just, it's corrupt and tears the lives of these children apart. They are being used as commodities with no regard for who they are and to whom they belong.

Here's another recent story in the same vein with a lot more background:

http://fleasbiting.blogspot.com/search/label/Illegal%20Child%20Harvestin...

I'm all for helping children, but the real solution here is to improve the lives of the people of Chad so that children don't need to be rescued. Whatever the intentions of the organization, this reeks of the residential school crisis. Did the families want to give away their children? This could open up opportunities for child slave laborers posing as rescuers and taking away kids after promising families that they would be given a better life. Similar situations have happened in other developing countries where parents have been tricked into sending their children into slavery after they were promised a well-paying job and good food.

This topic is old,
but from what I understand Chad is in a bit of a jam because it is so close to Sudan and Darfur lots of people fleeing the destruction and war there are crossing the border as refugees.

THis leaves less resources for the people of Chad and while aid is being handed out it is only(?) being given to the refugees.

This is all from a High school projecct, so it might not be completely accurate.