The 2007 Zoé's Ark controversy started when members of a French charity organization, the

Zoé's Ark Zoé's Ark (french: link=no, L'Arche de Zoé) is a French charity organization with the aim of increasing awareness of the crisis in Darfur and providing aid for children affected by the conflict. The organization was brought into the public's aw ...

(french: link=no, L'Arche de Zoé), attempted to fly 103 children out of

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

to France. The members of the charity were charged and eventually convicted of child abduction.''Profile: Zoe's Ark''
BBC News, Last Updated: Monday, 29 October 2007. Consulted on 29 December 2007.

Background

Events and trial

On 30 October 2007, six members of the charity organization Zoé's Ark were formally charged by the

government of Chad The Government of Chad has been ruled by Mahamat Déby since 20th April 2021. The Republic of Chad maintains an embassy in the United States at 2401 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington D.C. Cabinet See also * Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ch ...

for child abduction. Despite the group's claim that the children were

orphans An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...

from

Darfur Darfur ( ; ar, دار فور, Dār Fūr, lit=Realm of the Fur) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju ( ar, دار داجو, Dār Dājū, links=no) while ruled by the Daju, ...

who were being taken to be fostered in France, most of the 103 children were found to be Chadian, and to have had at least one living parent or guardian. Three journalists, seven SpanishFrench Charity Workers Sentenced (Times Online)
Accessed 26 December 2007

Girjet Girjet (Gestión Aérea Ejecutiva, SL) was an airline based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It operated charter services. Its base was Barcelona International Airport. History The airline was created on 28 February 2003 and started operatio ...

flight crew members, four Chadian and Sudanese nationals, including two Chadian officials, were also charged for complicity. Allegedly, some parents were convinced to give up their infants for promises of schooling, but had been told that the schooling would occur in Chad rather than France, while some children were offered sweets and biscuits to leave home. These claims were denied by the aid workers. The incident strained Franco-Chadian relations, ahead of a planned deployment of French peacekeeping troops into the country. Anti-French protests were staged within Chad. Over the course of the trial, all six aid workers participated in a hunger strike. Possibly as a result, one of the accused fainted in court and required hospitalization. The six were protesting at what they perceived as abandonment by French authorities. French president Nicolas Sarkozy successfully negotiated the dropping of charges and release of the journalists and flight crew members prior to trial. Six members of the group were convicted on 26 December 2007 and sentenced to eight years of forced labor, although they, ultimately, were instead incarcerated for five months in France, which has no forced labor in its penal system, under an accord between Chad and France. The six were released in March 2008 but were ordered to pay each of the 103 victims restitution equal to approximately $87,000, which amounts to $8.9M per defendant. A Chadian national and a Sudanese national were each also sentenced to four years. The two Chadian officials were acquitted. In March 2008 the president of Chad pardoned the convicted aid-workers, and they were released from the prisons in France.Chad president pardons French charity workers
ny Angelique Chrisafis, The Guardian, 1 April 2008

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2007 Zoe's Ark Controversy 2007 in France, Zoés Ark Controversy, 2007 Adoption law Adoption history Law of Chad Foreign relations of France Zoés Ark Controversy, 2007 Zoés Ark Controversy, 2007