Adoptions of Haitian children by Canadians not included in immigration reprieve
by Harleen Kaur - January 17, 2010
Canada, January 17: Jason Kenney, Canadian Immigration Minister, has made it quite clear that Canadians must exercise patience and discretion before making any adoptions of Haitians children after the Canadian government eased several immigration restrictions for the quake-affected Haitians.
There have been increased number of calls made by Canadians enquiring about making adoptions of Haitian children, but Kenney has advised them to show patience as the one of the most devastating earthquake that struck Haiti last Tuesday has left the bureaucratic infrastructure of the country completely ruined.
And although the Canadian government is doing all efforts to help restore the basic services in Haiti, but it is likely to take some time since the Embassy of Canada has been badly affected by the earthquake in Haiti, resulting in a big halt in the services. Moreover, the judge involved in processing several international adoptions in Haiti has also been killed in the devastating Haiti quake.
Kenney stated that the Asian tsunami disaster in 2004 had resulted in several kidnappers and human traffickers take advantage of the crisis by trying to sneak into the country and he does not want to let that happen once again.
The Canadian government is working towards helping Canadians in quake-hit Haiti. Kenney said that the first and foremost priority for Canada at present is to take up all pending adoption cases with the Port-au-Prince’s visa office. For this, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) working overnight to reinstate the affecting immigration and visa services at the earliest considering the present circumstances.
And CIC has plans of opening another office in the Dominican Republic apart from the Embassy of Canada in Haiti to provide all the needed information and help Haitians submit their applications.
Meanwhile, reacting to complete chaos in Haiti due to the severe quake, spokesperson of the group ORA (Orphans, Refugees and Aid), Sarah McArthur said that millions of children in Haiti have either become orphans or have been rendered homeless. And to make things worse for these children, several of Haiti’s orphanages were devastated in the quake. Hence, all such children need immediate care.
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