Thank you very much. I'm not sure I'll take that long.
Thank you for your presentation. My question has to do with a compelling case we just heard about this morning. It's not an adoptive case, but it's the case of Aline François who was recognized as a refugee in August of 2009. She and her mother are in Canada, presumably because she was the target of street gangs and was granted refugee status.
Unfortunately, she was unable to bring her two children, a girl aged 13 and a boy aged 12. They were left with a friend. Since the earthquake they haven't been able to attend school. They haven't been able to even leave the house because there are criminal gangs in the streets. In fact, they are living in a tent.
The mother is very upset, obviously very concerned about the welfare of her children. She's been trying to get them to Canada. She's worried about the little boy being attacked, her little girl being sexually abused. So apparently this morning the children were given an appointment at the Canadian embassy. They thought they were going to be able to join their mother in Canada, but their request was refused.
The concern, of course, is why would these children be excluded? We're allowing adopted children in. Why not the children of a Haitian Canadian? I know you're working with UNICEF, so is there any way to involve UNICEF in looking out for these children until they can be repatriated with their mother? I understand the infrastructure problems, but these are minor children and we're very concerned. Their mother is frantic.