A trade in Fake Orphans is being driven by western donations | Foreign Correspondent
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- Опубліковано 1 бер 2020
- “The cold hard facts are there aren't enough ‘orphans’ to volunteer with. So, the orphans are being invented.” Kate van Doore, Forget Me Not
Every year thousands of Australians donate money or volunteer in developing countries such as Nepal, helping to house and educate orphans.
But are we really doing good?
Foreign Correspondent travels to Nepal to uncover an ugly truth: most of the children living in the more than 500 orphanages across the country are not orphans.
Many are the victims of traffickers, who prey on poor families in remote areas desperate to give their children an education in the city.
Westerners, including Australians, are driving this exploitative trade. Traffickers deliver the children to illegal orphanages where they’re used to attract foreign donors and volunteers.
Australian lawyer Kate van Doore found out the hard way. In 2006, she co-founded an orphanage in Kathmandu, taking in a group of girls from another institution. It was more than 5 years before she discovered that every one of them had living families.
Now Kate and her organisation are working with the Nepali government to stop the flow of foreign funds, to close illegal orphanages, and return the children home to their families.
Reporter Sally Sara follows the journey of 10-year-old Devi and a group of trafficked children as they travel from Kathmandu to their villages in the Himalayas.
It’s a moving, confronting and, ultimately, hopeful story.
‘I was worried, and I regretted sending her. I’m just so glad we have Devi back’. Kalawati, Devi’s mother
About Foreign Correspondent:
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Hey Guys, thanks so much for watching and giving us your questions, here are your answers.
Matt Coller
Q: We saw the transit home, and the return to the Devi's village, but could you tell us more about these 'orphanages' themselves? I imagine to well-meaning western tourists they look like happy places with happy children, but the deeper implications may be harder to recognise ?
A: Foreign Correspondent did not visit any working orphanages during our visit to Nepal. Certainly, some reports we read from people who have or who continue to volunteer with or donate to orphanages in Nepal described the environment they witnessed as happy. Others never saw the actual orphanage or children in person - they donated based on pamphlets or other material, including photographs.
Matt Coller
Q: One of the men in the village says "We worked so hard for them to get an education." Does he mean they were paying monetarily, or had to work for it in some other way?
A: He means they worked hard to earn the money that would pay for the child’s education, as well as travel costs, food and accommodation. The amount paid by each child’s family or parent varied. In Devi’s mother’s case, it was 10,000 Nepal Rupees - equivalent to about 3 months’ wages. Other parents paid substantially more and even went into debt to gather the necessary funds.
shazmosushi
Q: Even in the developed world there are many cases of 'babies switched at birth', and like it or not it's easy for any parent to accidentally claim a child as their own if they're now 13 and haven't seen them since they were 4. Especially since some children won't even have any baby photos. The video said (at timestamp 7:00) that known fraudulent orphanages are producing fraudulent birth certificates and death certificates, so these orphanages are clearly untrustworthy and trying to cover their tracks. Also in developing countries officials can be bribed to do anything. So how does this 'Forget Me Not' foundation make sure the children are actually being returned to the correct families? This might sound callous but it honestly sounds like someone with a lack of understanding of third world dynamics who has already been duped into spending time and money to causing major problems (funding fake orphanages) might be doing it again causing more problems (by returning children to the wrong families).
A: It’s a long and painstaking process. Forget Me Not works with all different kinds of evidence to establish that the children are returning to their correct families. This includes DNA testing where appropriate. The assessment process for children being reunited is rigorous and involves assessing the psycho-social, financial, community and other support required. It is coupled with intense counselling and social work to ensure that children are ready to return home, and that families are prepared to receive them. There is also no direct financial benefit for the families as any costs that are funded are sent directly to the relevant provider (i.e. school fees/medical fees etc).
Jason Kidney
Q: Are any of the orphanages connected to organizations like World Vision or Unicef?
A: In recent years, as awareness of orphanage trafficking has grown, many charities and NGOs that deal with international development and children have reassessed their relationships with orphanages. Some no-longer fund, promote or support orphanages - whether ‘real’ or ‘fake’ - in any way. Foreign Correspondent suggests you do your own research regarding the policies of specific organisations.
We saw the transit home, and the return to the Devi's village, but could you tell us more about these 'orphanages' themselves? I imagine to well-meaning western tourists they look like happy places with happy children, but the deeper implications may be harder to recognise ?
One of the men in the village says "We worked so hard for them to get an education." Does he mean they were paying monetarily, or had to work for it in some other way?
Even in the developed world there are many cases of 'babies switched at birth', and like it or not it's easy for any parent to accidentally claim a child as their own if they're now 13 and haven't seen them since they were 4. Especially since some children won't even have any baby photos. The video said (at timestamp 7:00) that known fraudulent orphanages are producing fraudulent birth certificates and death certificates, so these orphanages are clearly untrustworthy and trying to cover their tracks. Also in developing countries officials can be bribed to do anything. So how does this 'Forget Me Not' foundation make sure the children are actually being returned to the correct families? This might sound callous but it honestly sounds like someone with a lack of understanding of third world dynamics who has already been duped into spending time and money to causing major problems (funding fake orphanages) might be doing it again causing more problems (by returning children to the wrong families).
Are any of the orphanages connected to organizations like World Vision or Unicef ?
ABC News In-depth this worries me in regards to real orphans..
Bless that woman for recognising that Nepalis are the people for the job not foreign volunteers.
I would love to see updates on Devi every year. She seems like such a lovely child.
My parents opened an orphanage in Kenya as well as a free school and set up a community well and stuff. It was their dream on life I guess. Anyway, people could sponsor a child and actually get videos and send gifts and make personal visits and stuff. But. Within the year we realized something was wrong and investigation revealed the workers we hired, especially the director had stacked the orphanage with their own kids and friends kids. Out of 100 orphans 76 were...not orphans. Had to close down and rehire new people and put monitors in place. Eventually reopened with only 50 orphans. It took years of work to get the orphanage to run right. Then we handed it over to a local board. Now we just visit a few times a year and raise money to install new playground equipment, uniforms, etc. would not recommend anyone open an orphanage unless you are willing to either live there full time or make surprise visits once a month. Even lawyers who are put in charge or local politicians see money and wonder how to get a cut. It’s sad really. The best thing we did was make the orphanage self sufficient by building chicken coops so they could sell eggs, planting avocado trees (they make HUgE avocados in Kenya) and donating pedal sewing machines and stuff.
thats unfortunate.
So unfortunate, I'm a Kenyan
and my family helps the less fortunate, I was sponsored by a nice lady from states when I was little it's my turn to give back.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Great quote. ❤
I wish the mother would hug Devi :( That's all she wanted :(
pixie1310 😞😞😞 this broke me.
I know right it brought me to tears to see her want her mother's hug.
Yes I worry about Devi...I hope the mother is going to be loving...she was very cold
Yes the problem is she might have got more love from the "good" orphanage than her more, specially since she is a girl child as well.
There is an underlying assumption made by all in this story; that being returned to the family is the best thing for the child. Poverty begets other ills that the presumption of "love" doesn't cancel out. I'm disquieted by how this was not addressed.
I am glad they followed the story of Devi. It was a relief in some ways, but it felt like a cliff hanger (pun not intended).
Stealing children from communities is stealing their future. Adoption doesn't solve everything and creates many, many issues. Taking children away when you have the money to help their family out of poverty shows that you are not actually interested in solving the root issue, just in band aid solutions that make you look like the hero. Keeping families together instead of deciding what is best for them as an outsider should ALWAYS be the primary motive!
Not a whole lot of affection in that family, but I guess it’s a tough life.
I don't expect much from a culture that has children for their own selfish reasons. They don't have a child to love, they have a child for resources and stuff. Sad.
Nepal is not the only country that has such practices It is common in Vietnam and has been going on for years. Lived there for over 20 years and know that it was going on in Vung Tau and Ho chi Minh City..
Poor Devi that lovely girl, please have her be well
This breaks my heart 💔.. it seems the family's do not really want these kids back.. thank goodness someone is trying to help everyone involved.
*I think the U.S. should forbid adopting children from foreign nation's unless if there are no more children left domestically. So many people say they want to help a child when there are 800,000 forgotten here*
You forget that they mostly go overseas because it is so difficult to adopt, especially in the US.
Poor Devi, the first thing her mother said to her after all that time was "out of my way". I think she would be really better off in the orphanage, her life in that village will be very hard and she's not really welcomed
*You might be right, but maybe her mom was in denile about what happened, and acting as of her daughter was a faliure was easier*
Somehow you missed the point of the doc
@@c-light7624 I think the doc doesn't really question the reasons why those families gave away their children. For some of those very poor families espacially the girls are just a mouth they have to feed
@@ggurks At 3.30 of the film you will see that the parents actually paid for their children to be educated. They desperately want a better life for them. Image how hard this would have been for them.
Lol no it’s not that the “demand” for orphans is high, more like money & those kids are an easy source of revenue unfortunately
It is a complex issue. There are children who genuinely need a home when family structures are not intact. There are genuinely good homes where children receive quality care, education and love. There are also more dangerous people who will prey on poor families' desperation and ignorance. Many have sent their childten to work and they ended in brothels. And some families are broken. Step children and daughters are sometimes neglected and unloved or abused at home. This is the other side of the story. To try to stop donations to "orphanages" means some kids will not have an alternative. What is needed is less corruption at the VDC level, so that false papers cannot be made to say they are orphaned. And strict criteria for which children can be admitted to children's homes when there is a surviving parent. Single moms in rural areas may not be able to feed their children. Single fathers will remarry and maybe the step mom will care, but they will be less favoured than the new mom's own kids. Step fathers seldom care for kids not their own. It is possible that grandparents or aunts may help such families, but again, these children are seen as burdens and may not be well cared for or loved when resources are meagre. There are no easy solutions in any country when family structures break down due to death, abandonment or divorce. There are fewer good solutions for children in Nepal.
Please keep contact with Devi, I think she should have the option to leave her village as she gets older, she is too worldly now for that kind of lifestyle. and not sure if her mother is going to give her the love she needs! Devi may have gotten more love from all the people who helped her to get back home!
This is EXACTLY why I talk about transracial adoption on my channel even though it isn't popular. People hear "adoptive parent" and think "saint", but in reality many of these people are NOT stable, they are VERY selfish and driven by ego, and they are NOT treating the children like humans or even thinking critically in their zeal to be the savior of other communities they see as less than their own. If you really care about foreigners, donate to keep families together. Stop falling for scams that are clearly simplifying major issues and are obviously way too perfect for your situation to be true.
Surely you aren’t suggesting we only adopt our own races? What on earth would that do?
That was such a powerful documentary!
lits like crossing the last line of Inhumanity to make disgusting money this is disgusting of this Napali people separating children from parents and family to make them suffer physiologically and many other ways !!!
This used to happen in the US not even that long ago. Many people would abruptly leave their children at orphanages or a "boys/girls 'home'" (even until the 50s/60s). This is a great doc because it really shows how complex poverty issues really are--- many people simply believe it could all be fixed with money, but the very desperately poor are up against many more challenges than just obtaining basic material needs.
she says she happy she got Devi back. she ran to the guys and prayed to them or what not. imagine your separated and you get home you finally see your mom go n try to hug her and she's like "get off". doesn't seem too happy
I thought the same. Her life changed for worse, I think. Her mother is not happy to have her back
@@ggurks How do you know that? You are using your culture to judge this woman. Did you watch the end when she was stroking her hair she loves her daughter but their culture isn't different.
@@kaylaa8092 I don't know but that's my impression that's why I wrote "I think". These people are very poor, I think for the mother it's just one more child she has to feed now somehow. The culture may be different but the feelings of a child are the same, a rebuff like that will be always hard on a child
@@ggurks No all cultures embrace it doesn't matter if the child is loved. They flat out say it in the video the men are greated first. Yes the girl was probably sad for a bit but she is still loved.
@@kaylaa8092 If she is loved. I think she's more seen as a problem
😊 This’s a beautiful thing to see happening. The best place for a child to grow is for sure in a family. It’s a child’s right to grow in a family. I hope this will be duplicated globally i.e. Orphanages diminishing and families getting strengthened. Thank you for loudly speaking about it
My opinion is kids should stay at Katmandu for their education.
It's so easy to think that the grass is greener on the other side.
Poverty brings such perversion of human values. How beautifull the himalayas are!
When I was child I don’t remember bonding with my parents I felt they they were strict! But deep in their heart I never found so selfish in them , God bless you all
This happens a lot under various guises of "helping" all over the world to parents.
What courageous beautiful children.
This is so saddening beyond words. Ignorance is truly bliss as some will say. These families don't even know why the kids are home.
Anyone who's worked closely with orphanages knows that this stuff goes on, but most people are too caught up in their own empathy to admit it. Especially when they've payed thousands of dollars to partake in the morbid business that is the human misery trade (aka humanitarian industry). If you want to help, donate to your local church where they can directly assist members of your own community. Stay out of third world countries where things are inevitably corrupt and child exploitation is rife.
Yeah, no corruption in churches. Especially not in the US, Canada or Italy. Totally legit.
@@lostpelican1883 are you really comparing human trafficking with corruption in western churches?
@20:53 This part was hard to watch , and made me sick to my stomach. How can you not have love and affection towards your child?! 💔 😥
KAT I’m with you, my heart broke for Debbie as her face lit up & she rushed to hug her mum only to be shoved aside & not even acknowledged. She was devastated at the rejection. I just wished I could reach in & scoop her up in my arms. Tragic.😢
But it ended ....with a connection
This is so upsetting I’m crying
I am so glad we decided to cancel our plans to adopt and went the IVF route instead. I would rather go my life without children than to adopt and wonder if my child actually had a family who misses them. The whole adoption thing seems selfish to me.
Out of the way.😓😥
All Devy wanted was a hug from mum, but she shoved her away like yesterday’s garbage. It seems as if, all the mum worries about is education, but what good is it, if your soul is empty and damaged? Whether rich or poor, we should feed our children’s souls, because love is the 🔑 key. This piece is troubling and sad on all counts. Sad affairs really! 🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂Cheers and 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺beers mates!
Cute Devi... wish you bright future! Shine like your smile
Wow. I had NO idea!!!!
What are the names of the criminal "charity" organizations?????
So... Never donate? Got it!
So are donors willing to pay for their Education otherwise ?
Yep. There are charities that have been going for decades where you just pay for a child's education nothing else.
Oh my lawrd. Nepalese women are breath takenly beautiful
😂😂😂
Fraud operations! Need to catch all the crooks and their Families selling their souls for money and some unknowing what happened to their kids! That's why I would never donate to a profit organization. So happy that Alicia had a happy ending. Side note: they are all so beautiful
Could I get the reporter or producer to contact me as this is the burning issue
Here are a few questions: who have defined this people group as “poor” people who are living in a “developing” nation? According to what standard are they supposed to be developing into? How about if the folks who are so concerned: i.e. those from the Western world, would simply go live amongst them and educate them exactly where they live? Meaning, instead of supporting a trade or practice that takes the children from their homes and families, folks would instead BECOME one with the home and families. One would raise your financial support and use it to sustain yourself and your host family and village.
They use the word "developing" as a "nicer" word for impoverished...
I got some more questions for you.
How exactly does this scam work? Is it only individuals buying into the scam or is it also charity organizations?
If people are donating sight unseen, why do they need any kids at all? They could just get some pictures of kids and sell it that way, why actually have kids?
If some people come to visit the orphanage, how can they get away with having them in bad cramped shape? Just blame it all on poverty? And again, why would they need so many kids, just "sell" (as in solicit for donations) the same kids over and over again. Since it's a scam in the first place, I don't see why they would need to invent more orphans to keep up with some demand.
If people come to donate their own time to the orphanage, how does that profit the scammers? They hand money over to the scammers at the same time? Wouldn't it be easier to just buy the kids what they need directly and thus the scammers wouldn't profit?
What about actual orphans? You say organizations have stopped providing aid for orphanages, but children without families they can go to, either because of death or abuse or whatever, do exist.
Are you doing anything for families that weren't caught up in this? For the poverty in general? If efforts are only going to the families that handed their kids over, isn't that just encouraging more people to do it again in the future?
Is anything done to fix toxic culture among these rural communities, like that bit where the mom feels she needs to bow to all the men first and ignores her daughter she is reuniting with after a long time. Are these schools taught by modern thinking teachers or by people from the community?
I am Nepali and could answer a couple of questions.
The entire premise of the scam/orphanage is to charge foreigners for a pay volunteer position or just get an outright donation. They basically convince them to pay the orphanage money so they can volunteer there. They do this under the assumption that the money is going to the orphanage and towards accommodation that they will provide for the volunteers during the stay. Rent per day is usually 3-4$ and food is another 1-2$ per day but these volunteers are charged 200-400$ per day for the accommodation they are provided. Some volunteers actually end up coming and teaching a couple of lessons of some random English that will never be used which is most likely why they are using real kids. The payment for this is usually 2-3k per volunteer and in the majority of cases I have read about, most people will do a group fundraiser so the funds can easily reach more.
The number of children being kept here seemed excessive but since there were both boys and girls I don't think they were being trafficked around sexually or anything of that nature. (boys can be trafficked too but too many street boys addicted to drugs can already be kidnapped)
There is definitely a weird dynamic I felt in this documentary that has not been discussed (maybe on purpose?). It felt like the family was a little cold towards Devi but maybe they are just ashamed of what they put their daughter through. Also, the way the volunteer is constantly telling her you to have to behave and help out your Mom and sister after school is strange. Why would a kid seek the approval of their parents as if they did something wrong? Devi could potentially be a stepchild.
@@samthompson7990
Thank you very much for replying with those answers! Now I might need to rewatch the video so I can put some of them in context because it's been so long I forgot some of it.
It's very weird for volunteers to be willing to be charged for volunteering, any organization that needs labor, even free labor for a good cause, it's at the very least understood that their room and board would be covered if they need to live there. That alone should have been a big red flag for anyone with a logical thinking mind.
And if a orphanage really is going to say "we can't afford to house and feed you in exchange for your free labor" then it's strange the volunteers don't just seek out their own hotel and food instead of being charged by the orphanage. I suppose it's the rough part of town where even finding such things reliably is tough? Well if the orphanage has a free room it would cost nothing for them to allow someone to sleep there.
Do they not eat meals with the orphans? Sleep in a room of the orphanage? (sound's like a no to both questions) If they were spending all that time with them, you'd figure they'd notice something was off. If they eat and sleep somewhere else, that they are getting charged for, that would be weird and suspicious to me.
I mean if it were me, I'd offer to go get food for the orphans and stuff, if the orphanage needs X, Y, & Z I'd personally go out and buy those things, rather than give money for someone else to do so, or at least accompany those buying those things & be present at the orphanage to see the orphans get those things. Not only to make sure my money is being used right and it's not a scam, but because if I'm providing all this to orphans, at the very least I should be able to get to see these things being enjoyed.
i really like how you blame us in the west for the Napal scammers.TY!
Some of the families seem worse than the orphanages.
Also this entire thing was very confusing for ne
Why is the camera in the girl’s face at 6:20-27?? So inhumane
This right here is why I'll never help a child. You just can't trust them or their situation.
So many souls in this world......
Trying to do wrong the right way.....
All westerners need to end foreign aid and all of the 'charity'. it boosts third world populations[band aid boosted ethiopias population by 50 million in 30 years] and leads to abuse like this as well as future instability.
Amen!
☺💖💎🏆
Exactly!!!
These do-gooders in the West are doing more harm than good.
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions".
Humla is one of the most remote region of Nepal. As a Nepali living in Australia I believe a lot of Nepalese are equally unaware of these illegal orphanage as there is no governing body to keep them in check. In some parts of Nepal, illegal Indian doctors have been coming for years to take out Kidneys of poor rural Nepalese in the name of health treatment. The government is yet to control this as well. Only economic growth, quality education and awareness can uplift Nepal from poverty.
You NEED to
go back
and HELP YOUR people.
It's the ONLY way.
DO IT.
They shouldn't have spoken in front of the children
Those children already know everything, I'm sure. Children are very intelligent and often know exactly what's going on even though adults believe they are being discreet. Its better to open and honest.
This stuff really happens. Only have to travel to the 3rd world and stick around for awhile and you will see it and hear of it.
So much poverty yet the children’s mothers have gold hoops in their noses and giant gold coin-looking things in their ears. The gold alone must’ve cost a fortune as I won’t ever see that much gold in my lifetime. In fact they look like those large gold chocolate coins we put in Christmas Stockings here in the UK.
I think it’s a particularly stunning place where Devi’s family live.
Джина I have a feeling the jewellery is probably passed down
Yeah this sort of stuff my have been from 4 or 5 generations before. It's just always worn, by everyone in those regions
*Please take in consideration im talking specifically about this case, and ONLY this case*
*EDIT: i want to specify that i dont consider all children to be fake-orphans, ofc there must be real orphans, AND they 're also victims of this, because kids with families who can take care of them are taking their food, shelter and care, this is so sad, it makes me mad but the sadness is worst, because you have them living in hunger because parents of other kids dont care about taking food from helpless children that are alone in their country*
I understand why they do it, but that doesnt mean i support it, when i give money to charities i expect that money to be used on people that really need it, and dont get me wrong, i know these kids might need the support, but there are other places and countries where the situation is far, far worse and even when i feel sad about this kids situation, theyre not in the same danger as other kids in the world, i'm not donating to developing countries' welfare budget, im donating to people who could live or die depending on the help charities are able to provide, not because it makes me feel better, but because we cant raise the dead, its as simple as that, i rather see some kids living in poverty WITH their families than digging more infant graves because of famine and lack of the most basic healthcare.
These kids are not orphans, and the parents are literally making charities raise their kids for free. Ive been raised in a family where my parents spent the day working and i've barely seen them, we were poor and still my parents took care of me the best they could, i understand these people might not have the money, but that doesnt mean its right for the parents of these kids to take the food from kids dying just because they can, stealing from dying kids is so low i cant even begin to express how im feeling.
I understand what living in poverty can do to people, but even in poverty you can find people with morals and humanity, there are not degrees of humanity you just have it or dont. Being in need doesnt make you deserving of, it doesnt make you entitled to the best care, it just makes you worthy of the best help we can give you right now, but not the only one nor the most important.
The muslim fund, muslim hands, just gives money to the family , and does tell that children live at home, and you can just sponsor the child, and help the family that way. No need for lies.
Sad story but Stolen generation was worse than this..😒😒
You will never get it. Old habit dies hard.. stay limited as always..😂