Utah adoption agency calling on U.S. government to help bring adopted kids from Haiti

OGDEN — The gang-related violence in Haiti is causing major concern for Utah families who are adopting children from the country.

Chareyl Moyes, Haiti program manager for Wasatch International Adoption, is encouraging parents to write to legislatures and government officials.

Of her more than 20 years working in international adoptions, specifically in Haiti, Moyes said the on-going violence, “is a really different kind of crisis, and it’s the worst I’ve ever seen.”

Moyes said the agency has 22 kids in Haiti matched with families. She said she has been in contact with staff at orphanages she works with. Many people are fearful for their safety and the safety of the children, concerned they’ll be caught in crossfire.

More recently, Moyes learned the IBESR, the county’s central authority for adoption was ransacked. Images surfacing on Haitian news outlets of official adoption documentation scatted outside their offices.

“It also states where these children are located and who they’re matched to,” Moyes said. “So, (it) really puts us in a situation (gangs) are going to go in and kidnap some of those kids and hold them for ransom to our families.”

Moyes believes the U.S. government can and should step up to help get the children to their families. She has asked the families she works with to reach out to their legislatures in hopes their children can receive humanitarian parole.

“These children, most of them have adoption decrees and are legal children of U.S. citizens. So just as citizens of this country, we should be concerned about those children,” Moyes said.