A Sudanese minister said the government there launched legal challenge against a French charity accused of flying over a hundred children from Chad to families in Europe. Interior Minister Zubair Bashir Taha said Sudan planned to sue Zoe's Ark charitable organization for violating international laws by allegedly abducting children from villages and refugee camps in Chad and the Darfur region of Sudan.
“This is not abduction or the luring of children but a war crime,” the minister said. He also said Sudan planned to sue representatives in Chad for allowing Zoe's Ark to use its airport to shuttle the children out of the country. Six people affiliated with Zoe's Ark are being held in Chad for trying to solicit children to host families in Europe on the premise they were orphans from the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan. The Zoe's Ark personnel face 20 years in prison with hard labor if convicted.
Officials believe most of the children involved are not orphaned and have immediate family in the region. Representatives from Zoe's Ark said its mission was humanitarian.
