France and Haiti pave way for final adoptions

France and Haiti have come to an agreement to allow the last 320 adoptions that were in process at the time of January’s earthquake to move forward. French Foreign Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie said on Wednesday that the agreement was reached via letters.

Reuters/Kena Betancur

Alliot-Marie told French radio that Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive agreed last week on an intergovernmental exchange of information, via letters, that would allow the children to come to France.

At the time of the earthquake, some 1,000 adoptions were in process, and about 700 have so far been completed. There are 320 children whose adoptions are not finalised.

The latest agreement should allow the children to come to France “in the coming weeks, I hope before the end of the year”, said Alliot-Marie, as long as they are in good health.

The process has been sped up due to the evolution of the cholera epidemic in Haiti.

The French ambassador to Haiti, Didier Le Bret, last week said France was negotiating a bilateral agreement to speed up the 320 adoptions within the confines of Haitian law.