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First modification: 02/09/2026 - 19:37
18 years after the scandal of illegal adoptions of African children involving the French NGO Zoé's Ark, many Chadian victims continue to fight for reparation. Report by Harold Girard and Fadile Bhayat for France 24.
In 2007, members of the French NGO Zoe's Ark announced their intention to “rescue 10,000 children from Darfur,” a conflict-scarred region in western Sudan, and place them with foster families in France.
A few months later, six of its members—including the founder, Éric Breteau, and his partner, Émilie Lelouch—were arrested on the tarmac of an airport in Chad when they were preparing to board a plane with 103 children on board. The organization was accused of attempted kidnapping, since most of the children were from that African country and had living parents.
The six members were sentenced in Chad to eight years of hard labor. After being repatriated to France, they were pardoned by then-president Idriss Déby.
At the same time, the French Justice opened an investigation and, in 2013, Breteau and Lelouch were sentenced to two years in prison, despite pleading innocent. A year later, these sentences were suspended on appeal.
In 2007, Chadian courts also ordered compensation to be paid to victims upon reaching the age of majority. However, as reported by reporters Harold Girard and Fadile Bhayat for France 24, many of them are still struggling to obtain effective reparation.
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