WASHINGTON (AFP) – US relief efforts for Haiti must put a special focus on the tens of thousands of orphans in the earthquake-battered country, 45 lawmakers have urged US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Led by Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John Kerry, a Democrat, the group urged Clinton in a letter sent Wednesday and made public Thursday to take special care of some of the tragedy's youngest victims.
"These children are already among the most vulnerable and in circumstances like these, are at even greater risk," they wrote, noting that there were an estimated 20,000 orphans at nearly 200 orphanages before the catastrophe and likely many more children left parentless by the quake.
The lawmakers praised decisions to fast-track already approved adoptions of Haitian orphans by US couples and for children matched to potential US adoptive parents after the disaster.
And they urged Clinton to ensure that Haitian orphans "are a high priority in all US evacuation and relief plans," work with relief organizations to channel help to orphan children, and take steps to provide temporary care and shelter for orphans in Haiti, neighboring countries, or the United States.
The also called for "a coordinated exit strategy that guarantees the safety and timely removal of these Haitian orphans and delivery to their adoptive families in the US."
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