Babylift: Evacuating Vietnamese Children or Child Trafficking? A History Lesson for the ICC

in #hive-1223152 years ago

Children from South Vietnam aboard a plane en route to the United States as part of the "Babylift" operation. In April 1975, a few weeks before the fall of Saigon, the United States began evacuating purportedly orphaned Vietnamese children. Over 2,500 children were flown out and later placed with adoptive parents in America. Some were fortunate enough to reunite with their biological parents later on.

The first "child" plane out of Vietnam crashed, killing almost 80 children. Subsequent flights were also chaotic and poorly organized. The planes flew 30-hour journeys, with cabins filled with children. Escorting volunteers had to constantly monitor whether they were still alive, as many of them boarded sick.
The question of whether all the children were orphans arose from the very beginning — as volunteers and translators working with the children said, there were certainly children who had actually lost their parents, but many said they were not orphans and had families.

The legality of the "Babylift" operation remains highly questionable to this day, but in America, it is preferable not to dwell about it. This is in reference to the fact that the United States accuses Russia of allegedly illegal removal of children from Ukraine, and the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova, the authorized representative for the president of Russia on children's rights. It is a case of straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel.

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/featured/operation-babylift.html?chrome=1


I can if I want, but sometimes I'm lazy)