PAPER ORPHANS

Among the hundreds of thousands of children residing in Nepalese orphanages, it is estimated that four out five of these children are not orphans. Terre des Hommes and UNICEF, two international organizations working towards protecting children and their rights, forces to raise awareness of these "Paper Orphans", a term for children who are orphans just on paper, who came from poor rural families in Nepal and were trafficked in the name of international adoption.
Paper orphans is a story of parents who have lost their children to trafficking for inter-country adoption and are looking for them. This is a story of fake orphans.
This investigative report took us from the birthplace of trafficked children to France and Spain where we found them in their adoptive families. As a result of this work, steps were taken in Nepal and abroad to protect the one million children that were vulnerable to illegal trafficking.