Leigh Ramsay
322 Wecker Road
Carindale
QLD 4152
21st Oct 2013
Dear Leigh
The public exposure of Somaly Mam
as a liar has placed Citipointe’s illegal removal of Rosa and Chita from their
family five years ago in a different context. If as high profile an NGO as
Somaly Mam’s Foundation can tell lies in order to raise money, many are
wondering now, perhaps other NGOs lie also in order to maximize their takings
from sponsors and donors. Perhaps Citipointe has told some whopping lies?
These are the kinds of questions
that are now in the minds of those who, until the exposure of Somaly as a fraud,
could all too easily dismiss the allegations I have been making about
Citipointe’s unscrupulous behavior this past five years. Hopefully, some
questions will now be asked of Citipointe by some intrepid journalists who are
not prepared to accept spin answers and outright lies of the Somaly Mam variety.
The most important questions, of course, are:
“What legal right did Citipointe have, in
mid-2008, to remove Rosa and Chita from their family?”
and
“What legal right did Citipointe church have to
hold Rosa and Chita between mid 2008 and late 2009 (15 months) against the
express wishes of their parents and despite repeated requests from Chanti and
Chhork that their daughters be returned to them?
There are plenty of other
questions, of course, but these are the important ones because Citipointe
claims to have acted legally and so must have legal documents to back up its
assertions. “Please produce the documents?” our hypothetical intrepid
journalist might ask!
The wonderful piece by Sebastien
Marot regarding unscrupulous NGOs is timely and to be found at:
Hopefully what we are seeing in
Cambodia is the beginning of the end of the era in which NGOs could (and did)
act as they liked – with impunity and a total lack of transparency and
accountability. Not all NGOs, of course, but enough to tarnish the reputations
of NGOs that behave in an ethical manner and which do not exploit the very
people they claim to be in Cambodia to help.
The following, from Patrick Stayton (former director of
International Justice Mission Cambodia, also opens up new avenues for questions
to be asked by journalists:
Lies,
deception, and abuse - abuse of women and children and abuse of power. There
are real victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. And there are
NGOs and committed civil servants working responsibly to identify them and to
provide much needed assistance. This is extremely important and challenging
work which must always keep the dignity and needs of victims as the primary
focus. Be extremely wary of organizations and individuals engaged in the
telling of sensationalized stories for fundraising purposes, especially those
which do not protect the identity of victims. Be wary also of organizations
revolving around the cult of personality. Unquestioned flattery and praise by
media and celebrities ought to be a sign that all is not necessarily as it
appears. Unfortunately, the damage done negatively impacts victims - real and
fabricated, responsible NGOs and individuals, and the counter-trafficking
movement at large. Donors - please do your homework. If it sounds too good to
be true, it probably is too good to be true. Engage in careful due diligence
before blindly supporting.
Hopefully sponsors and donors will, as a result of some solid
investigative journalism, start to ask questions of NGOs that revolve around
the cult of personality and which utilize the money raising capacity of
celebrities such as actress Heather Graham. The following caught my eye as an
example of the fundraising practices Patrick Stayton is referring to – a
celebrity driven fund-raiser for the Cambodia Children’s Fund:
One of
the evening’s highlights was the sight of Heather Graham, a member of
the children fund's board of directors, dancing with the four Cambodian teens
who attended the fundraiser. Another came during the auction, when celebrity
auctioneer Gordon cajoled potential bidders on items that included a South Seas
cruise on Emmerich’s yacht
Having poor children from the dump dance with Heather to
entertain Hollywood celebrities is an example of precisely the kind of human
rights abuse (poverty tourism exported to Hollywood) that no ethical NGO should
be engaged in. A question for
journalists:
“How
much financial assistance has been provided to the mothers and father of the
four girls who danced for the celebrities?
The full Hollywood Reporter article is to be found at:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/roland-emmerich-raises-1-million-570022
The questions to be asked of Scott Neeson and the Cambodia
Children’s Fund will be obvious to anyone who looks at the amount of money the
Fund raises per annum, the number of ‘orphans’ the Fund supports and how much
money is actually spent helping the families of poor children (passed off, by implication,
as ‘orphans’) escape poverty by helping to make the families self-sufficient.
Similar questions should, of course, be asked of Citipointe.
What has your church done this past five years to help Chanti and her family
become self-sufficient? How much of the money that you have raised by
presenting Rosa and Chita to the world as ‘victims of human trafficking’ (a
lie) has gone to helping the family?
My suspicion, Leigh, my hope (eternal optimist that I am) is
that the days (years!) wen Citipointe can simply refuse to answer any questions
at all are over.
best wishes
James Ricketson
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