Many Haitians were left with nothing to show their identity
The Organization of American States has taken over the difficult responsibility of re-issuing identification to residents in Haiti, following January’s devastating earthquake.
The lack of IDs across the country has made it nearly impossible for officials to organize voter registrations and move forward with elections.
The Associated Press says the problem has also complicated adoptions, because hundreds of thousands of Haitian children don’t have anything saying who they are.
OAS officials say a proposed plan to get ID cards to all of the country’s children would take until 2013.
"It’s hard to know how big the problem is without taking the time to go through this registration process, Carolyn Miles, the chief operating officer for Save the Children told the AP.
She said what makes the process complicated is that without identification, workers need to find the children’s villages and look for people who know their families.
Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu told the AP that she hoped the process would move faster, and officials would clear the way for thousands of Haitian children to be adopted by American families.
Officials estimate the January 12th earthquake killed more than 250,000 people and a million were left homeless.
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