Paper Orphans

Foreign Correspondent - ABC

This episode of Foreign Correspondent from ABC News in Australia exposes the "ugly truth" that donations and volunteer efforts of Westerners, including Australians, often drive an exploitative orphanage industry in developing countries (in this case, Nepal). "Traffickers deliver the children to illegal orphanages where they're used to attract foreign donors and volunteers," says Foreign Correspondent.

The episode features an interview with Kate van Doore, Australian lawyer and co-founder of Forget Me Not, who started an orphanage in Kathmandu in 2006 before realizing that the children in the care of the home all had living families. van Doore and her organization now work to "stop the flow of foreign funds, to close illegal orphanages, and return the children home to their families." 

The video follows children in Forget Me Not's transit home as they return home to their families, having been rescued from an illegal orphanage.