Extractive Salvation: Zoe’s Ark and the Ethic of Humanitarianism in Africa

In 2007, the French charity organization known as Zoe’s Ark attempted to extract 103 children it called war orphans from Darfur in order to find homes for them in the “safety” of Europe. Although roundly denounced by the states of Chad and Sudan, international organizations, and other humanitarian groups operating in Darfur at the time, the attempt by Zoe’s Ark to extract so-called war orphans from a war zone is, I argue, consistent with the larger logic of modern humanitarianism in Africa. The leaders of the charity group were arrested, tried in Chad, and then released later to the French government. The idea that Zoe’s Ark should stand trial had near-universal approval from other humanitarian groups working in the region. They roundly deplored the methods used by Zoe’s Ark, which some likened to kidnapping children. Yet, the arguments used by Zoe’s Ark in its misadventure remain central to the ethos of humanitarianism in Africa. In short, Zoe’s Ark’s methods were unseemly, but the moral predicates of its actions were not. This should concern us.