Sierra Leone

A group of parents in Sierra Leone has accused a charity of sending more than 30 children abroad for adoption without consent during the country's civil war. The parents say they have no idea what happened to their children after they were handed over to Help a Needy Child International (Hanci). But the charity says it has documents signed by the parents giving permission for overseas adoption. Minister of Children's Affairs Soccoh Kabbia says the government is still investigating the issue. Sierra Leone was devastated by a decade of civil war, which ended in 2002. Children were frequently abducted and forced to fight in the brutal conflict. (BBC)