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received millions of refugees or kenya and yuganda, we are ready to have our share to receive also a meaningful number of refugees. of course there are security concerns and there are ways fortunately in relation to registration, to screening today to be able to detect those situations in which there could be a security risk. i have to say that my experience is that those that really have terrorist intents they look for other ways because the refugee movement is so scrutinized, that it's not the best opportunity f from that point of view but there are ways to do effective screening and guarantee the security namely of the settlement program. my appeal to the global developed world is be more
for adoption. at the time of that call, the davises now believe mada wasn't an orphan at all, but still living at home with a mother who loved her. >> if our child had been taken from us, we would want our child back. >> reporter: so the davises did something remarkable. they filed paper work to have the adoption vacated. they would take mada back to her birth mother. did you have the state department's blessing? >> they were saying, you could just keep her if you want. i said to them, i didn't purchase her at walmart. >> reporter: one year after they brought mada home to ohio, this. >> what's today? >> i'm going home! >> are you excited? >> yeah. >> are you going to uganda? >> yes. >> what is the first thing you're going to do when you see your mom? >> hug her. >> is this a long flight or short flight? >> long. >> reporter: she finally arrived home to her village.
toys, bars on the windows. >> reporter: the orphanage was called god's mercy and was about four hours from mada's village. by september 2015, mada was in ohio, bonding with her new siblings. but after about six months as her english started to improve, she opened up to jessica davis about her life in uganda, and what she shared was alarming. mada told jessica her biological mom was a really good mom who loved her, she even detailed how her mother there would walk her to school every day. >> every single thing in that file and that we were told aside from the file she unraveled to be a lie. >> reporter: a lie? how could that be? jessica alerted the u.s. state department. what did you tell the state department? >> everything that she told me, everything was not true. and sounds like she has a mother out there that really loves her, and possibly a father. >> reporter: what were you
reunited viola with her mother. >> she was just running, and we get out, and her mother just embraces me. >> reporter: her adoption was a fraud, and stacy says it is all about money. >> they're getting the orphans because there is a dollar sign. a market has been created. >> reporter: a market for children with a pipeline, it appears, back to the united states, which is where european adoption consultants is headquartered and where we found the director of eac's africa adoption program. you helped organize the uganda adoptions? >> no, there are people in uganda that did it. >> reporter: were these mothers lied to? >> no. absolutely not. >> reporter: it is hard to say how many other families were misled or tricked, but we may have just scratched the surface. we have been told at least two other girls from uganda, actually viola's sisters, adopted by american families and so far those women have been unwilling to reunite the girls
with their mother in uganda. and regarding the orphanage where they were taken, the ugandan government told us it has been closed. they found they were operating illegally, processing guardianship orders fraudulently and, yes, trafficking children. we weren't able to reach anyone from the orphanage to ask about this since it is closed, meanwhile, the fbi and the state department have been investigating eac and its ties to this alleged trafficking scheme. last year the state department debarred and shut down the adoption agency for three years after finding that eac failed to adequately supervise its foreign country providers to ensure they didn't engage in the sale, abduction or trafficking of children. no charges have been filed against eac but the fbi told us the investigation is ongoing. back to you. >> we'll have the second part of the disturbing story in the next hour of cnn newsroom. we'll be right back.
afraid you'd find? >> that we had somehow participated in taking a child from a loving family. >> reporter: their fears would be realized. jessica contacted an organization run by karen riley, who actually found mada's biological mother in uganda and arranged a video reunion. >> why are you so excited? >> i get to talk to my mom. >> how nice. are you happy? >> yeah. >> we are doing fine. how are you? >> good. >> reporter: in that moment, everything changed. the real story of why she was given up by her mother to this family in america was exposed. >> with that facetime call, she learned -- >> the true story. >> -- that her mother was tricked. >> reporter: tricked, the
mother? >> just she had abandoned the girls, that after the dad died, they told us she didn't feed them, that they were found sick, like, dying, basically. >> reporter: viola, it turns out, was taken to the same orphanage as mada's, god's mercy, but later at her new home in west virginia, as viola became fluent in english, the truth started to unfold. >> a lot of it was how she talked about her mother, her experience and her home just did not match the paper work. >> reporter: stacy, who spoke exclusively with cnn, also contacted reunite uganda to find viola's biological mother. karen riley told us viola's mom was also lied to by local traffickers, using the same false promise of education in america. she wasn't an orphan. she was made an orphan so you could adopt her. >> right, right. >> reporter: stacy traveled back to uganda in november, 2016, and
davises say, because mada's mother was lied to, told the davises were simply sponsoring her daughter's education in america, not adopting her. and that, if you can believe it, was just the tip of the iceberg. because the davises have learned their experience is not unique. in fact, a cnn investigation has discovered that multiple families have been duped. it works like this. children are being taken from their homes, placed in orphans, even though they weren't orphans, and then sold for as much as $15,000 a child to unwitting american families. the promise of education with an ultimate return home all just a ruse. >> they will hone in on vulnerable families, usually single parents, widows, would you like an educational opportunity for your children? >> reporter: karen riley, an advocate for ugandan children and runs a group called reunite uganda says a villager makes a
>> oh! >> reporter: in september, 2016, the ugandan government officially gave parental rights back to her biological mother. but jessica's story wasn't unique. and enter stacy wells. >> i wasn't in it to -- i don't know, to buy a child. i didn't need a child. >> reporter: stacy wells and her husband shawn already had two sons. but in 2016, they adopted 7-year-old viola from uganda. they worked with, you guessed it, the same company the davises used, european adoption consultants. they too paid around $15,000 to the company. they say that agency told them a story strikingly similar to namada's, but this time about viola. what did they tell you about her
the wilds of yuganda, walking a few feet away from your distant biological cousin. they are exquisitely amazing primates. >> and dolphins, you sent roxie, our friend the dolphin there, away, because you didn't want roxie to know you were talking about chimps. what's your take on their emotional complexity? >> roxie is bored with me. i was her toy. i was her boy toy for a little bit and she's moved on to more fun things. but dolphins are equally remarkable. recently we were filming ocean mysteries off the coast of polynesia, and we were down and surrounded by hundreds of sharks. the sharks went away, and then by our side were a pod of dolphins. almost as if to say, we've got your back. they are amazing creatures. these animals are the top dog in their ecosystem. their brains are so advanced, and so developed, that they