THE TWO Cameroonian girls who fell victim to a smuggling ring and were brought illegally to Cyprus last November entered the final stretch of being permanently reunited with their parents yesterday, when conclusive proof of their parentage was delivered to the French Embassy in Nicosia.
The results of DNA tests carried out by the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics – which very generously decided to waive the €880 cost – have confirmed that Marie Chesnel is indeed the mother of Babette and Murielle.
The official report said that it is 100 per cent likely that Marie is Babette’ biological mother, and 99.9997 per cent likely that she is Murielle’s biological mother. As this result was based on DNA data collected from the Greek Cypriot population, the Institute also compared the results to a DNA database drawn from Central/West Africa. This produced a likely match of over 99.98 per cent.
The girls arrived in Cyprus in November 2009, brought here illegally by a suspected smuggling ring, represented in Cameroon by a man who presented himself as an Eastern Orthodox bishop. The “Bishop” had assured Marie that he could arrange for the girls to travel to France legally and directly on two-year student visas.
After three months of demands for money and threats to the lives of their daughters, parents Rene and Marie Chesnel learned that the girls were finally safe – under the protection of the Welfare Service – and were able to visit Babette and Murielle some two weeks ago.
During their stay in Cyprus, Marie and the girls had DNA tests at the Neurological Institute, and the parents formally asked the French Embassy to issue the girls with visas that would allow the family to be reunited in France.
They were told that the final decision on whether the French authorities will issue the girls with long-term visas to France would depend on two conditions.
First of all, they would need to verify that the girls are indeed Marie’s daughters, and secondly, the Cypriot authorities would need to normalise the girls’ current illegal status by issuing them with temporary visas.
The conclusive DNA test results – a copy of which was delivered to the French Embassy yesterday – should satisfy the first condition, and the Cyprus Mail understands that the Interior Ministry is willing to issue the girls with temporary visas on humanitarian grounds in order to facilitate their journey to join their parents in France.