Suspected Child Trafficking Key to Fate of 10 Idaho Americans

by Karen Hatter | February 1, 2010 at 09:56 am

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Haitian authorities, upon completion of their investigation, are considering returning the Americans currently being held in relation to an alleged attempt to transport 33 Haitian children, ages 2 months to 12 years, to the United States for any possible prosecution.

The 10 Americans were stopped and arrested after being discovered Friday, January 29, 2010, with the 33 children at the Haitian border, trying to enter the Dominican Republic.

Haiti's overwhelmed government has halted all adoptions unless they were in motion before the earthquake amid fears that parentless or lost children are more vulnerable than ever to being seized and sold. Sex trafficking has been rampant in Haiti. Prime Minister Max Bellerive's personal authorization is now required for the departure of any child.

Without proper documents and concerted efforts to track down their parents, children could be forever separated from family members able and willing to care for them.

"For UNICEF, what is important is that for children separated from their parents, we do everything possible to have their families traced and to reunite them," said Kent Page, a spokesman for the group in Haiti. "They have to be protected from traffickers or people who wish to exploit these children."

The Idaho church group's spokeswoman, Laura Silsby, conceded that she had not obtained the proper Haitian documents, but told the AP from detention that the group was "just trying to do the right thing" amid the chaos.

The disaster inspired them to move more quickly than they had initially planned to start a shelter for 200 boys and girls in the Dominican Republic, where they hoped to build a school and chapel and work with U.S. adoption agencies to bring in Christian parents.

The children are now being cared for in an orphanage run by Austrian-based SOS Children's Villages, where spokesman George Willeit said workers were searching for their families. "One (9-year-old) girl was crying, and saying, 'I am not an orphan. I still have my parents.' And she thought she was going on a summer camp or a boarding school or something like that," Willeit said.

The arrested Americans include members of the Central Valley Baptist Church in Meridian, Idaho, and the East Side Baptist Church in Twin Falls, Idaho. They are part of the Southern Baptist Convention, which is America's largest Protestant denomination and has extensive humanitarian programs worldwide.

At present, as noted in the excerpt above, the 33 children that were involved in this incident are being housed and cared for by SOS Children's Villages, which claims itself to be " ....the world's largest charity dedicated to orphaned and abandoned children." .

Also at NowPublic :

10 Idahoans Arrested for Removing 33 Haitian Children from Haiti

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Barbara McPherson

at 10:28 on February 1st, 2010

It is unlikely that the church group involved with transporting the children to the Dominican Republic were engaged in trafficking, but it does illustrate how very vulnerable those children are. I think the Haitian government is doing the right thing by slowing down the adoption process until things settle down somewhat.

Karen Hatter

at 10:36 on February 1st, 2010

Sadly, Barbara, this incident is a perfect depiction of the children's vulnerability.

I must say I am personally perplexed as to why the group did not attempt to contact the American embassy for assistance or some other entity in Haiti before trying to remove the children without proper documentation.

stejeb

at 12:57 on February 1st, 2010

It does sound very strange that a group that claims to be acting in the childrens' interest would try to sneak them across the border like this without going through the proper channels.

Sputnic

at 10:34 on February 1st, 2010

Another logistical nightmare; how do you know if people doing this kind of thing are decent or pedophiles. In light of the little girl saying she had parents, it sheds a different light on things. The best thing these ten could do if they are decent is keep an eye on things, help keep the perverts away from the orphans and other kids.

Karen Hatter

at 10:43 on February 1st, 2010

The plight of the Haitian people and the most vulnerable among them, the children, requires those seeking to aid Haiti and its people be aware of what can and cannot be done and what actions will be most useful.

As I've watched the coverage, it seems some of the orphanages have been serving as sort of holding areas, with children brought there by their parents, it seems, with the possible intent to pick them up at some later date.

It seems foolish to think anyone would believe, no matter how good the intentions, that one can go into a foreign country, remove its most endangered citizens, the country's children, without some type of governmental permission.

Sputnic

at 11:02 on February 1st, 2010

True Karen, very foolish. Rules are there for a reason, sometimes the rules are wrong. More often than not its the rulebreakers that get it wrong.

Karen Hatter

at 14:07 on February 1st, 2010

Well, something seems amiss here, Sputnic, that's for darned sure.

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 11:04 on February 1st, 2010

There are now reports on Canadian TV that 10 of those children had parents.

Karen Hatter

at 11:42 on February 1st, 2010

Thanks for the additional information, Karl.

The 10 children you have mentioned underscore the comments offered above.

Had those children been removed from Haiti, without paperwork/documentation for their removal, they very well may have never been seen again by their parents.

I await further information regarding what type of authority the group believed it had in relation to acquiring the children from the Haitian orphanage, the location where the children are said to have originally been handed over to the group.

From initial reports, the only authority offered was to hand them over for transport to the Dominican Republic, with the Dominican Republic having given its permission for the children to be at the Dominican orphanage.

Karen Hatter

at 12:38 on February 1st, 2010

The Americans have been officially charged with child trafficking.

From ABC.net :

Haitian culture and communications minister Marie Laurence Jocelyn Lassegue says border police "saw a bus with a lot of children" .

"When asked about the children's documents, they had no documents," she said.

Social affairs minister Yves Christallin says the Americans are members of an Idaho-based charity called New Life Children's Refuge.

"This is an abduction, not an adoption," he said.

But the group's leader, Laura Silsby, says they were trying to take abandoned children to an orphanage across the border in the Dominican Republic.

"The entire team deeply fell in love with these children," she said.

"They are very, very precious kids that have lost their homes and their families and are so, so deeply in need of God's love and his compassion and just a very nurturing setting."

But a care centre chief says most of the children "have family" that survived the January 12 earthquake.

Patricia Vargas, regional director of the SOS Children's Village, where the children are being cared for, says officials at the Haitian Institute of Social Welfare told her "most of the kids have family" .

Ms Vargas says older children of the group say some of the youngsters' "parents are alive, and some of them gave us an address and phone numbers" .

The US embassy has confirmed 10 US citizens are being held for "alleged violations of Haitian laws related to immigration" .

There have been growing concerns traffickers could try to exploit the chaos and turmoil following Haiti's quake to engage in illegal adoptions.

In addition to outright trafficking in children, authorities have voiced fears legitimate aid groups may have flown earthquake orphans out of the country for adoption before efforts to find their parents had been exhausted.

J2B (not verified)

at 13:07 on February 1st, 2010

according to the group "Jesus told them to kidnap the children" I hope they throw the book at them and all deserve lengthy prison time. My brother and his wife in New York have decided to adopt an Haitian child but they will use the proper channels. Some of those children have parents.

Karen Hatter

at 14:10 on February 1st, 2010

J2B, what I find most puzzling regarding the group's efforts are the group's future plans to establish an American conduit, involving a variety of American agencies, through which to orchestrate adoptions from a number of orphanages, planned by this group, in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

It would seem before any action of that magnitude be undertaken, at the top of the list would be confirmation the children were truly orphans, legally available for adoption.

Albert Milliron

at 13:13 on February 1st, 2010

If these allegations are true and they knew some of these children were not orphans, and they tried to take them out of the country, all they have done is make it hard for those who have been helping in Haiti for years. There are good Christian and secular agencies in place that do a good job to help the Haitian people. Our family helps two children in Haiti. It is a life long commitment to the children. They live with their parents (where they should be) all we do is help them get an education, medical help, and food. The family does the most important part... No one else can do as well.

Karen Hatter

at 13:26 on February 1st, 2010

Al, you are right and it is so true that, depending upon how all of this shakes out, this incident may jeopardize future attempts to aid Haiti and those children truly orphaned.

stejeb

at 13:31 on February 1st, 2010

"If these allegations are true and they knew some of these children were not orphans, and they tried to take them out of the country, all they have done is make it hard for those who have been helping in Haiti for years."

I'm sorry, I think that if they knew that some of these children were not orphaned, or had family, then they have done a whole lot more than "make it hard for those......"

If they really knew those things, their motives are no longer questionable, they are criminal!

As much as it is good to see that someone does something for the people of such a country in normal times, at times like this motives and actions must be scrutinised to the last detail, for the children's sake.

Karen Hatter

at 13:39 on February 1st, 2010

Stejeb, what I find most disturbing about all of this are the revelations that, since the children have been placed at the SOS Children's Village, a number of them have provided addresses and phone numbers for where they live.

Did any of the missionary group speak French or talk to the children themselves to ask them where they had been living or about their parents?

stejeb

at 13:50 on February 1st, 2010

It would be worry enough if this was some unkown group, who they were....or claimed to be...aligned with makes it doubly worrying.

If they were genuine, and lacked the basic skills in language and current legislation and local conditions, they shouldn't have been there, if they weren't genuine, they should be facing prison for trying to take further advantage in a country that has been severely wounded by nature.

Karen Hatter

at 14:05 on February 1st, 2010

Well, Stejeb, the lady heading up the effort has stated she didn't know about all the paperwork involved in taking the children out of the country.

It may be, given the reported chaos in Haiti, the group expected less structure for handling orphaned Haitian children. However, why ANYONE would think they could just 'scoop up' children is beyond me.

Having said that, I would have expected some common sense CYA to assure no future problems with any possible fallout from the planned rescue.

If no formal inquiries of any kind were made by the group or attempts to obtain papers for the children, prior to trying to remove the children from Haiti and if it is determined these people are reasonably intelligent, I agree; they should be prosecuted.

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 13:39 on February 1st, 2010

Haiti's prime minister said it's clear to him that the 10 U.S. Baptists who tried to take 33 Haitian children out of the quake-ravaged country "knew what they were doing was wrong."

Haiti is also open to having the Americans tried in the United States, Prime Minister Max Bellerive told The Associated Press.

Bellerive said some of the children have parents who are alive. The government is attempting to locate them.

The aborted Baptist "rescue mission" has become a major distraction for a crippled government trying to provide basic life support to millions of earthquake survivors. Haiti's courts and justice ministry were destroyed in the disaster, which also killed many judicial officials.

But the government insisted Monday that the Americans - however well-intentioned - must be prosecuted.

Karen Hatter

at 13:48 on February 1st, 2010

Thanks, Karl.

YankeeJim

at 08:32 on February 2nd, 2010

I side with the Haitian government in that when the missionaries said that they were going to make Christians of the children, they found that offensive. It is offensive for people to offer assistance in exchange for alignment with their beliefs.

If they had followed the rules and got the children out, there remains this moral dilemma, at what price to the childrens free souls?

Karen Hatter

at 12:27 on February 2nd, 2010

Thanks for that information.

That is something I did not know, Jim.

detra Chambliss (not verified)

at 21:25 on February 12th, 2010

I am a missionary in Mexico and am shamed and saddened to say that this latest incident in Haiti is just a reflection of a problem which I see daily among so called missionaries.There is a growing trend of Christians who wish to participate in "missions" by taking what are called "short term missions trips" where they pay an agency for a package deal that includes travel to a foriegn country, accomodations while there and access to an indigenous mission or charity. Unfortunately most of these agencies offering the package trips are not actually established ministries or missions and are only capitalizing upon Christians foolishness and desire to make themselves feel good by donating their "time" to the underprivileged indigenous folks.Notice, that they planned to start an orphanage. Financial gain is at the root of this nonsense and I see it constantly. Unscrupulous people have learned that good people will give money to causes involving children thus making the children a coveted commodity to be obtained at any cost. Many orphanages receive funds per capita creating a dangerous system. We constantly see American visitors who will do stupid things, things that they would NEVER attempt in the USA for fear of the laws- one couple I know picks small children up from work camps takes them home and bathes them and changes their clothes, takes them out to Mc Donald's then returns them to their homes. All without any parental permission. Now I know they would never dream of driving into the projects somehwere in a US city picking up a strange child and doing the same........they would be in jail so fast their heads would spin................But an incredible spirit of pride makes Americans visiting foreign countries think that they are better than an above any laws and that they know best............................it is embarrassing for those of us who have worked years to build relationships with and gain the respect of the indigenous people in an effort to effect a long term change as opposed to these quick fixes that have zero long term impact on anyone's life.