Haitian Child Believed She Was Going on Brief Vacation (NEWS)

In a disturbing story that shows how the best intentions can go wrong in times of crisis, a group of American church missionaries have been detained for trying to take a group of children out of Haiti as orphans, many of whom were not actually orphans at all, and apparently still had family in Haiti.

Allegedly at least one child even told the U.S. church group that she still had family there, and at first she thought she was just going on a brief vacation, not being taken out of her home country for good. The church group was stopped & detained, at first called kidnappers by the Haitian Prime MInister Bellerive, but he has since softened his tone a bit on the issue.

The case continues to develop as agencies and workers struggle to maintain order in a chaotic situation where it's difficult to document who children are and what their family situation is, muchless whether they are already in an adoption process. Hopefully the best interests of these children can be served in the long run.

Haitian Child Believed She Was Going on Brief Vacation
WSJ

The 10 U.S. missionaries, who were arrested last week for allegedly attempting to take 33 children out of Haiti, could be put under formal investigation for kidnapping, trafficking and conspiracy as early as Thursday, the prosecutor in charge of the case said. Through lawyers, the missionaries have denied any wrongdoing, saying they only tried to help rescue children from the wrecked capital...But more reports surfaced that the consulate in the Haitian capital and told a group leader she lacked the documents to transport children...

Haitian Child Believed She Was Going on Brief Vacation