The Children of Haiti

The ten missionaries from a Christian group based in Idaho who are alleged to have abducted 33 children from the chaotic country of Haiti have been charged with child trafficking.

Haitian officials said their cases would now be sent to an investigating judge who would decide how to proceed.

If convicted they face lengthy jail terms in Haiti's quake-hit capital city.

When stopped on the border last Friday, they said they were taking the children to a Dominican Republic orphanage.

But it’s emerged that some of the youngsters actually had parents who were alive.

It was recently reported by the BBC that Humanitarian agencies say the Idaho-based Christian group New Life Children's Refuge is not the only organisation that has been spiriting children away without documentation, who are alleged to be offering to give them a better life elsewhere.

"In these kinds of situations, there are all types of charities and church groups with, to be fair, good intentions," says Richard Danziger, head of counter trafficking at the International Office of Migration (IOM).

“But that's not the way to go about it - it doesn't help an already messy situation. Children with no documentation get whisked away, and their families don't know what has happened to them."

Mr Danziger describes it as "cowboy adoption".

"Not only is it against the law, but it is taking advantage of people in a lousy situation," he said.

Haitian Social Affairs Minister Yves Christallin said: "This is abduction, not adoption."

Unfortunately when a country falls into chaotic disarray, the road is clear for child traffickers, trying to keep track of vulnerable children when a country’s infrastructure is cracked can be a tricky job.

It can be a hard fact to swallow but even before emergency relief is reaching devastated cities during war or natural disaster, child abductors’ are usually the first to get mobilised ahead of any charity. They need to get in quick before a head count or census overview is in place.

Abandoned children can end up far away from home, either sold into sex slavery or illegally adopted throughout the West. The relief aid and charities on the ground are trying hard to keep tabs and document every child in Haiti to prevent more children being lifted from the island without proper legal papers of release.

Governments across the world have all pledged to stop child slavery and trafficking, but it is actually on the rise. The situation in Haiti has highlighted this issue.

Children need to be protected, whether from misplaced do-gooders or child traffickers and organisations like Save the Children are working hard to protect children all over the world.

Care adviser Louise Fulford, who works with Save the Children, says the priority is to keep the children within their "communities, their ethnic group and their cultures."

Adoption within the country will be hardest to arrange with children who have health problems, such as HIV/Aids, disabilities, or many siblings. "Unfortunately, with inter-country adoption, it tends to be more the parents choose the child. People tend to want to adopt healthy babies," Ms Fulford says.

UN guidelines stipulate that there should be no national or international adoptions for two years, she adds.

"This provides time to trace relatives. In most emergencies you can trace family members. It will take time. In the meantime, aid agencies are prioritising children who are unaccompanied - they are being referred to interim care centres. Agencies are working day and night to locate children on their own."

To enter a grief stricken country and decide to pluck up its ‘lost’ children is patronising to say the least, even if you have good will to get them adopted and organisations that carry out such ‘mercy’ raids need to apprehended.

I believe that the Idaho ten need to be thoroughly investigated, how dare so-called Christians take it upon themselves to round up children and take them from the cities where their lives have just been wrecked. Aid on the ground, social care and repatriation with their families is what’s needed, not do-gooders stepping in and scooping up bewildered kids and playing God with their fragile lives.

Let’s raise awareness about the missing and displaced children of Haiti please click on the link beneath this article for more information.