In Haiti, Baptist Missionaries Traffick in Misery

"It is clear now that they were trying to cross the border without papers. It is clear now that some of the children have live parents... And it is clear now that they knew what they were doing was wrong."
-- Haitian Prime Minister Max Bellerive

Karl Penhaul of CNN interviews the 5 women and 5 men, Baptist Missionaries,
who are accused of child trafficking.

A problem in Haiti which is heightened by the catastrophic earthquake is child trafficking. Thankfully, the 10 Missionaries who attempted to move 33 orphans into the Dominican Republic in order to establish an "orphanage" were apprehended. They had no official permission or papers to take these children. No passports and no adoption papers. ABC News is reporting that some of the children were not orphans. According to SOS Children's Villages, 20 of the children were not. The children are staying in a temporary shelter in Port-au-Prince at the SOS Children's Villages. Some children, according to the shelter administrator, are being conselled after the ordeal.

The Missionaries are now behind bars in Haiti. Haitian officials have indicated that they believe these Missionairies are kidnappers.

Leli Lauretouse (in orange) is the father of Ceria and Laila. His rescued children
are in a temporary shelter at the SOS Children's Villages in Port-au-Prince.

According to ABC News, some of the children were enticed with pictures of the "good" life--pools, nice houses, clothes, etc. pictured in fliers the Missionaries handed out.

10 year old Bernedine Paulime's mother Adrienne Paulime
at her home in Callabase, Haiti.

The Haitian Prime Minister Max Bellerive, by law, has to personally approve every adoption as a result of the increased possibility that Haitian children could become victims of traffickers in the aftermath of the earthquake.

Background:
Haiti says US missionaries could face kidnapping charges
Haiti PM: US Baptists knew removing kids was wrong
Travesty in Haiti - False aid, false charity, false orphanages, false benevolence
Humanitarian aid workers and United Nation peacekeepers are sexually abusing small children in several war-ravaged and food-poor countries
Report: Child Abuse by Humanitarian WorkersChild abuse by aid agency staff | May 9, 2008
UN peacekeepers 'abusing children' | Al jazeera, May 27, 2008
Video: United Nations and Aid workers raping and abusing children
Des membres d'ONG abusent d'enfants dès l'âge de six ans, selon Save the Children | May, 2008

UPDATE 04.28.10
Haiti judge: Silsby deceived fellow missionaries

Only Laura Silsby remains jailed in Haiti. She faces up to 3 years in prison if convicted. The other missionaries, most also from Idaho, were freed in February and March and allowed to leave Haiti.

Saint-Vil [the Judge] said Silsby's trial, to be heard by a different judge, could begin as early as next week.

Silsby acknowledged to him that she ...broke the law, Saint-Vil said. "She knows she didn't have the legal right to leave the country" because she spent three days after arriving Jan. 25 trying in vain to obtain the necessary documents, he said.
Officials from the Dominican Republic, where Silsby was setting up an orphanage, told her she needed adoption certificates and passports, none of which she obtained for any of the children.

But, the judge added, Silsby told the other missionaries she had all the papers needed to take the children, ages two months to 12 years, into the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.