People in Haiti are continuing their struggle to stay alive after the massive 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck their country early this year. With over 200,000 people dead and thousands more without food, water, or shelter, Haitians are working hard to overcome the great disaster. 10 Americans have been taken into custody in Haiti for allegedly trying to smuggle 33 Haitian children across the border into the Dominican Republic. The group, five men and five women, were part of a Baptist church in Idaho and were questioned by a magistrate for several hours last Tuesday and Wednesday, denying all allegations. They claimed that they were doing nothing wrong and were simply trying to help the children. The act of taking children across the border without any government permission or legal documents could be considered child trafficking according to legal experts.
The group planned on taking 100 children by bus to a beach resort in the Dominican Republic in hopes of starting an orphanage. Many of the children who were interviewed had thought that they were being taken on a summer holiday vacation.
"What they were doing was wrong" said Haiti's prime minister, Max Bellerive on Monday. He told the Associated Press that he was willing to allow the missionaries to be prosecuted back in the United States due to most Haitian government buildings and courts being destroyed or damaged during the quake. Bellerive says that some of the children, whose ages ranged between 2 months and 12 years, did in fact have parents who were still alive. It is believed that some parents had willingly handed over their children to the Americans in hopes of them finding a better life in the United States.
As of now, all adoptions in Haiti have been stopped except for those that had already begun before the earthquake hit on January 12. Now more than ever, fears are rising that orphan children are more at risk of being taken or sold. As for the Americans, their fates have not yet been decided.
I think that what these people did was an act of kindness in a way, however, they should have made sure that what they were doing was legal and that it was the best thing for the children. If the missionaries would have succeeded with their plan, many of those children would have been taken away from their families and many parents would be devastated.
Sources: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35281005/ns/world_news-the_new_york_times/#storyContinued
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