10 Americans arrested in Haiti for child trafficking
By IANSSunday, January 31, 2010
Port-au-PRINCE - Ten US citizens were arrested in Haiti on the charges of trafficking 33 children from the earthquake-hit nation, Press TV reported Sunday.
The Americans were detained at Malpasse, Haiti’s main border crossing with the Dominican Republic, after Haitian police found 33 children - aged between two months and 12 years - from their vehicle.
One of the detainees, who identified himself as a member of Idaho-based charity New Life Children’s Refuge, denied they had done anything wrong.
The Haitian authorities said the suspects had no documents to prove that they had cleared the adoption of the children through any embassy, Press TV reported.
They also failed to produce papers showing that the children were made orphans by the magnitude - 7.0 quake that struck the the impoverished Caribbean country Jan 12, the report said.
Haitian government early this month halted adoption process expressing concern that some aid groups may take children believed to be orphans out of the country for adoption without making enough effort to trace their parents.
