Haiti orphans

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Haiti Seeks 6 Months for US Missionary

Alleged child-grabber Laura Silsby on trial

(Newser) - Baptist missionary Laura Silsby knew she was breaking the law when she tried to take 33 children out of Haiti, and she deserves to spend at least 6 months in jail, the prosecutor said as her trial began yesterday. The Idaho woman testified that she genuinely believed that the children—...

Haitian Parents Abandon Kids in Droves
 Haitian Parents 
 Abandon Kids 
 in Droves 



QUAKE RIPPLE EFFECTS
May 10, 2010 10:05 AM CDT

Haitian Parents Abandon Kids in Droves

Earthquake's devastation the last straw for many

(Newser) - The catastrophic earthquake that left at least 1.3 million Haitians homeless was the final straw for families that could barely afford to feed their children before. Now with aid dwindling, Haitian families are abandoning their children in skyrocketing numbers in the hope of offering them a better life—a...

Haiti Judge Recommends Freeing Americans
 Haiti Judge Recommends 
 Freeing Americans 
UPDATED
Feb 11, 2010 10:22 AM CST

Haiti Judge Recommends Freeing Americans

Prosecutor has chance to agree or object

(Newser) - The Haitian judge deciding whether 10 US missionaries should face trial on charges of trying to take a busload of children out of the country says he will recommend they be released. Judge Bernard Saint-Vil finished questioning the Americans yesterday. He now must send his recommendation to the prosecutor, who...

Report: Haiti Judge Will Free Americans

Baptist missionaries being held on kidnapping charges

(Newser) - A judge in Haiti has decided to release the 10 Americans being held on kidnapping charges, a judicial source tells Reuters . The Americans, accused of trying to spirit 33 Haitian children out of the country after the earthquake, could go free as early as tomorrow. They've been in jail since...

Cop: Baptists Tried to Grab Haiti Kids Earlier

Group caught with a busload of 40 kids last month

(Newser) - The Baptist missionaries jailed on kidnapping charges in Haiti tried not once, but twice, to take kids out of the country, according to a Haitian police officer. The officer stopped the group last month and ordered some 40 children off their bus as they headed from Haiti to the Dominican...

Leader of Haiti 'Kidnappers' Ensnared in Money Woes

Laura Silsby faced business troubles in Idaho

(Newser) - The leader of the group of American Baptists accused of trying to snatch children out of Haiti without authorization flouted plenty of laws in her native Idaho. Laura Silsby, founder of online business Personal Shopper, has a long record of failing to pay employees, failing to pay debts, and ignoring...

Haitian Parents Turned Over Kids to US Baptists

Villagers contradict missionaries' account

(Newser) - Parents in an earthquake-devastated Haitian mountain village who feared their children would starve handed the kids over to the American missionaries accused of trafficking , villagers said yesterday, contradicting the Baptist group's claim that the children were turned over by orphanages or distant relatives. Many of the parents said they won't...

Haitian Kids Taken by Baptists Weren't Orphans

But desperate families are giving up kids voluntarily to get them out

(Newser) - Many of the 33 children a group of American Baptists tried to take out of Haiti without the proper documentation aren't orphans at all, and officials at an orphanage where the children were taken after the Americans were arrested are trying to reunite them with their families. But the reality...

10 Americans Accused of Trafficking Haitian Orphans

We were taking kids to shelter, group says

(Newser) - Ten Americans arrested on suspicion of child trafficking say their detention is merely a misunderstanding over documentation. The 5 men and 5 women, from an Idaho charity called New Life Children's Refuge, were detained by Haitian police as they tried to take 33 earthquake orphans to a temporary shelter in...

Haiti Fears Organ Trafficking
 Haiti Fears Organ Trafficking 
Jan 28, 2010 5:00 AM CST

Haiti Fears Organ Trafficking

Children, adults being targeted: prime minister

(Newser) - Not only child traffickers but also human organ traffickers are targeting Haiti, Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive tells CNN . "There is organ trafficking for children and other persons also, because they need all types of organs," he said. Bellerive gave no further details during the interview, instead rejecting criticism...

Haiti Slows Adoptions Amid Trafficking Fears

Prime minister will now personally approve transfer of any child

(Newser) - Haiti is dramatically slowing airlifts and adoption proceedings for Haitian orphans out of fear of human trafficking. Adoptions were fast-tracked after the recent quake to make room in orphanages, but now the government is concerned that children with living family may be sent abroad or scooped up by traffickers and...

Call to Halt Haiti Adoptions on Trafficking Fears

At least 15 children said to have disappeared from hospitals

(Newser) - The disappearance of 15 children from Haitian hospitals has prompted aid agencies to call for a halt on adoptions of Haitian orphans, warning that child traffickers flourish in such chaotic situations. Despite an outpouring of offers from would-be parents, and the tens of thousands of children in need—40,000...

Fast-Tracked Haitian Orphans Arrive in US

Paperwork cut as orphanages struggle to cope after quake

(Newser) - Small groups of Haitian orphans have already begun arriving in the US in recent days as authorities cut red tape for American families with pending adoptions. Haitian orphanages that were struggling to cope now face being completely overwhelmed with new arrivals, and US officials have sped up paperwork to place...

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