February 2, 2010
Haiti’s children vulnerable to human traffickers
The news of suspected child smugglers operating in Haiti has highlighted longstanding concerns about the trafficking of children from poor countries.
Patrick McCormick of the United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF, talked to World Focus about vulnerable children around the world.
You can see more on the suspected child smugglers here, from our partner ITN.
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12 comments
I see this as a clear case of naivety moved by the willingness to helping others. What in the world do you think would move an American church group formed by people who lives in a comfortable house, in a community with all the available commodities at hand for going to a “vacation” ? in place in chaos?.
Originally from Latin America, because my profession I have had the opportunity to live in Europe and the US and travelled all over the world (mostly not for vacation). I have learned that you may understand words of another language but do not understand the language and the culture of the country. Think about this before sharing your opinion
I hope this group can be free soon
The missionaries’ story keeps changing. The Haiti authorities should dig deeper to find out what they were up to. I am deeply concerned about children being ‘adopted’ for profit by these organizations or being sexually exploited by the clergy.
My previous post will be understood by those to whom Thought is but an ignition of Outline for those wishing to fill in any Details of their own.
(I could explain by way of commentary every detail I wrote as said detail would apply to Haiti and the situation there. But my reasoning was and is due to what was previously mentioned by me, here.)
And how are they more vulnerable than the children of the tsunami in Indonesia? or the earthquake in China?
Jerry: Yeah, the Haitian gov’t is famous for it’s vigilance in protecting children! What alternate reality are you living in!
Melancholy: Huh??? Whatchoo tallkin’ bout, Willis! Seriously, dude, try posting when you’re not high.
Lynne: Regardless of the actions of a few local officials, there are still hundreds of thousands of people in Haiti who desperately need your help and plenty of Non-Gov’t orgs through which you can assist them. There are more effective ways to protest without witholding your assistance from innocent people who need it.
DONATION TO HATEEE CANCELLED ON MY CREDIT CARD.
What use “direction” if Everywhere is all the directional Somewhere possible/potential/alleged human traffickers might need to apply more spiritual Darkness to the Soul’s Twilight by which an earthquake-prone (possibly, very much foreign) “Morality” attempts to “see” even the little remaining Light now dimly accompanying those passageways connecting to the few “tortuous” paths which might yet “meander” any Seeker’s steps through a very, technically (and possibly legally/interpretationally)labyrinthine, “Way” (i.e. these Metaphysical/Physical Catacombs of both this present “place”, here in this Present Time, [as well as, presently, in Haiti] and in the Way’s capacity, itself, as an “early term” for Early Christianity)?
I thought World Focus’s coverage of this story was appallingly prejudicial and one-sided. While these people have obviously broken the law and must face appropriate legal consequences, applying terms like “human trafficking” and lumping these people in with slave-traders and child exploiters is absurd. By all accounts these people believed they were rescuing orphans and the children had been entrusted to them by indigenous Haitian pastors who told them that the children had no parents. There is no evidence or testimony that any money was involved or that any of these children were abducted or taken from unwilling parents. The one parent interviewed said that she wanted her child to go and have a better life. To those insinuating that these children were being taken to be sold for adoption, look at the statistics on how hard it is for black kids to get adopted in the US. It is ludicrous to believe that a bunch of mid-western churchgoers, (mostly ladies and youth) got together and spent thousands of dollars to go thousands of miles to steal a bunch of Haitian kids to sell in Idaho! Lets be realistic here people! Their pastor back home vouches for them and their intentions. I have spent a lot of time in “3rd world countries” and I work in refugee resettlement. I have seen real human trafficking and child exploitation and it looks nothing like this. And as another person posted on here, in many countries people will walk right up to you and beg you to take their children back to America or Europe, simply because they want their child to have a better life. We who live in a world of comfort and convenience and see stories of child molesters on the evening news every night do not understand the situation or motivation of these parents who have to watch their children suffer every day, unable to provide their most basic needs. We think first of protecting our children from strangers because we haven’t had to watch 3 or 4 of our 10 kids starve or die for lack of clean water or a $2 bottle of medicine. That’s what these Americans were trying to save these kids from and that’s why their parents and local pastors were eager to send these kids out of that hell.
I deeply appreciate the Haitian government’s vigilance in protecting vulnerable children. I hope the claims of these traffickers are fully investigated so we can all know what their real motivation was.
Recently a group of missionaries were arrested by the Hatian authorities for their attempt to transport several Haitian children out of the country through the Dominian Republic. Of course there could be no excuse for their illegal trafficing in child adoption. They are crying ignorance of the law and I find such an plea absolutly incomprehensable but they will get leneancy simply because they are white and the victims were black.
I am glad to hear that Patrick McCormick and Unicef has an organized way of registering and keeping track of the children. I did not know that children were being stolen in Haiti. That is a crime! I knew children were being stolen in several parts of the world, but I didn’t realize predators preyed during disasters like this. That is appauling! I hope Unicef and Patrick can get the word out to more people and all countries so that when a disaster happens again, the populous can gather the children together and keep them together so that the Unicef people can find them when they arrive. No one should be stealing these children! Especially when some of the ones stolen are not parentless.
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02/11/2010 :: 07:11:52 PM
Ed Says:
I have given to haiti but will no longer. I saw a guard pull one of the women by her hair. I have not seen that since the NAZIs pulled women by their hair in World Word II.