Every day children hide in the slums of Haiti’s Port Au Prince. They are hiding from gangs who take them as part of a huge child trafficking industry that is sweeping across the country. This problem has become even worse as the Earthquake that hit the country has left thousands of children without a home or a family. They are wandering the street and have become easy pickings for this gang.
But a new twist to this problem has just hit the headlines with the news that a religious charity, The New Life Refuge have had 33 members of its group arrested on suspicion of child trafficking. They are claiming that they took the children from an orphanage in Haiti and were planning on taking them to the Dominican Republic so they could get essential medical care. Laura Silsby the charity’s spokesperson claims this is all a big misunderstanding.
“They are very precious kids that have lost their homes and their families, and are so, so in need of God’s love and compassion and a very nurturing setting.” Laura Silsby, The New Life Refuge
This is all well and good, but further investigation from officials in Haiti have found out these children are not actually with any Orphanage in the country and some have family members alive and living in Haiti.
Unicef spokesperson Kent Page had this to say:
“You can’t just go and take a child out of a country – no matter what country you are in,”
Kent is absolutely correct. What ‘A New Life Refuge’ are essentially doing is taking advantage of a country in a state of crisis and thinking they can bend the rules to suit them. There may be no malice in their efforts, but it does highlight the serious security concerns within the country. How many children will end up missing or kidnapped once this crisis is over, or will it just continue to happen?
Photo by Angela Catlin
Tags: Angela Catlin, Child Trafficking, Haiti, Haiti Disaster, Religous Charity, The New Life Refuge, Unicef
