Aid Groups In Haiti Call American Group’s Plans Reckless

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Child welfare organizations in Haiti are calling an American church group’s plan to take children from Haiti to the Dominican Republic reckless.

The 10 Baptists say they were just trying to do the right thing and save vulnerable children from the chaotic aftermath of the earthquake when they were arrested.

The group says it planned to quickly identify orphaned children in Port-au-Prince and bus them to a hotel in the Dominican Republic, all without getting permission from Haiti.

Deb Barry of Save the Children says she understands the “instinct to swoop in and rescue children,” but she says “it cannot be the solution for the tens of thousands of children left vulnerable by the Haiti earthquake.”

Haitian Prime Minister Max Bellerive had harsher words. He said he’s outraged by what he calls the group’s “illegal trafficking of children.”