Haiti arrests 10 U.S. Baptists trying to take children out of country

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Ten U.S. Baptists arrested trying to take 33 children out of earthquake-shattered Haiti say they were just trying to do the right thing, applying Christian principles to save Haitian children.

Prime Minister Max Bellerive said Sunday he was outraged by the group's "illegal trafficking of children" in a country long afflicted by the scourge and by foreign meddling.

But the hard reality on the ground in this desperately poor country — especially after the catastrophic Jan. 12 quake — is that some parents openly attest to their willingness to part with their children if it will mean a better life.

"Some parents I know have already given their children to foreigners," said Adonis Helman, 44, one of some 20 Haitian parents interviewed at a tent camp Sunday that teemed with children. "I've been thinking how I will choose which one I may give — probably my youngest."

Haiti's overwhelmed government has halted all adoptions unless they were in motion before the quake amid fears that parentless or lost children are more vulnerable than ever to being seized and sold.

Without proper documents and concerted efforts to track down their parents, they could be forever separated from family members able and willing to care for them. Bellerive's personal authorization is now required for the departure of any child.

The orphanage where the children were later taken said at least some of the kids have living parents, who were apparently told the children were going on an extended holiday from the post-quake misery.

The church members, most from Idaho, said they were only trying to rescue abandoned and traumatized children.