Haiti - earthquake

Ten Americans arrested on suspicion of abducting children

Article published on the 2010-01-31 Latest update 2010-01-31 15:45 TU

Children suspected of being involved in an illicit adoption scheme are seen in a local police car in Port-au-Prince on Saturday
(Photo: Reuters)

The Haitian government has said ten people holding US passports were arrested on Friday night. Haitian police detained them as they attempted to cross into the Dominican Republic with 31 Haitian children, aged from two months to 12 years.

Haiti's Social Affairs Minister Yves Christallin said two pastors were involved in the attempt to move the children out of the country, one in Haiti and one in Atlanta, Georgia.

He described the incident as "an abduction, not an adoption" and said the US citizens did not have the necessary documents to take the children out of the country and did not have letters of authorization from parents.

Haitian police said the US citizens are being held in the capital Port-au-Prince while the children have been moved to a facility north of the city and that an investigation had been opened.

Christallin said the Americans belonged to a group called New Life Children's Refuge, which has described its mission as rescuing "Haitian orphans abandoned on the streets, makeshift hospitals, or from collapsed orphanages".

Meanwhile, the US military says it has suspended evacuation flights from Haiti to the US, because of a dispute over medical costs.

The US Transportation Command said "some states were unwilling to accept the entry of Haitian patients for follow-on critical care", adding that they could not move anybody, without "a destination to fly to".

This comes after the Governor of Florida, Charlie Crist, asked the US government to share the financial burden that, he said, is being placed on Florida's hospitals.