Missionary Trip Ends in Jail Time

The US missionaries should be charged for child abduction in Haiti.

Ten American Baptist missionaries attempted to take 33 Haitian children across the border to a supposed orphanage in the Dominican Republic. Although Haiti has just been stricken with disaster, not everyone was left homeless and without families. Some of these children had living parents, but the Americans insisted on taking them to the orphanage with no government approval. These children should not have been removed from their families, regardless of the government’s consent. The Americans had no right in taking these children for reasons they claimed had good intentions. The Haitian government has been shaken around due to the recent disaster and law enforcement has been weak. This being a major issue, several court hearings have taken place, and others are scheduled to take place in the coming week.

Some may argue that these missionaries were doing what was right for the good of the children. As Americans, we tend to think that what we feel is right, is right. We feel that we shouldn’t be punished in other places for our potential wrong doings. Just because our country has global power doesn’t mean we can kidnap Haitian children because they would seem to be better off in an orphanage. As quoted by the families of the missionaries in the New York Times article by Marc Lacey, “…those who were recruited to join this mission traveled tot Haiti to help, not hurt, these children.” Whether their motive was good or not, these men and women should be prosecuted as if the crime was committed in the United States. In conclusion, these missionaries should not have attempted to rescue these Haitian children.