American Baptists detained in Haiti

Ten American Baptists were detained in Haiti last Friday, where officials say they attempted to take 33 children into the Dominican Republic without proper documentation. The ten are members of an Idaho-based charity called New Life Children’s Refuge, and they said their intent was to take the children to a hotel in the Dominican Republic that is doubling as a temporary orphanage.

This story is prompting considerable debate, with some saying it is a case of good intentions gone bad, while others say the American group’s actions are nothing short of criminal.

Michele Montas is a Haitian journalist and a former spokeswoman for the United Nations in Port-au-Prince. She says the group’s actions are unacceptable and says the children would have been much better off remaining in Haiti with extended family ? if they were indeed orphaned. George Prentice is a host with Boise State Radio and he says that communities in Idaho believe the Baptist group had good intentions.