Haitian official: orphans turned over to US Embassy

Haitian official: orphans turned over to US diplos

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A top Haitian official tells The Associated Press that the U.S. Embassy now has custody of six orphans who were seized by Haitian police as they were about to board a plane for the United States.

Social Welfare agency chief Jeanne Bernard Pierre would not say when her office handed the children over to U.S. officials.

The children, ages 1 to 5, were seized by police Saturday from four women who were accompanying them out of Haiti, apparently with the correct legal paperwork. An angry crowd had accused the group of child trafficking.

News of the hand-over follows a Tuesday meeting between the U.S. ambassador and Haiti’s prime minister.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A U.S. orphanage director says Haitian authorities are holding six orphans they prevented from leaving the country even though they had the proper documents.

Jan Bonnema of Children of the Promise orphanage says the youngest, a one-year-old boy, has diarrhea and is dehydrated. She says the children are traumatized.

Bonnema says Haitian police detained the children and the four women escorting them out of the earthquake-shattered country at Port-au-Prince airport Saturday after a crowd accused the women of child trafficking.

The women were released after U.S. diplomats intervened, but the children, ages 1 to 5, remained in a government nursery in a tent camp on Monday night.

Bonnema says she hopes the case is cleared up Tuesday.