10 Americans Accused of Trafficking Haitian Orphans

Ten Americans arrested on suspicion of child trafficking say their detention is merely a misunderstanding over documentation. The 5 men and 5 women, from an Idaho charity called New Life Children's Refuge, were detained by Haitian police as they tried to take 33 earthquake orphans to a temporary shelter in the Dominican Republic, CNN reports. The children did not have the exit visas necessary to leave the country—planting the Americans squarely in the center of a burgeoning firestorm over child trafficking.

A US official said there was no indication of child trafficking, but the BBC reports that Haiti's social affairs minister takes a different view: "This is an abduction, not an adoption. What is important for us in Haiti is that a child needs to have an authorization from this ministry to leave the country." The Americans will go before a judge tomorrow.
(More Haiti earthquake stories.)