All Haitian 'orphans' had relatives

22 Feb 2010, 8:08 am   -   Source: AAP
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Parents in a village told the APthat desperation and blind faith led them to hand over 20 children to the religious Americans who promised them a better life. (AP)

Parents in a village told the APthat desperation and blind faith led them to hand over 20 children to the religious Americans who promised them a better life. (AP)

Not one of the 33 children a US Baptist group tried to remove from Haiti is an orphan, The Associated Press has learned.

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Not one of the 33 children a US Baptist group tried to remove from Haiti is an orphan, The Associated Press has learned.

During a visit on Saturday to a rubble-riddled slum where 13 of the children lived, residents told the AP that each one of the youngsters was given away by a parent or close relative.

Their testimony echoes that of residents in the mountain town of Callabas, outside the capital of Port-au-Prince.

Parents there told the AP on February 3 that desperation and blind faith led them to hand over 20 children to the religious Americans who promised them a better life.

That contradicts statements from the missionaries' jailed leader, Laura Silsby, who has said all of the children were orphans or came from distant relatives.

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