International Development - Haiti Kidnap Attempt Slows Down Crucial Evacuation

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Haiti Kidnap Attempt Slows Down Crucial Evacuation

By Tarra Quismundo on 09 February 2010

Flights of injured Haitian children to U.S. hospitals have come to a halt as government officials, and medical and aid workers had to await paperwork to ensure legal airlifts, a lull in crucial evacuation that followed the arrest of Americans for illegally transporting local children out of the Caribbean state last month.

American and Haitian officials have reportedly been requiring medical workers paper proof that children up for U.S. flights were orphans or had parents traveling with them, slowing down an evacuation that could save the children’s lives.

The New York Times has reported that only three children were evacuated to U.S. hospitals aboard private flights since the arrests late January. Some 15 children were flown daily States-side from the Haitian field hospital before the alleged kidnap attempt.

Tarra Quismundo Tarra Quismundo joined Devex Manila as a staff writer in October 2009 after more than six years of working as a reporter for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, a nationwide daily, for which she covered major breaking news in politics, military, police and international affairs. Tarra's Devex News coverage focuses on key Asian donors and top aid officials around the globe.

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