While Laura Silsby Sits In Jail - Children Are Sold As Slaves In Haiti
Laura Silsby is still sitting in a Haitian jail while a judge decides whether to order a trial on charges that she tried to take children from Haiti to the Dominican Republic who she believed were either orphaned or abandoned. The new charge is "arranging irregular travel." You will recall that she and other Idaho missionaries were in Haiti, ostensibly to try and save children left orphaned by the earthquake. The Haitians claim that Silsby and the others lacked the proper papers to remove the kids to an orphanage and that some of the children had living parents who had, apparently, asked that they be taken away in hopes they might have better lives. Haiti is a very complex place. It is also an evil place.
Fast forward to this story from PRI's (Public Radio International) The World in which E. Benjamin Skinner, author of A Crime So Monstrous: Face to Face With Modern-Day Slavery, was interviewed about his experience with child slavery in Haiti. Child slavery. Parents selling their children for a few bucks.
As Skinner tells it he flew there and went downtown to buy a child. That didn't take long. From his cab he ordered a young girl who would be a domestic servant and sex slave. The price - $100.
"Within two minutes I was able to negotiate the price down to $50."
"In Haiti, what we’re talking about is a very particular form of child domestic slavery. This takes place when desperately impoverished, socially isolated rural parents give their children to traffickers in hopes that their children will be able to find a better life and some degree of education. In fact, what often happens is these children wind up in brutal domestic bondage."
Over the weekend I saw one of the TV newsmagazines (can't recall which one) report that there are likely 250,000 or more children in Haiti who have been sold into slavery. So roughly the population of Boise - only kids in slavery. And we give that government aid? They work for families as domestics and sexual slaves, having been sold by their families. When the family they have been sold to leaves for the day to go to work, they leave the slave kids outside without food, water or shelter. The Haitian government does nothing about this. Nothing. The kids are called Resteveks - and this is hardly a new problem for Haiti.
And the Haitians are still holding Silsby for trying to save children. Outrageous!
Don't tell me that this is all the missionaries' fault because they did not know the law in Haiti. The law in Haiti does not outlaw child slavery. Missionaries trying to save children are not a problem - they are the solution. Poverty there likely makes it more of a problem as parents wanting better lives for children "give them away or sell them" to "traders" who then peddle them on the streets like trinkets, but Silsby and the others were clearly not "traders." They and the hundreds or thousands of other Americans who went to Haiti to rescue kids are not the problem there - it is the combination of poverty and opportunity that causes child slavery.
So let's try and raise a little hell. Go and read the report. PRI is hardly some right-wing, conservative Christian propaganda machine. If anything it "suffers" from a more "moderate" view of the world. But there is nothing moderate about child slavery. It is evil.
Let's see if we can't raise awareness on this subject. Laura Silsby and the rest of her group of missionaries may have been naive about the workings of the law in Haiti - but this is just cover for the Haitian government. They live in a glass house. Let's throw some stones and work to free child slaves there.
Free Laura Silsby and let's demand that if our money is going to Haiti they must stop child slavery.
What does this have to do with criminal defense in Boise, Idaho. Nothing - and everything. So what can we do from here!?
Thanks for posting this and sharing you observations.
Totally agree - I've been researching on Laura Silby's (misguided) attempt to help children in Haiti, via the D. Republic hotel she rented, with the help of her 'missionaries' from church - and it's pathetic that no one is blowing the whistle on what seems like judicial corruption (holding her indefinitely on the same charge with a different name - after freeing others who did the same thing) to, it appears, try to get kickbacks from bigger attorney fees her friends might raise (?) - sure looks that way - holding her to make the other nine take pity and raise more money in America to 'free' her... How is this not like Somalian pirates holding sailors for ransom?
All of us know that Laura Silsby is innocent. Although it is quite evident that she did not understand the laws of Haiti very well, Laura Silby's intentions were the most admirable. She and the other 9 missionaries were trying to rescue children from a disaster.
As pointed out in previous articles, the real dealers of children are not caught. They know what they are doing. However, it does seem that Haiti has turned a blind eye to these psychopaths.
I am appalled at the sickening mellowness of the United States in that we are in the best position imaginable to assert rights of a U.S. citizen particularly in Haiti.
Personally, I would be afraid to ever visit any foreign country that is not particularly friendly to us. Knowing that the U.S. does not provide any protection for U.S. citizens abroad would make it impossible for me to enter the Peace Corps or any other missionary pursuit even though I, like Laura Silsby, would like to help less fortunate people.
This is the best article I have read about Laura Silsby. She may have her personal problems, but her interests in these children I'm sure were good and she meant well. I agree! Let's free Laura and help the children to escape slavery.
I don't think that we can make a judgment on Laura Silsby's intentions or motives. We can not read her mind. It is not up to the public to exonerate or condemn her. What we do know is that there were Haitian laws broken. We can not expect legitimate legal processes in such a corrupt country. Unfortunately, Ms. Silsby is dealing with extreme consequences to failing to gather "required legal documents". I see that only top level government officials of the USA can have any influence. Yes, the U.S. should speak out against child slavery. Yes, the U.S. should require an end to child slavery before finanically supporting a country. However, the immediate need is basic life supporting shelter, food, and water following the natural disaster. Trying to change a corrupt and evil practice before assisting in relief effort is not practical. Yes, these issues can be addressed at a later point before resuming the financial support of the previous years. Maybe Bill Clinton would be the one to address this issue to.
I often wonder why perversion and the rights of children are glossed over. Thanks for a passionate and thoughtful article.