Haiti ripe for child-trafficking - UNICEF

A New Zealand UNICEF organiser is warning that the Haiti quake is creating ideal conditions for child-traffickers to operate.

United Nations children's fund UNICEF is working to try and minimise the risk of child trafficking in the wake of the earthquake.

UNICEF said children had gone missing from hospitals in Haiti since the quake struck, raising fears of trafficking for adoption abroad.

UNICEF adviser Jean Luc Legrand said on Friday that about 15 cases of children disappearing from hospitals and not with their own family had been documented, and it was known that Haiti had an international network of child trading well before the quake struck.

UNICEF New Zealand executive director Dennis McKinlay said the huge damage and breakdown of normal society wrought by the quake had created ideal conditions for child traffickers to operate.

"UNICEF is aware of reports of children have been removed from Haiti without due process or the proper documentation. The Haitian Government has been informed of these reports and is investigating," Mr McKinlay said.

"We know from experience of past emergencies that trafficking takes place in the chaos that follows a natural disaster. Unscrupulous individuals prey on vulnerable children who may have become separated from family members. Children may be abducted to meet a demand for trafficked children as cheap labour or for sexual exploitation."

He said UNICEF was supporting the Government to boost its vigilance of exit points to prevent children being taken out of Haiti illegally.

The agency had joined with partners to start setting up safe spaces for all unaccompanied children, including infants.

"UNICEF is also pooling information and resources with 28 other agencies and Haitian authorities to protect children in Haiti, including the setting up of a child protection hotline," Mr McKinlay said.

"With the assistance of UN peacekeepers, hospitals have been visited to ensure that hospital staff members are aware of the need to check the credentials of anyone who removes a child."

Mr McKinlay said earlier that New Zealanders were making inquiries about adopting Haiti children lost or separated from their families, but warned against it.

"While people have the best of motives and really do want to help, it's wrong to think of vulnerable Haitian children as if they are lost puppies that can be rescued from an SPCA shelter."

Adoption was not a "quick fix" solution as the children could not be assumed to be orphans, Mr McKinlay said.

"It is difficult to determine the fate of their parents or close relatives immediately following a disaster and it has to be assumed for the moment they still have close relatives who are alive."

Adoption should be considered only after thorough attempts had been made to reunite children with family.

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- NZPA