Impoverished Haiti had far more than enough trouble after a terrible earthquake killed perhaps 150,000 or more people, injured countless more, destroyed property and caused huge threat of famine.
Much U.S. military and charitable aid has been rushed in.
But then there was the added problem when 10 American missionaries, obviously with nothing but good intent, sought to take 33 child victims out of devastated Haiti and into the neighboring Dominican Republic.
The missionaries were stopped short and were jailed for acting without official permission. The children, ranging from 2 to 12 years in age, were taken to an Austrian-run children’s facility in Port-au-Prince.
The missionaries just wanted to help the children. Some were orphans. But some reportedly were not.
What will happen now? It’s hard to predict. But the 10 missionaries are charged with kidnapping the children.
The whole operation obviously was well-intended but unwisely conceived. There is no really good answer. But the least bad solution would be for U.S. diplomats to seek release of the missionaries, many of them Americans, instead of their being prosecuted and imprisoned for their good intent gone wrong. And the children should remain in their native Haiti and be cared for there unless there is some orderly and legal provision for them to be aided appropriately elsewhere.
Relief assistance is needed in Haiti, and should be encouraged. But better judgment should help avoid situations such as this one.