BOISE -- One of the Baptist missionaries detained with Laura Silsby is revealing new information about their ordeal in Haiti now that Silsby is free and back in Idaho.
Pastor Paul Thompson of Twin Falls told us Wednesday that he believes a group of UNICEF workers played a role in their arrests.
Thompson says a number of people in UNICEF t-shirts showed up in the hours before their arrests. One of the people believed to work for UNICEF joined a meeting with Silsby and police. While in the waiting area the rest of the group began speaking to the children in Creole. He says cameras were rolling and when Thompson asked a policeman translator what was happening. This is what the translator told him.
“He told me that they were telling the children that we were kidnappers and that we were attempting to cross the border without permission, and we were going to do one of two to three things -- sell them into slavery, traffic them or sell their organs on the black market, so obviously any child in any nation would begin to cry,” said Thompson.
We received a statement from UNICEF. It reads…
"Mr. Thompson's account is mistaken. UNICEF played no role in the arrests of the Baptist group and UNICEF staff were not present at the arrests. UNICEF does not have the power to order arrests in Haiti or anywhere else. As for the t-shirts, we are aware that officials of at least two Haitian government child protection agencies often wear shirts with both their own and UNICEF's logos."
Thompson is unconvinced saying after their arrest he learned there are deep philosophical differences between his group and UNICEF concerning adoption and that might have motivated the group’s involvement.
"We have discovered and understand from visiting with people and communicating through reports that there is clearly a problem in Haiti with First Unit Evangelical Christian orphanages and UNICEF and their abilities to work together," said Thompson.
Here is a link to Paul Thompson’s entire interview with the Baptist Press.
