Questions mount over welfare and legal status of nine Haitian girls in Belize

Nine Haitian girls who were brought to Belize three years ago may have been left in legal and administrative uncertainty, amid unresolved questions surrounding their guardianship, immigration status and overall welfare.  The troubling claims are contained in a Freedom of Information request filed by former Ombudsman Major Retired Herman Gilbert Swaso. He says the girls entered Belize on or around June 16, 2023, and were placed under the care of persons connected with Beauty Out of Ashes, an organization that describes itself as a long-term residential foster home for girls.  According to Swaso, the Office of the Ombudsman received a complaint in May 2025 from United Nations protection agencies, including UNICEF Belize and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The complaint prompted an investigation into the circumstances under which the children left Haiti, entered Belize and were placed in private care.  Swaso says the information reviewed by his office raised concerns about the absence of verified guardianship documents, questions surrounding the children’s immigration and asylum status, and the alleged failure to complete a Best Interests Determination. He also referred to emotional distress reportedly displayed by the children, possible interference with independent interviews and indicators that he believed were consistent with trafficking-related movement.  Those concerns remain allegations. Swaso stressed that his investigation did not establish criminal wrongdoing or liability against any named person.  The former Ombudsman says his office sought records from Human Services, Immigration, the Refugee Department, UNICEF Belize and the persons caring for the girls. Immigration reportedly provided documents, but Swaso says Human Services and the Refugee Department had not supplied all the requested information before his tenure ended on December 31, 2025.  The case raises immediate questions for the authorities: Where are the children now? Have their guardianship and immigration statuses been regularized? Was their welfare independently assessed? And were the possible child-protection and trafficking concerns referred to law enforcement and fully investigated?  Swaso’s disclosure is also attracting scrutiny because of its timing.  Although he says the matter reached his office in May 2025 and developed into a serious investigation before he left office, the issue was not publicly brought to the forefront during the controversy surrounding the non-renewal of his contract.  At that time, much of Swaso’s public focus centred on his employment status, salary and the decision not to renew his appointment as Ombudsman. It is therefore unclear why a matter involving nine potentially vulnerable minors was not raised with similar urgency while he remained in office or immediately after his departure. More than six months after leaving the post, Swaso is now asking Attorney General Anthony Sylvestre to disclose what has happened to the investigation since January. He wants to know whether it was reassigned, suspended, closed or left dormant, whether the evidence was preserved and when a formal outcome can be expected.  The Freedom of Information request brings an undeniably serious child-protection matter into public view. At the same time, it raises legitimate questions about why the former Ombudsman’s concerns were not disclosed or pursued publicly much earlier, particularly if he believed the children were possibly at risk.