Haitian officials fear child trafficking could be underway following the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake.
Speaking on CNN Wednesday night, Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said he has received reports of kids being sold, and he believed human organs were also being taken from victims of the quake for profit.
But aid group UNICEF was quick to refute the claims, saying child trafficking is a major concern in the impoverished nation, but there is no hard evidence to back up the government official's claims.
"These are unconfirmed reports," said Rebecca Fordham, communications specialist for UNICEF. "We are working with the Haitian authorities and they are at the airport and the border checking for children.
"Unaccompanied children found at the border will be taken in by child protection agencies."
Bellerive told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that he had heard about the possibility of child and organ trafficking from several different groups.
"A lot of organizations - they come and they say there were children on the streets," he said.
"They are going to bring them to the States. We have already reports of trafficking, even of organ trafficking."
When asked if he believed children had already been sold he replied: "The reports I receive, yes."
Child trafficking was a problem in poverty-stricken Haiti even before the 7.0 earthquake struck, so aid agencies are now rushing to provide help and a safe shelter for the thousands of kids believed to have been orphaned.
"Assistance to unaccompanied children, who have lost or became separated from their families, is a focus of UNICEF's Haitian humanitarian operations," UNICEF's Fordham said.
"These children face increased risks of malnutrition and disease, trafficking, sexual exploitation and serious emotional trauma. The race to provide them with life-saving emergency food and medicine, safe shelter, protection, and care is underway."
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