As part of a broad human trafficking investigation, deputies searched a church in Iowa and took away 88 youngsters who were taking part in a Bible study camp, according to authorities on Monday.
According to police and local media, the children were removed from the Kingdom Ministry of Rehab and Recreation’s Shekinah Glory Camp and are currently in protective custody of local organizations.
Over the weekend, deputies carrying out search warrants took the kids away and brought them to the Wapello Methodist Church, which is close, so they could speak with child safety officials, deputies said.
According to deputies, the children were placed in temporary foster care by the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services until they could be reunited with their parents or guardians.
The summer camp was held from June 8–29 at the Kingdom Ministry of Rehabilitation and Recreation, which was established in 2018.
The claims were refuted by the family that owns the Columbus Junction camp’s operating ministry.
Victor Bawi, whose parents are in charge of the ministry, stated, “What we try to do is we take care of adults and children who are under the influence of drugs, alcohol, and nicotine.”
“The adults and children, we take care of them, we provide food for them. The children we separate from the adults. We separate the boys and girls. We care for them, we provide for them.”
According to Bawi, a Texas youngster phoned the police because he didn’t want to go to the camp.
No children were ever in danger or hurt, according to Bawi.
“We never harmed that child. We loved him,” he stated. “We bought him like $400 shoes, clothing, everything.”
He stated that the camp is attended by Christian adolescents from all over the country.
According to Bawi, the kids like playing soccer, volleyball, and other outdoor games when they’re not studying the Bible.
In Columbus Junction, where the camp was located, and in Fredonia, which is less than two miles away, where the church assists individuals in finding housing, deputies carried out search warrants at many places.
According to the Louisa County Sheriff’s Office, the Columbus Junction Police Department, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services coordinated the operation. The inquiry is still under progress.
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Two Burmese pastors oversee the congregation. According to a cultural group in Iowa, they belong to the ethnic minority known as the Chin. Thousands of refugees have been resettled in Iowa as they fled the world’s longest civil war.
Columbus Junction had a sizable Burmese population, and Iowa has one of the biggest Burmese populations in the Midwest.
Numerous impoverished refugees labor at Tyson’s Food Inc.’s meatpacking facility, where the business employs interpreters. Two percent of the country’s annual hog slaughters are attributable to the factory.
On June 16, the State Department added Burma, often known as Myanmar, to its contentious list of nations prohibited from entering the United States.
