“This orphanage business – where orphanages are established and recruit children to raise donations from foreigners – is becoming increasingly recognised globally as a form of trafficking,” said Jamie Vernaelde, researcher at Lumos.

The charity now believes Haiti is experiencing an “orphanage crisis” where the number of facilities have skyrocketed, incentivising the separation of families. Prior to the major Haitian earthquake in 2010, there were an estimated 300 orphanages. When the government reassessed in 2013, there were 752.

“It was this response to a real vulnerability but also a perceived idea that, after a humanitarian emergency, children are automatically orphaned,” said Vernaelde.

The report also reaffirmed the argument that orphanages cause significant harm to children. Growing up without personal care and a family environment can cause significant developmental and psychological delays.

The last 80 years of research into the effects of institutionalised care has found deficits to the child’s “physical growth, cognitive function and social-psychological health”, according to the Lancet medical journal As many as one in 10 children who have been institutionalised commit suicide; one in seven become prostitutes.

Lumos met people who had lived in Haitian orphanages who described frequent beatings, deliberately withholding food and situations where they were denied the opportunity to learn English to prevent them communicating with foreign visitors.