Eight of the 10 Christian missionaries that were detained in Haiti after they illegally tried to take 33 Haitian children across the border - following January's devastating earthquake - have been freed and are now back at home in the US.

They were released after some parents of the Haitian children came forward to the court admitting that they willingly gave away their children to the US missionary group in hopes of providing them "a better life."

The judge who ruled on the child trafficking cases, however, also ordered that Laura Silsby, the group's leader, and one other member be held in custody.

Their cases are being subjected to further investigation by Haitian authorities.

The move comes after many alleged that the US missionaries received far better treatment than ordinary Haitians facing criminal charges in the country.

Al Jazeera's Steve Chao reports from Port-Au-Prince.

[February