Status: 10/17/2021 9:37 a.m.
In Haiti, at least 15 US missionaries and their families have apparently been kidnapped by a criminal gang. Children are said to have been among them.
In the crisis-ridden Caribbean state of Haiti, at least 15 US missionaries have been kidnapped by an armed gang. The group “400 Mawozo”, which has been up to mischief in the region for months, brought 15 to 17 people under their control in a suburb of the capital Port-au-Prince, reports several media outlets. An unspecified number of Haitian citizens are also said to have been kidnapped in the attack.
The missionaries and their families had returned from a visit to an orphanage about 30 kilometers east of Port-au-Prince when the gang struck and kidnapped people in their vehicles, security sources said. According to the information, children were also among the abductees. It is unclear whether there is a ransom demand. Some members of the religious organization based in the US state of Ohio were reportedly for the first time in Haiti.
A US government spokesman said Washington was aware of the reports. The well-being and safety of American citizens is a top priority at the State Department, he said. He did not want to give any further information.
More and more kidnappings in Haiti
As recently as April, ten people, including two French religious, were kidnapped by the same gang in the same region. Armed groups have controlled the poorest neighborhoods of the Haitian capital for years and have extended their power to the surrounding area.
Kidnappings are becoming more common. According to the Center for Human Rights Analysis and Research, based in Port-au-Prince, more than 600 abduction cases were recorded between January and September this year, compared to 231 in the same period last year. The gangs are demanding ransom payments, some of which exceed a million dollars. The vast majority of women abducted by criminal groups are sexually abused, as denounced by human rights organizations.
Haiti is currently in a deep political and economic crisis. In July, President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in the poor Caribbean country. A severe earthquake struck the south-west of the country in August. 130,000 houses were destroyed and more than 2,200 people died.