A group of 17 American and Canadian missionaries were kidnapped in Port-au-Prince while leaving an orphanage. The armed group “400 Mawozo”, one of the most dangerous in Haiti, is responsible for the kidnapping, according to sources quoted by the newspapers. New York Times and Washington Post. On Saturday morning, the criminal gang diverted several cars traveling on routes under its control and kidnapped American and Canadian missionaries, as well as Haitian citizens.
The group kidnapped on Saturday consisted of 5 children and 12 adults, all of them members of the missionaries association Christian Aid Ministries, based in the state of Ohio. This was confirmed by the same association in a statement in which it specifies that, of those kidnapped, 16 are Americans and one is Canadian, and that, of the 12 adults, 7 are women and 5 are men.
“We ask for urgent prayers for the group of Christian Aid Ministries workers who were kidnapped while on a trip to visit an orphanage on Saturday, October 16,” says the document posted on the missionary group’s website, adding: “We are looking for guidance from God to resolve this, and the authorities are looking for ways to help.”.
One of the Americans kidnapped when the Christian mission returned from visiting an orphanage in the Fond Parisien commune asked for help in a message posted on a WhatsApp group just after the kidnapping, he assured the Washington Post a source familiar with what happened. “Please pray for us! They have taken us hostage, they have kidnapped our driver. Pray, pray, pray. We don’t know where they are taking us.”, expressed the message in a desperate tone.
Kidnappings have become sadly common in Haiti since the beginning of 2020. They occur indiscriminately and affect people of any social class, since they have become a source of financing for the armed gangs that control numerous neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince and other areas of the country.
As denounced this month by the Center for Analysis of Research in Human Rights (CARDH), Haiti has registered an “exponential” increase in kidnappings in the last two months, with 117 in September, a figure that is 60 percent more than in August. . Since the beginning of the year, 628 kidnappings have been reported in the country, including 29 foreigners of three nationalities, although the CARDH indicates that this figure will increase as other countries provide data on their citizens.
The gangs granted a brief truce in the two-week kidnappings between the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, perpetrated on the 7th of July, and his burial, carried out on the 23rd of the same month, but later they reactivated their activity, according to a report from the UN office in Haiti sent to the Security Council on September 27.
The clashes between the gangs for the control of territories caused the displacement of about 19 thousand people in Port-au-Prince at the beginning of June, caused roadblocks and difficulties in the supply of goods to some regions of the country.
In August, the authorities had to negotiate a new truce with the gangs to allow the passage of humanitarian convoys destined to attend the areas affected by the devastating earthquake that caused great destruction in the south of the country, where there are at least 690 thousand victims .
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