News update
Ransoms have surged as Haiti struggles with widespread gang violence, particularly around its capital Port-au-Prince.
Eight people, including an Irish missionary and a three-year-old child, have been released following a kidnapping at an orphanage in Haiti.
The announcement on Friday ended nearly a month of captivity for the group, which included Irish missionary Gena Heraty, the director of a special needs programme for children and adults at the Saint-Helene orphanage.
“We warmly welcome the news that Gena and all of the Haitian nationals taken captive on [August 3]including a small child, have been released and are reported to be safe and well,” Ireland’s Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Harris said in a statement posted on X.
Kidnappings and ransoms have become increasingly common in Haiti, where gang violence has surged amid overlapping political, humanitarian and security crises.
The targeted orphanage was located in the southeast of the capital, Port-au-Prince, where the United Nations estimates gangs control nearly 90 percent of the territory.
Run by the international charity Nos Petits Freres et Soeurs, the orphanage cares for more than 240 children, according to its website.
Further details of the release were not immediately available. No group claimed responsibility for the attack on the school in early August, although the area is controlled by the Viv Ansanm gang federation.
In a statement, Heraty’s family said they were “relieved beyond words”.
“We continue to hold Haiti in our hearts and hope for peace and safety for all those who are affected by the ongoing armed violence and insecurity there,” they wrote.
In April 2021, two French priests were among 10 people kidnapped by the “400 Mawozo” gang before they were released nearly three weeks later.
The gang took 17 American and Canadian missionaries hostage from a bus six months later.
Friday’s release came as the UN Security Council began talks to bolster a floundering international police force deployed to Haiti starting in June 2024 to counter the rising violence.
Just under 1,000 personnel, mostly Kenyan, are currently in the country as part of the US-backed mission, a number far below the 2,500 troops originally expected.
A draft proposal, put forth by the US and Panama this week, seeks to transition the mission into a so-called “Gang Suppression Force”.
The proposal would authorise a deployment of up to 5,500 personnel and establish a UN office in Port-au-Prince to provide “full logistical support” for rations, fuel, medical services, ground transportation and surveillance from drones.
It further laid out a plan to encourage more voluntary funding and resources, but the draft did not directly address the current mission’s lagging support. Earlier this month, the UN said its effort to bring stability to Haiti was less than 10 percent funded.
UN missions remain controversial in Haiti, with past deployments resulting in a sexual abuse scandal and cholera epidemic that killed more than 9,000 people.
Still, the country’s leaders have requested external help as violence and displacement have surged.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has said at least 3,141 people have been killed in Haiti in the first half of this year.
On Thursday, the head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that a “staggering” 50 percent of gang members and participants in the country were children.
Source:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
