Group reports US missionaries, children kidnapped in Haiti by gangs
A group of U.S. missionaries and their families reportedly was kidnapped by gang members in Haiti after leaving an orphanage Saturday
USA TODAY, Wochit
A notorious gang with a history of major kidnappings abducted a group of U.S. missionaries and their families as they left a Haitian orphanage, Haitian police said Sunday.
The abductions Saturday came days after a team of U.S. officials visited the impoverished nation and pledged support for its anti-gang measures.
Seventeen people, including children, were seized near the capital of Port-au-Prince, the Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries said. A voice message from the ministry, obtained by the Associated Press, said the group’s field director was not with the group that was taken and was working with the U.S. Embassy.
“This is a special prayer alert,” the message said. “Pray that the gang members … come to repentance.”
The missionaries were on their way home, the message said. Christian Aid Ministries did not immediately respond to an email from USA TODAY.
Haitian police inspector Frantz Champagne said a gang called 400 Mawozo abducted the group that included some elderly people and a 2-year-old. The ministry’s former field director, Dan Hooley, told The New York Times that all of the adults were staff members for the group, and that two young children were among those taken.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson said officials were aware of reports on Saturday’s incident.
“The welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad is one of the highest priorities of the Department of State,” the spokesperson said, declining further comment.
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Gédéon Jean, director of the Center for Analysis and Research in Human Rights in Port-au-Prince, which monitors kidnappings, told The Washington Post that local authorities believed the captives included 16 Americans and one Canadian citizen.
Kidnappings have been on the rise in Haiti, with gangs demanding ransoms that in some cases exceed $1 million.
Saturday’s abduction comes just days after an entourage of U.S. officials held talks with leading Haiti’s police chief and other top Haitian officials. The effort was led by Uzra Zeya, U.S. under secretary of state for civilian security, democracy, and human rights. The U.S. pledged $15 million to help reduce gang violence.
“The U.S. supports inclusive, Haitian-led solutions to Haitian challenges,” Zeya tweeted last week. “I was heartened to meet w/ Haitian civil society leaders and learn about their vision for their nation’s future. We’re listening to Haitian voices, & civil society is essential for every nation to thrive.”
The National Association of Owners and Drivers of Haiti called a nationwide strike for Monday to denounce increasing security breakdowns in the country, particularly acts of violence targeting transport workers. GardaWorld Corporation, a Canadian private security firm that operates in Haiti, said the strike could prompt rallies across the nation.
“There is a heightened threat of violence and disruptions at all demonstrations in the country,” the firm warned.
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In recent months, 400 Mawozo members have increasingly engaged in mass kidnappings involving buses and carloads of victims. In April, the gang kidnapped five priests and two nuns, prompting multiple Catholic universities and schools to close in protest.
At least 328 kidnapping victims were reported to Haiti’s National Police in the first eight months of 2021, compared with a total of 234 for all of 2020, according to a report issued last month by the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti known as BINUH.
Haiti, by most measures, is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. Political instability has heightened in recent months with the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July. In August, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake killed more than 2,200 people and destroyed more than 130,000 homes, along with roads and other infrastructure, according to the United Nations. Days later Tropical Storm Grace rolled across the country, dumping up to 10 inches of rain and causing widespread flooding.
Moïse’s successor, Prime Minister Ariel Henry, has become embroiled in the investigation into Moïse’s murder as Henry’s government struggles to meet the needs of disaster victims.
Haitians trying to flee the battered country have found a mixed reaction from President Joe Biden’s administration, which has struggled to respond to the arrival of thousands of Haitian migrants at the U.S. southern border. Biden’s advisers have relied on a Trump administration policy, adopted during the pandemic, to send Haitians back to their country without allowing them to make an asylum claim.
The U.S. special envoy for Haiti, Daniel Foote, resigned his post last month over what he called the Biden administration’s “inhumane” decision to repatriate thousands of Haitian migrants seeking asylum in the U.S.
Contributing: Marc Sony Ricot and Deirdre Shesgreen, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
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