A group of 17 American missionaries, including children, were kidnapped in Haiti on Saturday. According to a message from Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries, the missionaries were on their way home from constructing an orphanage.
NBC News reported the message stated that the field director of the mission is working with the U.S. Embassy and that his family, along with one other unnamed man, stayed at the ministry’s base while everyone else visiting the orphanage was taken. The message also said, “This is a special prayer alert. Pray that the gang members would come to repentance.”
A U.S. government representative stated they were aware of the reports on the kidnapping and that “the welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad is one of the highest priorities of the Department of State.” Five men, five children, and seven women reportedly make up the kidnapped group, 16 of which are U.S. citizens and one Canadian citizen, according to Christian Aid Ministries.
The group issued a statement saying, “Join us in praying for those who are being held hostage, the kidnappers, and the families, friends, and churches of those affected. Pray for those who are seeking God’s direction and making decisions regarding this matter.”
Haitian police inspector Frantz Champagne said the 400 Mawozo gang is responsible for kidnapping the group from Ganthier, a commune approximately an hour east of the capital of Port-au-Prince. The group is also suspected of kidnapping five priests and two nuns in Haiti earlier this year. A deacon was also killed in front of a church in Port-au-Prince last month, and his wife was kidnapped. Recently, many kidnappings have taken place.
According to officials, the gang, whose name loosely translates to “400 inexperienced men,” controls the Croix-des-Bouquets region, including Ganthier, where they commit kidnappings, carjackings, and extort business owners.
After President Jovenel Moïse was tragically murdered at his private house on July 7, and following a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that devastated southwest Haiti in August and killed more than 2,200 people, Haiti is again dealing with tragedy in a surge in gang-related kidnappings. Authorities said gangs had sought ransoms ranging from a few hundred dollars to more than $1 million and have kidnapped school children, doctors, police officers, busloads of people as they continue to grow stronger.
A study released last month by the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti, or BINUH, showed that at least 328 abductions were reported to Haiti’s National Police in the first eight months of 2021, compared to 234 for the entire year of 2020.
The report also stated, “Political turmoil, the surge in gang violence, deteriorating socioeconomic conditions—including food insecurity and malnutrition—all contribute to the worsening of the humanitarian situation. An overstretched and under-resourced police force alone cannot address the security ills of Haiti.” Recently, the United Nations Security Council decided to extend the U.N. political mission in Haiti.
The missionaries’ kidnapping comes just days after high-ranking U.S. officials visited Haiti and promised more resources for Haiti’s National Police, including an additional $15 million to help reduce gang violence, which has displaced thousands of Haitians this year.
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