PORT-AU-PRINCE: Nine individuals, including an Irish missionary and a three-year-old child, were kidnapped from an orphanage near Haiti’s capital in a pre-dawn raid on Sunday.
The attack targeted the Sainte-Helene orphanage in Kenscoff, approximately 10 kilometres southeast of Port-au-Prince.
Gena Heraty, an Irish national who has managed the facility since 1993, was among those abducted.
The orphanage, run by the humanitarian group “Nos Petits Frères et Sœurs,“ provides care for up to 270 children.
Kenscoff Mayor Masillon Jean described the incident as a “planned act,“ stating that the attackers breached a wall to enter the property before seizing nine hostages.
No gunfire was reported during the raid.
A source close to the organisation confirmed that Heraty contacted them early Sunday to verify her abduction.
No ransom demands have been made public.
Heraty becomes the latest foreign missionary targeted in Haiti’s escalating gang violence.
In 2021, two French priests were kidnapped and later released, while 17 American and Canadian missionaries were held hostage by the same gang.
The “Viv Ansanm” gang, active in Kenscoff, has intensified its control over the region.
The UN reports over 3,141 deaths in Haiti this year due to gang-related violence, deepening the nation’s instability. – AFP
