Twelve people, including eight Turks, have been abducted in Haiti where insecurity is growing

Leaving the capital Santo Domingo at 9 am and heading to Port-au-Prince, the bus is there a Dominican driver, a Haitian hostess and 10 passengersaccording to indications given Monday by Michaelle Durandis, representative of the Metro bus company.

Of the 10 passengers, there were 8 Turks and 2 Haitianshe said into the microphone of Haitian radio Vision 2000, and added that he had no contact with his colleagues after crossing the border in the middle of the afternoon.

The young Turkish nationals, five boys and three girls, who were abducted east of the capital, between the towns of Croix-des-Bouquets and Ganthier, were aged 20 to 26, Hugues told AFP on Monday. Josué, Honorary Consul of Turkey in Haiti.

Upon their abduction, as they got off the bus where they were, they had time to contact their organization.he pointed out. They are cooperators for an organization that promotes educationHe added.

The Haitian Association for the Promotion of Education (ASHAPE), of which they are members, has been working in the country since 2019 and provides language and Muslim religious education courses, according to its website.

An area controlled by the “400 mawozo” gang

On the sideline of presenting his half -year report to the press Monday noon, Frantz Elbé, director general of Haitian police, simply indicated that his institution was know and [qu’]he is working on this casewithout giving further details on what he considered a sensitive file.

For several years, one of the most powerful gangs in Haiti called 400 mawozocontrolled the area between the Dominican Republic and Port-au-Prince, where Turkish nationals were abducted.

Last April, this armed gang kidnapped 10 people, including 2 French Catholic clerics.

In the fall, a group of 17 North American missionaries and their family members, including five children, aged 8 months to 15 years, were held hostage by this gang for several weeks.

Growing insecurity

For decades, armed gangs ravaged Port-au-Prince’s poorest neighborhoods, but they have increased their grip on the Haitian capital and the country in recent years, increasing killings and atrocities. that kidnapping.

More than twenty kidnappings for ransom have been committed by gangs since the beginning of May in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area.

On Monday, two charity hospitals in the capital announced that they were closing their activities until further notice following the kidnapping of one of their pediatricians on Thursday.

Without the presence of health personnel, victims in many instances, cannot reach health facilities safely, health care cannot be delivered.refers to the public note signed by Richard Fréchette, president of the foundation Our little brothers and sisters, present in Haiti for more than 30 years.

Thousands of Port-au-Princiens fled the capital

He also erected burning tire barricades in the center of the capitol on Monday, near the general tax office, a sign of anger by employees and residents following the kidnapping, near his home on Sunday. , member of the management public administration.

The rise in kidnapping cases came after two weeks of violent clashes between gangs in the northern suburb of Port-au-Prince, which pushed more than 9,000 residents to flee these neighborhoods.

At least 75 civilians were killed, including women and children, in this violence between two rival gangs, the UN announced on Friday, which reported the existence, citing local sources, ofacts of sexual violence, including gang rape of children under the age of 10, to intimidate and intimidate local populations.

Three weeks after the start of this violence, the Haitian government has not yet commented on this situation or on the resurgence of kidnappings, a context that is driving Port-au-Prince residents into continuing fear.