Haiti: US missionaries still held captive by group kidnapped in October released

Photo: REUTERS / copyright

The 12 missionaries who were still captive from the group of 17 religious who were kidnapped in Haiti last October have been released.

This was confirmed this Thursday by the Christian Aid Ministries organization on its website.

Five of the hostages were released in recent weeks.

The group, formed by a Canadian and 16 Americans, including minors, was abducted after visiting an orphanage in a region controlled by a powerful criminal gang.

They were returning from their visit when the bus they were traveling in was intercepted by gang members on a main city road of Ganthier, east of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince.

In the group hab There were five men, seven women and five minors. The adults were between the ages of 18 and the 48 years, while the children were all under 15 years.

When the group was abducted last 16 October Daily The Washington Post noted that one of the religious sent a message by WhatsApp in the one who asked for help.

“Please pray for us! They have kidnapped us, they have captured our driver. Pray, pray, pray. We don’t know where they are taking us ”, it said.

The band known as 400 Mazowo requested a ransom of US $ 1 million for each of the 17 kidnapped.

Two of them were released in November and another three in early December, but their identities were not disclosed.

All The members of the group are now finally released, two months after the kidnapping.

Released after trading weeks with 400 Mazowo , police spokesman Gary Desrosiers told AFP, and ends an odyssey he received international attention to the growing problem of kidnappings in Haiti.

It is not known if there was a ransom payment nor is it clear what happened to the bus driver.

Increase in kidnappings

Kidnapping is one of the main activities you use 400 Mazowo to finance itself.

Last April, its members kidnapped a group of Catholic clergymen who were later released ; It is also not known whether a ransom was paid.

Haiti has one of the highest rates of kidnappings in the world, in a context in which powerful gangs exploit the situation of chaos to benefit from the payment of ransoms.

This year was particularly bad, with near 800 kidnappings reported before the end of October .

The increase has occurred after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse last July, with rival factions fighting for control of the country.

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