UNICEF Employees Held Hostage for 3 Weeks in Haiti
Six people were kidnapped on July 7 during an authorized UNICEF mission in an area controlled by armed groups in Port-au-Prince, the capital, and one was released the following day, UNICEF said in a statement.
The agency did not say whether any ransom was paid.
Haitian gangs are abducting people for ransom to buy weapons and ammunition as they tighten their violent grip on the capital and surrounding areas. Experts say that gangs are leaning more heavily on their own revenue sources, like extortion, imposing road tolls and kidnappings, allowing them to rely less on elite business leaders, who have traditionally supported them.
Nearly 350 people were kidnapped in the first six months of this year, according to U.N. figures. The U.N. said 1,494 people were kidnapped in 2024, a year that saw a major surge in gang violence.
While there may have been more kidnappings last year, the trend has been on an upward climb over the past few years.
Nearly 300 kidnappings were reported in the first six months of 2023, a figure that matched the total number of documented cases the previous year and was nearly three times the number reported in 2021, according to UNICEF.
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