Missionaries kidnapped by notorious crime gang in Haiti

The ‘400 Mawozo’ are thought to be responsible for abduction of 17 Christian charity workers

A GROUP of 17 Christian Aid Ministries workers and their families – 16 Americans and one Canadian – were kidnapped at gunpoint by a notorious criminal gang in Haiti over the weekend, in a sign of the fast deteriorating security situation in the country.

Five men, seven women and five children, including a two-year-old, were abducted as they made their way home from a project building to an orphanage between 8am and 10am on Saturday.

One of the abducted Americans sent a message on Whatsapp calling for help while the kidnapping was taking place, according to The Washington Post.

“Please pray for us!! We are being held hostage, they kidnapped our driver. Pray pray pray. We don’t know where they are taking us,” the message said.

The missionaries were working for Christian Aid Ministries, an Ohio-based group funded in 1981 carrying out charitable projects on behalf of Amish, Mennonite, and other conservative Anabaptist groups.

“The mission field director and the American Embassy are working to see what can be done,” the organisation said in a message sent to various religious missions. “This is a special prayer alert,” it added. “Pray that the gang members will come to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.”

The organisation did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.

All of those seized are believed to be American apart from one Canadian, according to Gédéon Jean, the director of the Centre for Analysis and Research in Human Rights in Port-au-prince.

The kidnapping is understood to have been carried out by the “400 Mawozo” gang, which controls the area between Port-au-prince and the border with the Dominican Republic and regularly conducts kidnappings, carjackings and extortion of business owners, according to authorities.

In April, the same gang seized around a dozen hostages from another religious group, including a French priest and nun. They were released following a ransom payment.

On Saturday, the gang reportedly mounted a roadblock at Ganthier, a town 21 miles east of Port-au-prince before pulling the hostages from their convoy of vehicles, according to police sources quoted in Le Nouvelliste, a Haitian media outlet.

A US government spokesman said they were aware of the reports about the kidnapping. “The welfare and safety of US citizens abroad is one of the highest priorities of the Department of State,” the spokesman said, declining to comment further.

Hostage-taking has become increasingly endemic in Haiti. At least 328 kidnapping victims were reported in the first eight months of 2021, compared with a total of 234 for all of 2020, according to a report issued last month by the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti, known as BINUH.

The problem reflects the breakdown of law and order in Haiti since the assassination of president Jovenel Moise in July and an earthquake the following month.