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International Ireland calls on Haiti to secure release of group kidnapped from local orphanage

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An Irish missionary and three-year-old child are among eight people taken by gunmen who stormed the place

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Members of the Haitian national police fire their weapons after an attack by an armed gang in Kenscoff. Photograph: Patrice Noel/EPA

Ireland’s foreign ministry has called on Haitian authorities to ensure “everything is done” to secure the release of a group of people, including an Irish missionary and a three-year-old child, taken by gunmen who stormed a local orphanage.

Simon Harris, the Irish foreign minister, spoke with his Haitian counterpart overnight, the government said in a statement, during which they agreed to stay in touch on their work to ensure the group is released, including missionary Gena Heraty who oversees the orphanage.

“It is imperative that she is released immediately,” Harris said separately on social media.

The attacks took place over the weekend when gunmen stormed the orphanage in Kenscoff, a mountainous community on the outskirts of the capital Port-au-Prince that has been under deadly attacks by armed gangs since the start of this year.

Father Richard Frechette, who works with Nos Petits Freres et Soeurs, the international charity that runs the orphanage, said that eight people had been kidnapped, including the three-year-old boy, six staff members and Heraty, who heads special needs programs at the orphanage.

“We have not yet been able to reach a ransom agreement to free them,” he said.

“We hope for their fast and safe return,” the charity added on social media. “Our commitment to the Haitian people remains as strong as ever.”


Heraty, who has lived in Haiti since 1993, runs the orphanage, which cares for up to 270 children. She is the latest in a string foreign missionaries to become the victim of kidnapping in Haiti.

Armed gangs have in recent years targeted a number of religious, charitable and medical aid groups, including hospitals, NGOs, nuns and priests from congregations based in and around the capital, as well as foreign missionaries.

The majority of kidnapping victims are Haitian citizens who are seized and held for ransom, often picked opportunistically from the gridlocked traffic of the capital Port-au-Prince.

More than 3,100 people were killed and 336 kidnapped for ransom in the first half of this year in Haiti, according to BINUH estimates, as the number of residents displaced by the extended conflict with the powerful gangs – largely grouped behind a coalition called Viv Ansanm, or “Live Together” – nearly doubled to 1.3 million.

A recent report by the UN office in Haiti (BINUH) found the situation remained “very volatile” in Kenscoff while gangs intensified and expanded their attacks in central Haiti and the agricultural Artibonite region.

BINUH considers Kenscoff of “major strategic importance” as it overlooks the suburb of Petion-Ville, one of the capital’s last hold-outs and the site of multiple embassies, banking institutions and hotels serving as diplomatic meeting places.

Haitian authorities have repeatedly called for more resources to fight the gangs. A partially deployed and deeply under-equipped UN-backed mission kicked off over a year ago but has had little effect in slowing gangs’ advances.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/05/ireland-haiti-kidnap-orphanage

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/04/haiti-mass-kidnapping-orphanage
 
But are they eating the dogs?

How is Haiti so screwed up? Anyone have cliffs? I have zero idea why that country is always so fucked up? But it's never good news coming out of there

Also.. Haiti has been a just a giant USAID money laundering scheme for decades. Billions and billions sent there and nothing is ever done. Sounds like a typical blue city to me




2016 Haitian Reporter, “The whole world has given billions.” They say Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton stole itUSAID Haiti Scam “$4.4B spent, 6 homes built”Of all the contracts, “Haitian companies got just 2%”“Where is the money Hillary Clinton raised with the Clinton foundation, Haiti did not get even 2%”“So, Mr. Trump, we are asking you, begging you, the Haitian community will side with you if one day you ask Hillary Clinton publicly to disclose the audit of all the money they have stolen from Haiti in 2010 after the earthquake”



Going all the way back to 1991...

Ex-Ambassador Admits France & U.S. Orchestrated 2004 Coup in Haiti to Oust Aristide​

 
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Also... We can fuck around in Israel? And other middle east countries?

But we can let Haiti's government just completely collapse and fall to criminal warlords last year?




Former Haiti hostage predicts that the kidnappers will be tough to negotiate with..

 
What can be done to fix this ?

I remember goung to the Domincan to play golf years ago and that looked like a poor AF third world country other than resorts. They said they are paradise compared to Hati.
 
Has there been a shittier overall country in the 21st century than Haiti?
 
What can be done to fix this ?

I remember goung to the Domincan to play golf years ago and that looked like a poor AF third world country other than resorts. They said they are paradise compared to Hati.

Yea it always amazes me when my dad talks about wanting to retire in Dominican Republic. I'm just like "Why?". Other than the resorts the rest of the country can be very depressing. Watching kids beg for money on the streets and shit. The only thing I enjoyed about it is the fact that everyone is still outside doing shit with other people and the morning bread\cheese cart is amazing.
 
What can be done to fix this ?

I remember goung to the Domincan to play golf years ago and that looked like a poor AF third world country other than resorts. They said they are paradise compared to Hati.
- Nothing outside a strong armed force. And honestly killing al gang members
 
Crazy that as recent as last year America had an open border with Haiti.

Is there many Haitians still prowling about the US?
 
But are they eating the dogs?

How is Haiti so screwed up? Anyone have cliffs? I have zero idea why that country is always so fucked up? But it's never good news coming out of there

Also.. Haiti has been a just a giant USAID money laundering scheme for decades. Billions and billions sent there and nothing is ever done. Sounds like a typical blue city to me
- They had to pay 20 bi to get independece from France, so never invested in infrastructure. They were also stupid enough to kill several of their proeminent people and that dragged their economy. Lack of natural resources dont atrack international interests here. They do have bilionaires here, so those people have interest in keeping this contrie a hellhole.
 

A new leadership is appointed in Haiti as gangs threaten to overthrow the government​


BY EVENS SANON AND DÁNICA COTO
Updated 6:52 PM BRT, August 7, 2025
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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A wealthy businessman on Thursday became the head of Haiti’s transitional presidential council tasked with restoring order in the troubled country as a top gang leader underscored the challenges facing the nation by vowing to overthrow the government.

Laurent Saint-Cyr’s appointment at the council’s heavily guarded office in the capital, Port-au-Prince, where criminal gangs control 90% of the neighborhoods, marked the first time that members of Haiti’s private sector serve in both the rotating presidency and the post of prime minister, two positions that share the country’s executive duties.

Saint-Cyr had his start at a local insurance company while Haiti’s current prime minister once ran an internet firm.

“Our country is going through one of the greatest crises in all its history,” Saint-Cyr said as he was sworn in. “It’s not the time for beautiful speeches. It’s time to act.”

Gang leader issues a warning​

Hours earlier, a powerful gang federation that has long denounced Haiti’s oligarchs threatened to overthrow the government, and gunfire erupted in parts of the capital.

In a video posted on social media, Viv Ansanm gang leader Jimmy Chérizier — better known as “Barbecue” — warns residents to give his armed group free passage through neighborhoods to reach the council’s office.
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“People of Haiti, take care of yourselves and help us … in the battle to free the country,” Chérizier says, wearing a bulletproof vest and with an automatic rifle slung around his shoulder.

A U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police said in a statement that officers thwarted potential attacks by around-the-clock patrols and by boosting the number of armed forces in certain neighborhoods and around critical infrastructure.

“Armed gangs had plotted to disrupt national stability and render the country ungovernable,” it said.

A call for order​

Saint-Cyr thanked all national and international actors who have helped Haiti, as well as the private sector, which he called the engine of the country’s economy. He noted that while he’s from the private sector, he would serve all people equally.

Saint-Cyr previously served as president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Haiti and of the country’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He’ll be working with Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, a one-time president of an internet company in Haiti and also a former president of the country’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Saint-Cyr said security was a priority. He called on the armed forces to intensify their operations and on international partners to send more soldiers, offer more training and help boost a mission lacking resources and personnel.
“We must restore state authority,” he said. “The challenges we face are certainly linked to insecurity, but they also are the result of our lack of courage, a lack of vision and our irresponsibility.”

He questioned what was preventing the government from offering services Haitians deserve, including health and education. “Mister prime minister, assume your responsibilities!” he said.

Meanwhile, 58 organizations from countries that include the United States in a letter to Saint-Cyr accused the council of violating its legal obligations to Haiti’s women and girls.

“Collective rape is endemic,” they said, noting that sexual violence has surged as gangs persist in their rampage. The organizations also accused Haiti’s government of being “completely absent” at shelters where rape survivors need basic services.

A growing number of people have grumbled about Haiti’s private sector leading the country. Some of Haiti’s wealthy elites and powerful politicians have long been accused of financing and arming dozens of gangs.

“The elites have always wanted power, and they have always wanted to control Haiti, and now they’re in control,” said Marline Jean-Pierre, a 44-year-old teacher who braved gunfire to visit a friend at a hospital in downtown Port-au-Prince.
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She said she has lost hope that things will change, accusing former council presidents of making promises they didn’t keep.

“Nothing really happened,” she said. “Young women are being raped, families are being dismantled.”

However, dozens of Haitians wearing white T-shirts and clutching signs emblazoned with Saint-Cyr’s photograph gathered outside the council’s office to support him.

Skirmishes broke out hours later between supporters and those who opposed Saint-Cyr.
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https://apnews.com/article/haiti-cpt-laurent-st-cyr-gang-violence-8621c5e1678baf841efae14745f569e0
 
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