(Port-au-Prince) Six nuns and two other people kidnapped last Friday in Port-au-Prince were released, we learned Thursday from the archdiocese of the capital of Haiti, where kidnappings are increasing these last weeks.
“The Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince gives thanks to the Lord for the release of the six nuns and other people who were kidnapped with them on January 19,” explains a note from the archdiocese sent to AFP on Thursday.
Their kidnapping, which occurred in a context of an increase in kidnappings in this small poor Caribbean country, was announced by the Haitian Conference of Religious (CHR).
According to an official of the organization contacted by AFP, the nuns were kidnapped while they were going to the various educational establishments in which they work. A driver and a young girl who accompanied them were kidnapped at the same time, the CHR said in a press release.
Pope Francis called for their release on Sunday and said he was praying “for social harmony in the country”.
“I invite everyone to stop the violence which is causing so much suffering to this dear population,” added the sovereign pontiff.
The archdiocese did not specify whether a ransom had been paid.
Kidnappings of strangers and personalities have been increasing for several weeks in Port-au-Prince and on certain national roads, while the country is prey to gang violence, which last year controlled around 80% of the capital. .
The CHR expressed its “joy” after the latest releases, but stressed that it would only be “total” if “all the families who mourn the kidnapping of a loved one could be with us”.
Faced with a deep economic, security and political crisis, the UN Security Council gave its agreement in October to send a multinational mission to Haiti led by Kenya to help the overwhelmed Haitian police.
The Kenyan parliament approved the deployment of 1,000 police officers in November, but the mission remains pending a decision from the Nairobi High Court expected on Friday.
Haitian Foreign Minister Jean Victor Généus sounded the alarm Thursday before the UN Security Council, declaring that “the Haitian people can no longer take it” in the face of the “barbarity” of armed gangs, similar to what war zones experience “that move the world”.
The number of homicides more than doubled in 2023 compared to 2022, with nearly 5,000 deaths, including more of 2700 civilians.