{"id":319264,"date":"2025-08-05T07:44:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T07:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/319264\/"},"modified":"2025-08-05T07:44:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T07:44:15","slug":"nine-missing-including-child-and-irish-missionary-after-mass-kidnapping-at-haiti-orphanage-haiti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/319264\/","title":{"rendered":"Nine missing, including child and Irish missionary, after mass kidnapping at Haiti orphanage | Haiti"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Irish missionary and a three-year-old child are among nine people missing in Haiti<\/a> after a mass kidnapping from an orphanage in the country\u2019s capital, Port-au-Prince<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The victims were seized from the Sainte-H\u00e9l\u00e8ne orphanage in the commune of Kenscoff, about 6.2 miles (10km) south-east of the capital on Sunday, officials said.<\/p>\n

Among them was Gena Heraty, an Irish missionary who oversees the orphanage \u2013 operated by the humanitarian organization Nos Petits Fr\u00e8res et S\u0153urs (\u201cOur Little Brothers and Sisters\u201d).<\/p>\n

A three-year-old child and seven employees were also taken, according to Kenscoff mayor Massillon Jean and a separate source close to the organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe attackers broke into the orphanage around 3.30 am (7.30 GMT) without opening fire,\u201d Jean said, calling it a \u201cplanned act\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey broke through a wall to enter the property before heading to the building where the director was staying, leaving with nine hostages.\u201d<\/p>\n

No demands or ransom requests have been made, though Heraty called the organization early Sunday to confirm she was among the kidnapped, a source close to the organization told AFP.<\/p>\n

Heraty, who has lived in Haiti<\/a> since 1993, runs the orphanage which cares for up to 270 children.<\/p>\n

She is the latest foreign missionary to become the victim of kidnapping in Haiti.<\/p>\n

In April 2021, two French priests were among 10 people kidnapped<\/a> in Croix-des-Bouquets before they were released nearly three weeks later.<\/p>\n

The same group behind that kidnapping, the 400 Mawazo gang, took a group<\/a> of 17 American and Canadian missionaries hostage six months later.<\/p>\n

Since the start of this year, Kenscoff has found itself in the crosshairs of the Viv Ansanm (\u201cLiving Together\u201d) gang, which has already taken control of several other localities.<\/p>\n

Haiti has been engulfed by a wave<\/a> of<\/a> deadly<\/a> violence<\/a> since the 2021 murder of its president, Jovenel Mo\u00efse. Heavily armed gangs have brought chaos to its capital, Port-au-Prince, since launching an insurrection that toppled the prime minister last year.<\/p>\n

On Monday, the United States on Monday issued a security alert after heavy gunfire erupted near its embassy in Port-au-Prince<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cUS government personnel have paused all official movement outside the embassy compound,\u201d the State Department said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The UN high commissioner for human rights said at least 3,141 people have been killed in Haiti in the first half of this year, where the growing impact of gang violence threatens to further destabilize the nation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Irish missionary and a three-year-old child are among nine people missing in Haiti after a mass kidnapping…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":319265,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[12,26],"class_list":{"0":"post-319264","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-news","9":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114975045468876713","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319264\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}