Religious organization Christian Aid Ministries (CAM, “Christian Aid Services”) has confirmed the kidnapping in Haiti of a group of 16 US citizens and one Canadian citizen. This was announced in a statement released on Sunday, October 17, on the group’s website.
“We ask you to urgently pray for the group of Christian Aid Ministries workers who were abducted on Saturday, October 16, during a trip to visit an orphanage. We are looking for God’s guidance to solve the problem, and the authorities are looking for ways to help, ”the organization said.
The abducted group includes 5 men, 7 women and 5 children. The religious organization does not provide any other details of the abduction.
In turn, US Congressman Adam Kinzinger said that the authorities need to track where the abducted are, and find out whether it is possible to agree on their release without paying a ransom or whether the military or police will have to be used to ensure the freedom of missionaries. CNN…
Based in Ohio and founded in 1981, Christian Aid Ministries has worked in Haiti for at least 15 years. website organizations. CAM distributes food and clothing, funds schools, teaches agricultural practices, and helps in emergencies. Members of the organization regularly fundraise for Haiti across the United States, selling food, blankets, and other goods they manufacture.
In 2019, CAM announced that one of its former employees confessed to molesting boys while working in Haiti. A year later, the man announced the settlement of a civil lawsuit in Haiti and the provision of victim assistance in the amount of $ 420,000.
On October 16, 17 US Christian missionaries and their family members were reportedly kidnapped by a gang in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. At the time of the abduction, the missionaries were on a bus that was supposed to take them to the airport. The newspaper does not provide any other details.
Haiti has been in a state of political turmoil for many years, and the abduction of both the rich and the poor has become commonplace in the country, stresses The New York Times… However, the abduction of such a large number of Americans shocked US officials with their insolence.
According to the newspaper, there is currently a wave of violence in Port-au-Prince. According to some estimates, criminal gangs control about half of the city. On Monday, October 11, gang members fired at a school bus in the capital, injuring at least five people, including schoolchildren, and a shuttle bus was also hijacked.
On August 23, the Department of State, in a statement to website warned American citizens against traveling to Haiti, citing the risk of kidnapping, crime, civil unrest and the coronavirus situation.
On 7 July, Haitian President Jovenel Moise was fatally wounded in an attack on his residence. Among those detained in connection with the assassination of the president, there are US citizens who said that they had no purpose to kill the president, they only played the role of translators. According to them, a foreigner Mike ordered the assassination of the Haitian leader.
After the death of Jovenel Moise, a political crisis erupted in the country.
On September 15, the former speaker of the Haitian Senate, Joseph Lambert, was unable to take the oath due to a shootout that took place outside the parliament building. The Senate intended to elect Lambert as interim president of the country.
On the same day, the Haitian prosecutor’s office demanded to assign the country’s Prime Minister Ariel Henri the status of a defendant in the case of organizing the assassination of the president.