Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI
Tuesday, 5 August 2025
University of Limerick
Port-au-Prince (Agenzia Fides) – A lay missionary and a three-year-old child with a disability are among the nine people kidnapped by an armed group that attacked an orphanage on the outskirts of the capital on the morning of August 3. The facility is located in the municipality in the greater Port-au-Prince area. The other seven people kidnapped were staff members at the facility.The orphanage, named after Saint Helena, is run by the international charity “Nos Petits Frères et Sœurs” and houses more than 240 children, according to the organization’s official website. Gena Heraty, an Irish lay missionary who has worked in the country for 30 years, had been working there for some time. She was in the facility when the bandits broke in and kidnapped her and a three-year-old child with a disability.This isn’t the first time the lay missionary has experienced such a tragedy. She was the victim of an armed robbery at the same orphanage in 2013. At that time, one of her colleagues was killed with a hammer while trying to protect her.Local authorities, together with UNICEF and the Haitian Institute for Social Welfare, have meanwhile initiated a plan to relocate the staff and children of the orphanage to safer locations. Sunday’s attack is just the latest in a long line of attacks by armed gangs fighting for control of the area. The area where the kidnapping took place is under the influence of the criminal organization “Viv Ansanm,” which was recently designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States.According to the UN Human Rights Office, more than 5,600 people were killed in Haiti in 2024, a dramatic increase of 20 percent over the previous year. According to the UN, at least 175 kidnappings were recorded in Haiti between April and June 2025 alone, 37 percent of them in the capital. The International Organization for Migration estimates that more than one million people were forced to flee their homes due to the violence, three times more than the previous year.Meanwhile, Irish Deputy Prime Minister Simon Harris described Heraty’s kidnapping as “deeply concerning” and called for “the immediate release of all hostages.” However, no group has yet officially claimed responsibility for the attack. The Haitian authorities have not commented on the incident, while families and colleagues of the kidnapped women await news. The Irish Embassy is also closely monitoring developments. (F.B.) (Agenzia Fides, 5/8/2025)
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