PORT-AU-PRINCE, April 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — France has activated its foreign ministry crisis centre after seven Catholic clergy, five of them Haitian and two French, were abducted in the restive island nation of Haiti, the ministry said after the kidnappers demanded a million dollar ransom.
The Quai d’Orsay’s “crisis and support centre … as well as our embassy in Haiti are fully mobilised in close relationship with local authorities”, it said, without giving further details “for reasons of efficiency and security”.
The statement came as the French Bishops’ Conference and other French clergy expressed “their deep concern” and urged “the kidnappers to free the men and women of peace they have kidnapped and not to add more hatred where there is already poverty and insecurity”.
The five priests and two nuns were abducted on Sunday morning in Croix-des-Bouquets, a town northeast of the capital Port-au-Prince, while they were “on their way to the installation of a new parish priest,” Father Loudger Mazile, the spokesman of the Bishop’s Conference for the island nation, said.
The kidnappers had demanded a US$1 million ransom for the group, which includes one French priest and one French nun, he added.
The Haitian Conference of Religious (CHR) said in a statement three other people had also been kidnapped at same time.
Authorities suspect an armed gang called “400 Mawozo” – which is active in kidnappings – is behind the abduction, according to a police source.
Kidnappings for ransom have surged in recent months in Port-au-Prince and other provinces, reflecting the growing influence of armed gangs in the Caribbean nation.
In March, the Haitian government declared a month-long state of emergency to restore state authority in gang-controlled areas, including in the capital.
The measure was motivated by the actions of armed gangs who “kidnap people for ransom, openly declaring it, steal and loot public and private property, and openly confront the public security forces”, according to the presidential decree.
The rise in gang violence and political instability have recently drawn protesters onto the streets of Port-au-Prince.
A week ago, hundreds of female protesters rallied in the city against the growing power of gangs, which has led to a spike in kidnappings for ransom.
Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, has also been in a months-long political crisis.
President Jovenel Moise maintains that his term of office runs until Feb 7, 2022, but others claim it ended on Feb 7, 2021.
The disagreement stems from the fact that Moise was elected in a vote that was cancelled for fraud, and then re-elected a year later.
Without a parliament, the country fell further into crisis in 2020, and Moise is governing by decree, fuelling growing mistrust of him.
Amid the instability, Moise has said he plans to hold a constitutional referendum in June. — NNN-AGENCIES