Irish Woman Missing After Gunmen Storm Haiti Orphanage

Eight people including an Irish missionary and a 3-year-old child remained missing Monday after gunmen stormed an orphanage in Haiti, the latest attack in an area controlled by a powerful collection of armed gangs. Authorities scrambled to relocate dozens of children and staff from the Saint-Hélène orphanage run by Nos Petits Frères et Sœurs, an international charity with offices in Mexico and France, the AP reports. The orphanage cares for more than 240 children, according to its website.

• Among those kidnapped early Sunday was Gena Heraty, an Irish missionary who has worked in Haiti for more than 30 years and oversaw the orphanage. She was assaulted in 2013 when suspects broke into the orphanage and killed her colleague, according to Irish media.

• Sunday's kidnapping occurred in Kenscoff, a once peaceful community in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area. The doors to the orphanage remained closed on Monday as Haiti's Institute of Social Welfare and Research worked with UNICEF to identify sites where children and employees could be relocated.
• No one has claimed responsibility for the kidnappings in an area controlled by a gang federation known as "Viv Ansanm." The US this year designated it as a foreign terrorist organization.
• Simon Harris, Ireland's deputy prime minister, said in a statement that the kidnappings of Heraty and the others were "deeply worrying," and called for their immediate release.
• Heraty, who has lived in Haiti since 1993, has received many awards for her humanitarian work, the BBC reports. In 2022, she told the Irish Times she planned to stay in the country despite rising violence. "The children are why I'm still here," she said. "We're in this together."
• Sunday marked the latest high-profile kidnapping involving a foreign missionary. In 2021, the 400 Mawozo gang kidnapped 17 missionaries, including five children, from a US-based organization in Ganthier, east of Port-au-Prince. The majority were held captive for 61 days.