Irish missionary among nine Haiti shelters

Nine people, including an Irish missionary and a three-year-old child, were abducted from a shelter near the Haiti capital, Port-Prince on Sunday, officials said.

According to Mayor Masilian Gina, director of the object, the director of the object, taken from the private shelter of St. Helena to Kenscof.

Seven employees and children were also taken from a shelter that cares more than 240 children, some with disabilities.

The attackers invaded the shelter at about 3:30 local time (07:30 GMT), “without opening the fire,” Jean said, calling it a “planned act”.

Gene said the attackers broke through the wall to enter the building where Ms Herati stopped.

The gang members are believed to be responsible for the attack, the Haitian newspaper La Nouvelliste reports.

Ms Herati, who has lived in Haiti since 1993, called the Organization management – our little brothers and sisters – early on Sunday to confirm that she was among the stolen, AFP source said.

According to the source, there were no requirements and requests for redemption.

The Ireland Foreign Affairs Department said he knew about the case and provides consular assistance.

Ms Herat, who was born in Libar, the county, received numerous awards for her humanitarian work, including the Oireithas Award.

Earlier, she said The Irish Times did not intend to leave Haiti, despite the rise of violence in gangs and threats of her own security.

“Children, so I’m still here. We’re this time,” she said in the newspaper in 2022.

Since the beginning of 2025, Kencofi commune on the southern outskirts of Port-Ou-Prince has been one of the urban areas suffering the constant raids and raids of Haiti’s criminal groups, which already control the majority of the capital and the great influences of the inside of the country.

Gaiti police, along with their Kenyan police allies and foreign contractors, using armed drones, repeatedly sought to throw away gangs from their positions and bases, but failed to push them back.

The violence and abduction of the gang are also often found in other areas in Port-O Prince, where the UN says armed groups control about 85% of the city.

On July 7, six UNICEF officers were abducted during an authorized mission in the area, which was controlled by armed groups in Port-OU. Despite the fact that one employee was released the next day, another five weeks were held to the gang for another three weeks.

In the first half of 2025, UN figures show that nearly 350 people were abducted in Haiti. At least 3,141 people were also killed in the same period, the UN Human Rights reported.

The head of the UN Human Rights, Volker Turk, warned that a surge of violence in the gang threatens further destabilization of the nation, and 1.3 million people crossed in June in June.

The UN has stated that families “fight for survival in improvised shelters while faced with health and protection.”