An Irish missionary and three-year-old child are among eight people taken by gunmen who stormed the place

Ireland’s foreign ministry has called on Haitian authorities to ensure “everything is done” to secure the release of a group of people, including an Irish missionary and a three-year-old child, taken by gunmen who stormed a local orphanage.

Simon Harris, the Irish foreign minister, spoke with his Haitian counterpart overnight, the government said in a statement, during which they agreed to stay in touch on their work to ensure the group is released. Armed gangs have in recent years targeted a number of religious, charitable and medical aid groups, including hospitals, NGOs, nuns and priests from congregations based in and around the capital, as well as foreign missionaries.

The majority of kidnapping victims are Haitian citizens who are seized and held for ransom, often picked opportunistically from the gridlocked traffic of the capital Port-au-Prince.

More than 3,100 people were killed and 336 kidnapped for ransom in the first half of this year in Haiti, according to BINUH estimates, as the number of residents displaced by the extended conflict with the powerful gangs – largely grouped behind a coalition called Viv Ansanm, or “Live Together” – nearly doubled to 1.3 million.

---