A New Hampshire nurse and her daughter were kidnapped by armed men while serving on a mission in Haiti.
“We can confirm that Alix Dorsainvil, our Director’s wife, and their child were kidnapped on the morning of Thursday, July 27th from our campus near Port au Prince while serving in our community ministry,” El Roi Haiti Outreach International wrote in the statement posted to their website.
The U.S. government listed Haiti as a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” non-emergency U.S. government employees and family members of. U.S. government employees were ordered to leave on that same day.
“We are aware of reports of the kidnapping of two U.S. citizens in Haiti,” a State Department spokesperson said in response to an inquiry on the kidnapping Sunday. “We are in regular contact with Haitian authorities and will continue to work with them and our U.S. government interagency partners,” the Boston Herald reported.
The State Department lists “kidnapping, crimes civil unrest, and poor health care infrastructure” as the reason for the advisory.
Cartel-connected human smugglers are using a faster and cheaper way to move primarily Haitian migrants from Mexico City to the border city of Reynosa. https://t.co/krXTrTLsyI
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) February 3, 2023
“U.S. citizens in Haiti should depart Haiti as soon as possible by commercial or other privately available transportation options, in light of the current security situation and infrastructure challenges,” the travel advisory directed. “U.S. citizens wishing to depart Port-au-Prince should monitor local news and only do so when considered safe.”
The 31-year-old works as a community health nurse which includes serving a K-12 school. A patient said armed men busted in.
“When I saw the gun, I was so scared,” Lormina Louima said. “I said, ‘I don’t want to see this, let me go.’”
Gang violence within the nation has escalated dramatically in the past two years, ABC News reported.
The Haitian police announced on Monday that residents of the capital city, Port-au-Prince, overpowered a group of suspected gang members and executed them on the spot by hanging them and setting them on fire. https://t.co/Jwm2xfm4nz
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) April 26, 2023
Matt Rivers of ABC News detailed:
Haitian law enforcement believes there are currently seven major gang coalitions operating across the country, made up of some 200 affiliated groups. That assessment comes from an internal Haitian National Police intelligence document obtained by ABC News.
They are well-armed, violent and determined to increase their own power. In many areas, gang is no longer a sufficient term as they run their own fiefdoms with iron fists, and often with total impunity.
Doctors Without Borders suspended its services in one of its Haitian hospitals after 20 armed men took a patient from the operating room earlier this month, Al Jazeera reported.
