Three young women, among the eight Turkish nationals abducted on May 8 in Haiti by gang members, were released over the weekend for health reasons, the company that owns the bus they were on when they were abducted said.
“They were released” at the weekend for health reasons because they were ill, “Mikael Duradis, public relations manager for the Metro bus company, told AFP.
The bus, bound for Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, bound for Port-au-Prince, was seized in Haiti by members of one of the strongest gangs in the country, shortly after crossing the border.
Twelve people were on the bus: eight Turkish nationals, three Haitians and one Dominican.
Turkish citizens, aged between 20 and 26, have been members of an educational and religious organization present in the Caribbean since 2019, and teach lessons to Muslims, according to the Turkish organization’s website.
The two employees of the transport company, a Haitian escort and the Dominican driver, were released before completing a week after the piracy on the bus.
The two Haitian passengers were also released in exchange for ransom, the amount of which was not known, said Michael Duradis, who did not specify when they were released.
“The kidnappers are still holding the five Turks and they always have the company bus in their possession,” she said.
Haitian law enforcement forces are unable to break the cycle of gangs in the capital and in the country: in May alone, the UN recorded at least 200 abductions. The vast majority of these crimes were committed in Port-au-Prince.
The “400 mawozo”, one of the most powerful gangs raiding Haiti, has for years controlled the area where Turkish citizens were abducted, between the Haitian capital and the Dominican Republic.
In April 2021, the gang abducted ten people, including two members of the French Roman Catholic Church, before abducting 17 other North American missionaries and their minor family members in the autumn, who released several .
Source: AMPE
Source: Capital
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