Irish missionary amongst 9 kidnapped from Haiti orphanage

9 folks, together with an Irish missionary and a three-year-old little one, have been kidnapped from an orphanage close to Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince on Sunday, an official has mentioned.

Gena Heraty, the power’s director, was amongst these taken from the privately-run Sainte-Hélène orphanage in Kenscoff in the course of the early hours of the morning, in keeping with Mayor Massillon Jean.

Seven workers and a baby have been additionally taken from the orphanage, which cares for greater than 240 youngsters, some with disabilities.

Attackers broke into the orphanage at about 15:30 native time (07:30 GMT) “with out opening fireplace,” Jean mentioned, describing it as a “deliberate act”.

The attackers had damaged via a wall to enter the property, Jean mentioned, earlier than heading to the constructing the place Ms Heraty was staying.

Gang members are regarded as chargeable for the assault, Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste reported.

Eire’s International Minister, Simon Harris, launched a press release saying “intensive and ongoing efforts” to safe Ms Heraty’s launch have been ongoing.

“This night, I need to reiterate our dedication to making sure all the pieces doable is completed to deliver concerning the launch of Gena, her co-workers and certainly the three-year-old little one on the centre of this case,” he mentioned.

Harris added that groups have additionally been in “shut contact” with Ms Heraty’s household and in contact with native authorities and the organisation she works for.

Ms Heraty, who has lived in Haiti since 1993, referred to as the organisation that runs the orphanage – Our little brothers and sisters – early on Sunday to verify she was amongst these kidnapped, a supply informed the AFP information company.

No calls for or ransom requests have been made, the supply mentioned.

Eire’s international affairs division mentioned it was conscious of the case and was offering consular help.

Gena Heraty, who was born in Liscarney, County Mayo, has obtained quite a few awards for her humanitarian work, together with the Oireachtas Human Dignity Award.

She beforehand informed the Irish Instances that she had no intention of leaving Haiti, regardless of rising gang violence and threats to her personal security.

“The kids are why I am nonetheless right here. We’re on this collectively,” she informed the newspaper in 2022.

Since early 2025, Kenscoff commune, on the southern outskirts of Port-au-Prince, has been one of many metropolis’s districts affected by fixed incursions and raids by Haiti’s felony gangs, which already management many of the capital and huge swathes of the inside of the nation.

Haiti’s police, together with its Kenyan police allies and international contractors utilizing weaponised drones, have repeatedly sought to dislodge the gangs from their positions and bases, however haven’t succeeded in pushing them again.

Gang violence and kidnappings are additionally widespread in different areas in and round Port-au-Prince, the place the UN says armed teams management about 85% of the town.

On 7 July, six Unicef workers have been kidnapped throughout an authorised mission in an space managed by armed teams in Port-au-Prince. Though one worker was launched the next day, 5 others have been held captive by a gang for an additional three weeks.

Within the first half of 2025, UN figures present that just about 350 folks have been kidnapped in Haiti. At the least 3,141 folks have been additionally killed in the identical interval, the UN Human Rights Workplace mentioned.

UN Human Rights chief, Volker Türk, has warned {that a} surge in gang violence is threatening to additional destabilise the nation, with a document 1.3 million folks displaced by the dysfunction as of June.

The UN has mentioned households are “struggling to outlive in makeshift shelters whereas dealing with mounting well being and safety dangers”.