Twelve people, eight of them Turkish citizens, were kidnapped while travelling by bus in Haiti, officials said on Monday, as the Caribbean country struggles with a surge of attacks by increasingly powerful gangs.
The group was taken hostage on Sunday as they drove to the capital Port-au-Prince from the neighbouring Dominican Republic, Turkish consul Hugues Josue told AFP.
He said they were members of Muslim association Ashape, which has since 2019 provided language courses and religious education, its website said.
“During their abduction, they got off the bus and had time to contact their organisation,” he said.
Haitian police confirmed the kidnapping.
They were abducted east of Port-au-Prince, between the communes of Croix des Bouquets and Ganthier, Mr Josue added, saying the five men and three women are aged between 20 and 26.
They were on a bus that left Santo Domingo, the Dominican capital, at 9.00am carrying “a Dominican driver, a Haitian hostess and 10 passengers”, said Michaelle Durandis, a representative of the Metro bus company.
“Among the 10 passengers, there were eight Turks and two Haitians,” she told Haitian radio Vision 2000 and added that she had no contact with the vehicle after it crossed the border in the middle of the afternoon.
The UN said last week that clashes between rival gangs in northern Port-au-Prince have claimed the lives of at least 75 people since fresh violence erupted on April 24.
The world body said it was “deeply concerned by the rapid deterioration of the security situation” in the city.
For decades, armed gangs have run amok in the poorest neighbourhoods of Port-au-Prince, but they have increased their hold across the Haitian capital and the country at large in recent years, sending murders and kidnappings skyrocketing.
On Monday, two charity hospitals in the capital said they were closing “until further notice” following the kidnapping of one of their paediatricians last week.
“Without the presence of health personnel, who have been targeted on many occasions and are unable to reach health facilities safely, health care cannot be delivered,” said Richard Frechette, president of the foundation “Our Little Brothers and Sisters”, which has operated in Haiti for more than 30 years.
The UN has denounced the “extreme violence” of the gangs, saying local sources recorded “acts of sexual violence, including the gang rape of children as young as 10 years, and the terrorisation and intimidation of the local populations living in areas controlled by rival gangs”.
It estimates that as many as half a million Haitian children have lost access to education because of gang violence.
Last October, the “400 Mawozo” — one of the most powerful and feared of the gangs — abducted a group of 17 North American missionaries and their relatives, including five children.
After five of the group were released, the rest escaped to safety in December.
The district where the violence has been centred contains the only road to the country's north as well as between Haiti's capital and the Dominican Republic.
Since June, authorities have also lost control of the only road connecting Port-au-Prince to the south.
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New UK refugee system
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- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
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The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
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- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
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HIV on the rise in the region
A 2019 United Nations special analysis on Aids reveals 37 per cent of new HIV infections in the Mena region are from people injecting drugs.
New HIV infections have also risen by 29 per cent in western Europe and Asia, and by 7 per cent in Latin America, but declined elsewhere.
Egypt has shown the highest increase in recorded cases of HIV since 2010, up by 196 per cent.
Access to HIV testing, treatment and care in the region is well below the global average.
Few statistics have been published on the number of cases in the UAE, although a UNAIDS report said 1.5 per cent of the prison population has the virus.
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