FBI WARNS AMERICANS TO AVOID HAITI AS CRIME RATE SKYROCKETS BY 300%

[Judi Lynn]

Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton
April 27, 2023



Musician Wyclef Jean stops by the beach to talk with locals. (Photo by Mark Mainz/Getty Images)
With kidnappings increasing by 300% over the last year, the FBI has warned visiting Americans to avoid traveling to Haiti.



According to several news outlets, the government agency is concerned with the unrest in Haiti, which has seen a rise in violence, including an American couple who were kidnapped last month while visiting the Caribbean country.

Last month, reports surfaced that the couple was abducted while on their way to Léogâne, approximately 27 miles west of Port-au-Prince. NBC News indicated that Abigail and Jean-Dickens Toussaint never reached their destination. After not hearing from the couple, the family was informed that the pair had been kidnapped and being held for a $6,000 ransom.

A group allegedly ordered the Toussaints off a bus and held them captive, with the ransom amount increasing to $200,000 per person. Nearly a month after the kidnapping, the couple was released on April 13.

“While we understand that there are strong ties between Haiti and South Florida, before traveling there, one should consider the trauma and financial costs of being kidnapped not only to themselves but to their family and friends as well,” FBI Supervisory Special Agent Liz Santamaria warned, according to The Miami Herald.

More:
https://www.blackenterprise.com/fbi-issues-warning-to-stay-out-of-haiti/

[Judi Lynn]

1. Violent clashes in Haiti capital leave people in severe danger

Project Update 27 April 2023

On 24 April, extremely violent clashes swept across the centre of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in areas that had until then been relatively unaffected by gang warfare. Hundreds of people had to flee their homes and run for their lives due to attacks on neighbourhoods, shootings, buildings being set on fire and looting.

Many people in the community have been injured by bullets. Some people had to take up arms in self-defence, leading to more chaos. As a result of the violence, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams treated about 50 gunshot or stab wound victims in 24 hours. Most patients were admitted to the MSF Turgeau hospital for stabilisation and then referred to the MSF Tabarre facility for surgery and/or hospitalisation.

“We received a 15 year-old girl who, after fleeing her home which was on fire with both her legs badly burnt, was shot in the right thigh,” says an MSF team member from Tabarre hospital.

“She arrived to the hospital in a state of haemorrhagic shock. We realised that the only solution for her was amputation,” he says.

“We often see this type of injury here. Just opposite her room, in the intensive care unit, there is a patient with exactly the same problem.”

More:
https://www.msf.org/haiti-violent-clashes-haiti-capital-leave-people-severe-danger