Haitian gangs are increasingly recruiting child soldiers, human rights report says

Haiti’s armed gangs are increasingly recruiting children into their ranks, a Human Rights Watch report warned Wednesday, as near-starvation conditions push boys to pick up weapons while girls are sexually abused and forced to do domestic work.

The group, which advocates for human rights worldwide, said it had spoken to six children recently involved in gangs, all of whom said they wanted to leave and had joined because they were hungry and gangs were often the only source of food. shelter or money. .

Boys are often used as informants, trained in the use of weapons and ammunition, and deployed in confrontations with the police, according to HRW. It cited the case of a boy named Michel, an orphan who was recruited six years ago when he was eight and living on the streets and given a loaded Kalashnikov.

Girls are raped and forced to cook and clean for gang members, the report said, and often thrown away once they become pregnant.

Haiti’s powerful gangs have expanded their influence in recent years, while state institutions have been paralyzed by a lack of money and political crises. Gangs now control the area where 2.7 million people live, including half a million children.

As they have grown, the gangs have increased their recruitment of children, HRW said.

About a third of gang members are children, according to estimates from the United Nations, which has also warned that boys are being used for killings and to attack institutions, and that girls are being forced into exploitative sexual relationships and killed in broad daylight because they refuse to do this. .

HRW said the criminal groups are increasingly using popular social media apps to attract recruits.

For example, the leader of the Village de Dieu gang is a rapper and publishes polished music videos of his soldiers. According to the report, he has a specialized unit to train children in handling weapons and setting up checkpoints.

The UN approved Haiti’s request a year ago for a security mission to help the Caribbean country’s police fight the gangs, but so far the mission has only been partially deployed.

HRW urged the Haitian government and other countries to provide more resources to security forces, ensure children can eat and go to school, and ensure the rehabilitation of recruits.

Children accompany armed gang members during a march organized by former police officer Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, leader of an alliance of armed groups, in the Delmas neighborhood, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, May 10, 2024/REUTERS/Pedro Valtierra Anza/file photo