Haitian gangs are increasingly luring children into crime and sexual abuse, HRW says, as 115 people died in attack

Haitis rampant criminal gangs are luring more and more children into lives of crime and sexual abuse, while hunger and poverty in the small Caribbean country are pushing young people into despair, according to a report published Wednesday by the US-based group Human Rights Watch. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of children have joined the violent gangs in recent months, HRW says, with members forcing young people to commit crimes and subjecting them to sexual abuse and violence.

The bloodshed and political chaos that has plagued Haiti shows no signs of abating. Last week, there was a single gang attack in the town of Pont-Sondé, about 40 miles from the capital Port-au-Prince, that killed 115 people and seriously injured at least 16 others, according to local officials.

Myriam Fièvre, the mayor of the nearby town of Saint-Marc, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the toll from the October 3 attack was likely to rise further as authorities had still not been able to control certain parts of Pont-Sondé to reach. At least three babies were among the dead, according to an earlier statement by the United Nations human rights commissioner.

The HRW report published on Wednesday said the gangs likely began including more children in their ranks in response to law enforcement operations against their members by Haitian police and the United Nations-backed Multinational Security Support Mission. The MSS mission was recently approved by the United Nations. Led by Kenya, the force has only been partially deployed.

Criminal groups control nearly 80% of Port-au-Prince, and HRW says joining the gangs is often the only option children have to get food and shelter. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, approximately 125,000 children in Haiti are suffering from acute hunger. About 2.7 million people live in gang-controlled areas, including 500,000 children.

HRW says nearly a third of gang members are now children. A humanitarian worker in the country told HRW that the gangs use social media platforms, including TikTok, to attract young recruits.

HRW said girls are sexually abused by gang members and exploited for domestic work once lured in.

“The (gang) leaders force them to perform sexual acts with them or their members while others watch,” HRW quoted a humanitarian aid worker. “They tell them that they are their friends and that they must obey them, but in reality they are exploiting them for their pleasure and consumption.”

Boys are often used by the gangs to run errands, act as informants to obtain information about police activities and to transport weapons, HRW says, although they are sometimes ordered to help carry out more serious, violent crimes. including kidnapping and murder. For this they are fed and often paid – money that the young recruits often use to support family members living in poverty.

Gang members often use violence to control child soldiers after they have been recruited. They beat and threaten them if they refuse to follow orders. One boy interviewed by HRW told the organization that he initially joined a gang as an eight-year-old orphan and lived on the streets. He said he was given a gun and told to carry it on his back.

“Girls generally do not receive incentives for loyalty,” HRW said in the report, citing aid workers on the ground. “Instead, they are usually released after a while, usually when they become pregnant as a result of rape.”

Despite rising violence, the US government resumed deporting some migrants back to Haiti’s capital after a pause in flights. However, the Biden administration has extended the temporary protected status of Haitians in the US until 2025.

Former President Donald Trump has swornif re-elected in November, to allow large-scale deportations of migrants, including Haitians.

HRW says more international assistance is urgently needed in Haiti and in its new report calls on the country’s transitional government to prioritize child protection initiatives. The transitional council came to power in April with a mandate to begin rebuilding Haiti’s crippled civilian government after years of unrest exacerbated by the crisis. Murder in 2021 from President Jovenel Moïse.