Alix Dorsainvil, an American nurse, and her daughter were abducted from the community ministry where she worked in Haiti six days ago. Their whereabouts are still unknown.
The aid organization is working with authorities and partners in the United States and Haiti to guarantee their freedom, CNN reported.
More than a thousand individuals have been held hostage for ransom in Haiti this year, according to estimates from the United Nations, as violence and turmoil sweep throughout the country.
Alix Dorsainvil and Her Kid
On Monday, July 31, the Christian humanitarian group El Roi Haiti released a statement saying, "Many people are laboring for their return, but currently we cannot share more specific details ... We are so thankful for all of the support that has been shown. Please continue to pray with us for the protection and freedom of Alix and her daughter."
Alix Dorsainvil has been working as a nurse with schools since 2020 and married El Roi Haiti Director Sandro Dorsainvil in 2021.
Sandro's wife and their child were allegedly kidnapped last Thursday morning, July 27. They were serving at their community ministry on the organization's campus near the capital city of Port-au-Prince. The age of their kid is undisclosed.
One witness told the AP News that the abduction took place just in front of a patient who was waiting for a medical exam.
Alix Dorsainvil, a native of New Hampshire, "fell in love with the people" of Haiti on her first trip to the country after the 2010 earthquake when she was still in college, as per the nonprofit group. She began going back to Haiti during school vacations and summers, eventually saving enough to go there on her own.
Also Read: US Nurse, Child Reportedly Kidnapped in Haiti
Escalation of Security Crisis
As the security situation in Haiti worsens, the US State Department issued an order the same day for all non-emergency government officials to leave the country.
The decision came after the US Embassy in Haiti posted a travel alert warning American citizens to leave the country owing to recent violent clashes between criminal organizations and police in the capital city of Port-au-Prince.
Port-au-Prince and the neighboring regions of Haiti have been plagued by a kidnapping-for-profit epidemic for years, with hundreds of Haitians taken each year by gangs demanding ransom payments.
The vast majority of kidnappings occur on a local level and affect both the wealthy and the poor. However, there have been notable instances when foreigners were abducted.
In 2021, a group of local bandits kidnapped 17 missionaries from the US and Canada as they traveled north of the city. They were kept for more than a month.
According to a UN study on Haiti, between January and June of this year, officials recorded 1,014 kidnappings, including 256 women, 13 girls, and 24 boys.
Also Read: UN Calls for Haiti Intervention Force To Combat Gang Violence
