Haitian child gang recruitment up 70 percent: UN | Children's Rights Issues

Haitian gangs are increasingly targeting children, using them as informants, fighters and forced labour, says a UNICEF report.

An unprecedented number of children have been recruited by gangs in Haiti, the UN child protection agency (UNICEF) has said, underscoring the ongoing security crisis on the violence-ridden Caribbean island.

In a report released on Monday, UNICEF said child labor increased by 70 percent last year.

“Children in Haiti are trapped in a vicious cycle – they are recruited into armed groups that cause despair, and the numbers are increasing,” said UNICEF executive director and chief advocate of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee for Haiti, Catherine Russell. “This unacceptable practice must be stopped by ensuring that the safety and well-being of children is prioritized by all concerned.”

The report comes as violence in Haiti shows no signs of abating as poverty grows and chaos grows amid political instability. The gangs, which control 85 percent of the capital Port-au-Prince, intend to take over the entire city.

Young boys are often used as informants “because they are invisible and not seen as a threat,” said Geeta Narayan, UNICEF representative in Haiti. Others were given weapons and forced to participate in the attack. The girls are forced to cook, clean and are used as “wives” by gang members.

“They are not doing this willingly,” Narayan said. “Even if they are armed, the child here is a victim.”

In a country where more than 60 percent of the population lives on less than $4 a day and hundreds of thousands of Haitians are starving or starving, child labor is often easy.

One young gang member said he was paid $33 every Saturday, while another said he was paid thousands of dollars in his first month in the gang, according to a report by the UN Security Council.

“Children and families are becoming increasingly desperate in some cases due to extreme poverty,” Narayan said.

If the children refuse to join the group, the gunmen often threaten them or their families or simply kidnap them.

Gangs also prey on children separated from their families after being expelled from the Dominican Republic, which shares the border with Haiti on the island of Hispaniola.

“Those children are increasingly being targeted,” Narayan said.

It is not only gangs that are at risk as the vigilante organization that started last year to target suspected gang members is gaining momentum.

UNICEF said children “are often suspected, and at risk of being viewed as spies or killed by vigilantes.” If they make a mistake or refuse to join the violence, their lives and safety are immediately at risk. “

A video posted on social media last week after gangs attacked an area near a high-class community shows the body of a child lying next to an adult who was also killed. The police said that at least 28 people were suspected of being gang members that day when villagers armed with guns and machetes fought with the gang and the police.

The gangs that employ the most children are 5 Segonn, Brooklyn, Kraze Barye, Grand Ravine and Terre Noire, according to the UN report.

Often, new recruits are ordered to buy food and given money to “buy friends” as the gangs see them. Then, they take part in the conflict and are encouraged if they kill someone, for example. After two or three years in the gang, the recruit becomes part of the gang if they prove they are not a spy, read the report.

Homelessness is on the rise as many schools remain closed and children are at risk, as gang violence has left more than 700,000 people homeless in recent years, including an estimated 365,000 children. Many of them live in shelters where they are attacked by gangs and face physical and sexual violence.

“Gangs in Haiti are brutalizing girls and women,” said a report published Monday by Human Rights Watch.

The report cites a 14-year-old girl from the capital who was kidnapped and raped by different men for five days in a house with six other girls who were also raped and beaten.

Human Rights Watch noted that while fighting between armed groups has decreased this year, attacks on Haitians, police and critical infrastructure have increased.

“Criminals often use sexual violence to instill fear in their rival areas,” said the newspaper.