Taken from PL The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) denounced today that children in Haiti are targets of the panic spread by gangs.
Unicef called on the international community to accelerate its efforts to protect children in the Caribbean nation.
“They are often forced to join the ranks of armed groups,” the organization emphasizes in its statement.
Since the beginning of 2024, more than 400 serious violations have been committed against children, according to the United Nations.
To date, more than 180,000 minors are internally displaced due to gang violence, the newspaper said. Le Nouvelliste.
Recently, Haiti’s National Commission for Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration reported that the gang coalition continues to recruit minors in Port-au-Prince.
In Port-au-Prince alone, more than 400 infantrymen were recruited in recent weeks, the entity said.
The gangs are made up of almost 50 percent minors, who today suffer from the impossibility of accessing their basic rights.
“Widespread poverty and lack of economic opportunities also drive children to join armed groups,” the newspaper stated. Free Haiti.
The source estimated that 30 to 50 percent of gang members are minors.
The boys, in addition to wielding automatic weapons, pistols and machetes, serve as spies and cooks, and the females are abused by members of the gang.
