American nurse and young daughter freed after abduction in Haiti
9 August 2023, 16:04
The US State Department said it welcomed news that the two had been freed.
American nurse Alix Dorsainvil and her daughter have been freed – nearly two weeks after they were kidnapped in Haiti’s capital, according to aid organisation El Roi Haiti.
The Christian group founded by Ms Dorsainvil’s husband asked that neither she nor her family be contacted: “There is still much to process and to heal from in this situation,” the group said in a statement.
The group added that it confirmed the safe release “with a heart of gratitude and immense joy”. No other details were immediately available, including whether any ransom was paid.
The US State Department said it welcomed news that the two had been freed and thanked its Haitian and US interagency partners for facilitating the release.
“We have no greater priority than the safety and security of US citizens overseas,” the agency said. “As you can imagine, these individuals have been through a very difficult ordeal, both physically and mentally.”
Officials provided no other details.
Witnesses told The Associated Press that armed men had seized the New Hampshire native and her young daughter in late July from a clinic in a gang-controlled area of Port-au-Prince where Ms Dorsainvil works.
The Christian group has offered medical care, education and other basic services to people in the country’s poorest areas.
Gang warfare has increasingly plagued Haiti since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise.
Gang members regularly kill, rape and hold residents for ransom. A local non-profit has documented 539 kidnappings since January, a significant rise over previous years.
On July 27, the US State Department had ordered the departure of non-emergency US government personnel from Haiti, which remains under a “do not travel” advisory.
In a video posted on the El Roi Haiti website, Ms Dorsainvil describes Haitians as “full of joy, and life and love,” people she was blessed to know.
In a blog post, El Roi Haiti said Ms Dorsainvil fell in love with Haiti’s people on a visit there after the devastating 2010 earthquake hit the Caribbean nation.
Ms Dorsainvil graduated from Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts, where a programme supports nursing education in Haiti.
