Nurse and child kidnapped in Haiti have been freed after $1m ransom ordeal
An American nurse and her young child kidnapped in Haiti have been safely released after a two-week ordeal.
The nonprofit organisation Alix Dorsainvil worked for, El Roi Haiti, confirmed her release with gratitude and joy. Alix, a nurse and community worker, was abducted along with her daughter from the El Roi compound near Port-au-Prince on July 27.
Negotiations for her release began shortly after the abduction. The US Department of State had previously ordered the evacuation of family members of US government employees and non-emergency personnel from Haiti due to widespread kidnappings, crime, civil unrest, and poor healthcare infrastructure.
Alix Dorsainvil, right, poses with her husband, Sandro Dorsainvil (AP)Alix Dorsainvil worked as a nurse and community worker for the nonprofit organisation El Roi Haiti. Originally from New Hampshire, she had been living and working in Haiti for a significant period.
She was abducted from the El Roi compound near Port-au-Prince on July 27 and had been held captive since then. Alix Dorsainvil is married to the director of El Roi Haiti, with whom she shares the abducted child.
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The US State Department said in an advisory: "Kidnapping is widespread, and victims regularly include US citizens. Kidnappers may use sophisticated planning or take advantage of unplanned opportunities, and even convoys have been attacked.
Haitians marched in their nation's capital to show their anger over the abduction (AP)"Kidnapping cases often involve ransom negotiations and US citizen victims have been physically harmed during kidnappings. Victim’s families have paid thousands of dollars to rescue their family members.
"US citizens wishing to depart Port-au-Prince should monitor local news and only do so when considered safe."
"Travelers are sometimes followed and violently attacked and robbed shortly after leaving the Port-au-Prince international airport. Robbers and carjackers also attack private vehicles stuck in heavy traffic congestion and often target lone drivers, particularly women," it said.
"U.S. citizens wishing to depart Port-au-Prince should monitor local news and only do so when considered safe," it continued.
The abduction was another example of the worsening gang violence in Haiti (AP)Previously, the El Roi president and co-founder Jason Brown said in a statement: "Alix is a deeply compassionate and loving person who considers Haiti her home and the Haitian people her friends and family.
"Alix has worked tirelessly as our school and community nurse to bring relief to those who are suffering as she loves and serves the people of Haiti in the name of Jesus."
Around 200 Haitians had marched in their nation's capital Monday to show their anger over an abduction that’s another example of the worsening gang violence that has overtaken much of Port-au-Prince.
Sandro Dorsainvil is the Founder & Director of El Roi Academy & Institution Mixte Vwatizang Ayesyen Yo (Elroi Haiti)Earlier this month, Doctors Without Borders announced it was suspending services in one of its hospitals because some 20 armed men burst into an operating room and snatched a patient.
As the protesters walked through the area where Dorsainvil was taken, the streets were eerily quiet. The doors to the clinic where she worked were shut, the small brick building empty. Ronald and others in the area worried the latest kidnapping may mean the clinic won't reopen.
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Dorsainvil graduated from Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts, which has a program to support nursing education in Haiti. Dorsainvil’s father, Steven Comeau, reached in New Hampshire, said he could not talk.
In a blog post Monday, El Roi Haiti said Alix Dorsainvil fell in love with Haiti's people on a visit after the devastating 2010 earthquake. It said the organization was working with authorities in both countries to free her and her daughter.
It added: "Please continue to pray with us for the protection and freedom of Alix and her daughter. As our hearts break for this situation, we also continue to pray for the country and people of Haiti and for freedom from the suffering they endure daily."
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