Human Rights Organization Calls Haiti Gang Groups Increasingly Recruit Children As Members

Riots in Haiti. (Wikimedia Commons/Voice of America)

JAKARTA - Haiti's armed gang groups are increasingly recruiting children into their group, according to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report warning on Wednesday, as near-hungry conditions prompted boys to take weapons, while girls were sexually harassed and forced to do household chores.

The group, which advocates for human rights globally, said it had spoken to six children recently engaged with gangs, all of whom said they wanted to go and join because of hunger, while gangs were often the only sources of food, shelter or money.

Boys are often used as informants, trained to use weapons and ammunition, and deployed in clashes against police, HRW said.

HRW cites the case of a boy named Michel, an orphan who was recruited six years ago when he was 8 years old who now lives on the streets with a bullet-filled Kalashnikov weapon.

The fate of girls is even more sad, where they were raped and forced to cook and clean for gang members, the report said, and were often thrown away after they became pregnant.

It is known that the strong Haitian gangs have expanded their influence in recent years while state institutions have been crippled by the lack of funds and political crises. The gangs now control the area where 2.7 million people live, including half a million children.

"Along with their growth, these gangs have increased the recruitment of children," said HRW.

About a third of gang members are children, according to the United Nations estimates, who have also warned of boys being used for murder and assault on institutions, and girls forced into exploitative sexual relations and killed in broad daylight for refusing to do so.

HRW further said that criminal groups are increasingly using popular social media applications to attract recruits.

The leader of the Village de Dieu gang, for example, is a rapper and has published music videos for his well-polled soldiers. The report said he had a special unit to train children how to handle weapons and set up checkpoints.

The United Nations approved Haiti's request for a security mission to help the Caribbean nation's police fight the gangs a year ago, but so far the mission has only been partially deployed.

HRW urges the Government of Haiti and other countries to provide more resources for security forces, ensure children can eat and attend school, and provide rehabilitation for recruiters.