The Associated Press
Gangs in Haiti are recruiting children at unprecedented levels, with the number of minors targeted soaring by 70% in the past year, according to a report released Monday by
. Currently, between 30% to 50% of all gang members in the violence-wracked country are children, according to the U.N. “This is a very concerning trend,” said Geeta Narayan, ’s representative in Haiti. The increase comes as poverty deepens and violence increases amid political instability, with gangs that control 85% of Port-au-Prince attacking once peaceful communities in a push to assume total control of the capital. Young boys are often used as informers “because they’re invisible and not seen as a threat,” Narayan said in a phone interview from Haiti. Some are given weapons and forced to participate in attacks.
said children “are often viewed with suspicion, and risk being branded as spies or even killed by vigilante movements. When they defect 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 around an upscale community showed the body of a child lying next to an adult who also was slain.
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