Overview

• On August 3, armed attackers broke through a wall at the Sainte-Hélène orphanage in Kenscoff, abducting nine people, including Irish aid worker Gena Heraty and a three-year-old child, without firing a shot.
• Tánaiste Simon Harris held overnight talks with Haitian Foreign Minister Harvel Jean-Baptiste, who pledged full support and agreed to stay in direct contact to secure the hostages’ safe release.
• Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs is providing intensive consular assistance and coordinating with Nos Petits Frères et Sœurs and the hostages’ families across Dublin, Washington and London.
• The captives remain in territory controlled by Viv Ansanm, a gang federation designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S., as Haitian security forces assess the area.
• No ransom demands have been made public and the hostages’ families and NPH International have appealed for privacy while diplomatic and humanitarian teams intensify efforts to resolve the crisis.