UNICEF warns that recruitment of children by armed groups in Haiti has tripled in the past year

San Juan, Puerto Rico — Recruitment of children by armed groups in Haiti Rates of poverty and violence have tripled in the past year as poverty and violence worsen across the troubled Caribbean nation, according to a new UNICEF report released Thursday.

The increase comes as gang violence has displaced a record 1.4 million people across Haiti – more than half of them children who experts say are left vulnerable and at risk.

“The size of the increase is certainly a surprise,” said Geeta Narayan, UNICEF Representative in Haiti. “This is devastating.”

She said in a telephone interview that the United Nations estimates that 30% to 50% of members of armed groups are children, and some of them as young as 9 years old are being recruited.

“The younger the child is, the more control you have over him,” she said. “They have less ability to fight and sabotage… You can force them to do terrible things.”

The UN Secretary-General is expected to provide details on the number of children recruited last year in his annual report on Haiti in the coming months.

Gangs control an estimated 90% of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. As well as areas of land In the central region of the country.

Narayan said the boys generally act as spies, carrying ammunition and weapons, and are often assigned to monitor kidnapped people.

Meanwhile, Girls often face sexual violence They are assigned household chores, including cooking and washing clothes.

“In many cases, the child or family gets some type of money,” she said.

Previous UN reports said payments could range from $30 per week to several hundred dollars per month.

Narayan pointed out that sometimes families are paid money in exchange for giving up a child, noting that they have no choice given the extreme poverty in the country.

More than 60% of Haiti’s population of about 12 million live on less than $4 a day, and hundreds of thousands of Haitians They are starving or approaching starvation.

Narayan added that UNICEF has received unofficial reports that children in armed groups are being drugged and developing addictions.

“This makes the child more dependent on the armed group,” Narayan said, adding that such groups can be attractive to minors. “There is no alternative for these children. The armed group provides them with weapons, power, food and identity.”

Experts say nearly 500 children who were gang members have escaped or been arrested by authorities during operations in recent years, but their reintegration is difficult.

UNICEF is currently helping these children by placing them in a safe place where they receive medical care for any possible injuries or drug addiction and then meet with counselors and social workers who are trying to contact their families.

“Children associated with armed groups should not be treated as perpetrators,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement.

Narayan said much of the success of reintegration depends on the child’s age and gender, when he joined an armed group and when he was liberated.

Other factors include whether their family or community wants them back.

“In some cases, there has been a rupture,” she said. “There’s so much stigma attached to it that they don’t want the baby back.”

Some of the toughest cases are older teens, Narayan said.

“If you have an 18-year-old who has joined armed groups for five years, that young person will not go back to school,” she said, adding that Haiti needs apprenticeship or vocational training options, and that UNICEF needs up to $30 million to reach every child.

Narayan said she hopes to help more children under the current UN-backed mission led by Kenyan police. Understaffing and underfunding In the coming months it turns into what is called Gang suppression forcewhich will have more power.

She noted that the current Prime Minister and other government officials are also committed to the release and reintegration of children.

“There is political will at the highest levels,” she said. “It’s really important that we seize this opportunity.”