Armed gangs in Haiti are increasingly recruiting children, with the UN warning that minors now make up half of all gang members. Children as young as eight are forced to kill, kidnap, and serve as lookouts, often under threat of death.
Forced recruitment from a young age
Davensky, now 14, was kidnapped from school at age eight by an armed gang. They put a black bag over his head, dragged him from class, and locked him in a refrigerated room. His captors handed him a gun and pointed to another child. “They said I had to kill him. It was a test. They said if I didn’t pull the trigger, they would cut off my fingers,” he said. “I did it.” For two years, Davensky was forced to rob people, take part in kidnappings, and kill a baby, he said. “I didn’t have a choice.”
According to the UN, the number of children recruited by gangs has seen an “alarming increase.” Diego Da Rin, Haiti analyst at the International Crisis Group, said: “The gangs publish pictures and footage on social media when they are going into combat, and there are more and more children.” As gangs expand into rural areas, they turn to children to replace slain fighters. “Thousands have been killed in operations, so they [children] are filling that vacuum,” Da Rin added.
Hunger and displacement exploited
For some children, recruitment begins with coercion; in other cases, gangs exploit chronic hunger and displacement. Many are given a simple choice: obey or die. Ulrick Tintin, legal director at Défenseurs Plus, a Haitian human rights organisation, said: “Some children have lost their parents in massacres. Others have been displaced or forced out of school. The groups take advantage.”
Thousands of schools have closed and entire communities uprooted. According to the UN human rights agency (UNHCHR), several gangs have established welfare systems to care for children living on the streets or those whose families cannot provide for them. They offer meals, clothing, and shelter in abandoned buildings. Pierre Espérance, director of Haiti’s National Human Rights Defence Network, said: “The state doesn’t exist any more and, in the poor areas, the children don’t have other alternatives. They need to be involved in the gangs to survive.”
Payments and progression
After his forced recruitment, Davensky was locked in an abandoned house with other children and let out only for assignments. Four times a day, older gang members brought fried chicken, and every three months, Davensky received about $50. “Children are offered meals, weekly payments and given jobs as lookouts,” said Da Rin. “From there, their involvement slowly grows until some of them receive a weapon.”
Payments can range from $100 to $300 for routine tasks such as guarding kidnap victims and ransacking homes, according to the UNHCHR. Taking part in kidnappings and armed assaults, or hijacking vehicles, can bring up to $700. Young people are enticed to move up the ranks for higher payments and power. Others remain against their will, often without pay.
Sexual exploitation of girls
Sara was eight when her father died. She was sent to live with relatives, where she was abused and denied food. At 12, she was thrown out and survived on the streets. Around age 14, gang members approached her. “They said I had to obey,” she recalled. “I went through a lot of misery to survive.” Sara was mostly made to run errands but says she was also raped. The UN says girls as young as 12 are subjected to sexual enslavement and exploitation. In gang-controlled neighbourhoods, some girls are forced into arrangements known as ti menaj – “little sweethearts” – assigned to individual gang members. In desperate circumstances, some families encourage the relationships hoping for protection. Refusing a gang can be fatal. Sara watched as gang members raped, beat, and killed her 16-year-old friend, then set her body on fire.
Challenge for international mission
The growing use of child soldiers presents a formidable challenge for the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force (GSF), now deploying to restore security. The force is expected to number 5,500 police and military officers from countries including the US, El Salvador, and Chad by autumn. As military pressure intensifies, analysts fear gangs will increasingly rely on children as fighters. “They already put children on the frontlines,” said Da Rin. “That will be extremely problematic for the Haitian security forces and the foreign forces.” Gang leaders are “completely cognisant of the moral conundrum that implies. They are absolutely ready to use children as a deterrent against iron-fist operations,” he added.
Rehabilitation efforts
Any long-term solution requires more than military strength. Thousands of children who have spent years inside armed groups need lengthy rehabilitation. “The magnitude of the problem lies in the fact that it has been going on for five or six years. Children have been born in that time, and for many this is the only context they know,” said Marta Hurtado, a UNHCHR spokesperson. William O’Neill, the UN’s human rights expert on Haiti, asked: “How do you repair a society where the social contract has been torn apart? And what do you do with those gang members, half of whom are minors?”
Last year, the Haitian government and Unicef launched the Prejeunes programme to rehabilitate children recruited by armed groups. Sara and Davensky are now under protection in one of its transit centres, where they attend school. But both struggle to imagine a future beyond survival. “I went through hell,” Sara said. “If my mother and father were alive, I would not be in this situation. I dream that one day someone will come and take care of me. But now I am exhausted. I feel like I cannot go on.”
