 "Who is the American YouTuber 'kidnapped' in Haiti while trying to meet gang leader ‘Barbecue’?")
The escalating gang violence in Haiti has concerned the world.
Amid the “catastrophic” situation, a popular YouTuber has allegedly been kidnapped by a gang in the conflict-wracked Caribbean nation.
According to The Sun, Addison Pierre Maalouf is being held for a ransom of $600,000, his friends have claimed.
Here’s all we know about him.
Who is YouTuber Maalouf?
American YouTuber Addison Pierre Maalouf is of Lebanese descent and is based in Atlanta.
Also known as YourFellowArab or just “Arab,” he has over 1.4 million subscribers on YouTube.
He frequently makes videos in which he explores the inner workings of criminal organisations and gangs worldwide.
The video creator is referred to as a “traveller, comedian, and storyteller” on his Instagram profile.
However, the influencer has not posted anything on his X account since 12 March.
His last tweet was before his trip, which read, “Going on another one of those trips. If I die, thanks for watching what I’ve put out. If I live, all glory to God.”
Going on another one of those trips 🤫
— Arab (@YourFellowArab) March 11, 2024
If I die, thanks for watching what I’ve put out. If I live, all glory to God.
Ever since he took pictures with criminals in Rio de Janeiro in July, his Instagram account has not been updated.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsAlso read: How did Haiti become the land of gang violence?
What happened?
Before going missing, Maalouf was said to have visited the unstable nation to speak with warlord Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier.
Twitch streamer Lalem, a friend of Maalouf’s, stated in an X post that his friend was being held captive.
He wrote, “Tried keeping it private for two weeks, but it’s getting out everywhere now. Yes, Arab has been kidnapped in Haiti and we’re working on getting him out. Love y’all he’ll be out soon.”
Tried keeping it private for 2 weeks, but it’s getting out everywhere now, Yes Arab has been kidnapped in Haiti and we’re working on getting him out. Love yall he’ll be out soon ❤️
— Lalem (@Lalem) March 29, 2024
Lalem also shared Maalouf’s previous video, which showed him at a hotel in Haiti. In the video, Maalouf is shown advising viewers against entering the nation at this time in light of recent weeks of violence committed by gangs.
The YouTuber stated that they intended to visit Port-au-Prince, the country’s capital, but underlined that they would only travel there early in the morning because it is “completely run by gangs.”
“All it takes is one stupid gang member holding an AK-47 for one thing to go wrong,” he said in the video.
This is the last video he recorded before he got kidnapped, if you have his number pls don’t text him while he’s in there for safety reasons. 🙏 https://t.co/JJ7y1uVjGA
— Lalem (@Lalem) March 29, 2024
He was kidnapped the next morning on his way to meet Barbecue, as per Times Now.
In addition to posting the video, Lalem urged that anyone with Maalouf’s phone number refrain from texting him for his security.
According to NDTV, YouTuber Miles “Lord Miles” Routledge asserted that he used his kidnappers’ phone to communicate with Maalouf. He disclosed that Maalouf travelled to Haiti with a “fixer,” Sean Roubens Jean Sacra, to document the ongoing hostilities in the nation.
“Arab has been kept in a cage in a place on the eastern outskirts of the capital, Port-au-Prince. His location is known,” Routledge wrote.
The famous Youtuber @YourFellowArab has been kidnapped in Haiti by the natorious 400 Mawozo gang 24 hours after entering the country.
— Lord Miles Official (@real_lord_miles) March 29, 2024
I have spoken to Arab through the kidnappers phone. This is what we know pic.twitter.com/Gg3EacMSut
Also read: Explained: How Haiti turned into a failed state
Who abducted him?
It is now claimed that Maalouf is being held for a $600,000 ransom, of which $40,000 has already been paid.
According to Haiti24, unverified reports claim the YouTuber was abducted on 14 March by a gang called the 400 Mawozo. Kingpin Lanmo Sanjou, its boss, is listed as one of the FBI’s most wanted people.
A $1 million reward is being offered by the Bureau for information that results in his arrest.
He is suspected of kidnapping 17 Christian missionaries in October 2021 from Haiti, five of whom were newborns and one of whom was just eight months old.
He is charged with conspiring to commit kidnapping and hostage-taking in the US as a result of the crime.
According to the Haitian report, Maalouf — who is described as an “American journalist” — was purportedly travelling back from Cap-Haïtien, which is around 124 miles north of Port-au-Prince, along with a buddy from the area.
Also read: How gangs in Haiti have exploded and put the capital 'under siege'
What is the US government doing?
In a statement to The New York Post, the US State Department Bureau of Consular Affairs confirmed that it is “aware of reports of the kidnapping of a US citizen in Haiti,” but would not provide any details.
A spokesperson for the US State Department Bureau of Consular Affairs told The Sun, “The US Department of State and our embassies and consulates abroad have no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens overseas. We reiterate our message to US citizens: Do not travel to Haiti.”
What’s happening in Haiti?
In the past years, gang violence in Haiti has continued to target key individuals, hospitals, schools, banks, and other critical institutions, according to the UN rights experts for the nation.
Gangs also continue to use sexual violence “to brutalise, punish, and control people,” the report said, citing women raped during gang attacks in neighbourhoods, “in many cases after seeing their husbands killed in front of them.”
In 2023, the number of people killed and injured as a result of gang violence increased significantly – with 4,451 killed and 1,668 injured, according to a UN Human Rights Office report said. And up to March 22 this year, the numbers skyrocketed to 1,554 killed and 826 injured.
As a result of the escalating gang violence, so-called “self-defence brigades” have taken justice into their own hands, the report said, and “at least 528 cases of lynching were reported in 2023 and a further 59 in 2024.”
The human rights report reiterated the need for urgent deployment of a multinational security mission to help Haiti’s police stop the violence and restore the rule of law. And it urged tighter national and international controls to stem the trafficking of weapons and ammunition to gangs and others – much of it from the United States.
Haiti now needs between 4,000 and 5,000 international police to help tackle “catastrophic” gang violence, the experts said on Thursday.
With inputs from The Associated Press
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