degroot kidnapped 10 people including members of the catholic church in april, and it is growing in strengtha it now has nearly 150 members. let's bring in our guests. in washington, a commentator and executive director. in doha, ambassador to haiti. and a senior research associate. a warm welcome to you all, thanks for being with us. there has been this huge surge in the number of kidnappings. why have kidnappings become so frequent? what are the factors? >> thank you for inviting me. i would like to start off by expressing sentiment to the families that are impacted. this is the two-pronged issue. one is a security issue. in terms of security, bear in mind haiti has had an international militarized force on the auspice of united nations. for the most part, united nations supported the haitian government throughout the years. also, to prop up national police. the military presence ended 2017. it was supposed to be handed over to the haitian national police to take over and secure the entire nation. one of the reasons why we had to have support for the international community is because our