Tackling the business of targeted kidnappings in Madagascar

It happened five years ago but "Andre" remembers being kidnapped at gunpoint like it was yesterday.

He was snatched from outside his home in Madagascar, kept captive and beaten for several days, until his desperate family raised the ransom money to secure his release.

For years, kidnapping gangs have operated largely with impunity in Madagascar, targeting "Karanas" of Indian origin, who form a 15,000-strong community renowned for its wealth and success in business.

Recent developments indicate that authorities in the large Indian Ocean island nation are beginning to crack down on the gangs after a recent spike in attacks.

"Andre" spoke on condition of anonymity, telling AFP that discussing his ordeal publicly could put him and his family in danger again.

"Even today I am sick -- as soon as I hear that there has been another kidnapping in town. It has become automatic," he said, also declining to reveal his profession.

In his fifties, Andre says that a squad of four people arrived outside his house in the capital Antananarivo one morning wearing hoods and carrying assault rifles.

They bundled him into a car and took him to an unknown destination.

He was held in a single room, beaten, tied up and blindfolded while his captors opened negotiations with his family.

Andre refuses to reveal the ransom sum that was paid, or say how it was raised, but he was freed after seven days of intense dealing.

Shattered by the experience, he fled Madagascar to try to make a fresh start before later returning to the country.

"I came back and took up sport to try to recover, but it's a situation I will never forget," he said.

In the last 10 years, at least 100 kidnappings have targeted Karanas in Madagascar, reaching a peak last year.

"From what we know, there have been 14 kidnapping cases since 2017, a record level," said Jean-Michel Frachet, head of the Karana action group Collectif
"The situation is tense for our community, the fear of reprisals exists and it is often required that one is discreet," he said, adding that "the (Karana) community remains poorly understood by the general population." Karana emigration from