(Montreal) Federal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday the deployment of military ships off Haiti “over the next few weeks” to ensure a presence off this Caribbean country in crisis.
The objective is to “carry out surveillance, gather intelligence and maintain a maritime presence”, he said from Nassau, in the Bahamas, where a meeting is being held with the Heads of State and Government of the Caribbean Community (Caricom).
The latter, however, did not specify the number or type of ships that will be deployed, or the duration of their mission.
Last Friday, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called on the international community to “urgently consider the deployment of a specialized support force” in Haiti, where gang violence has reached levels “not seen in decades”.
Controlling more than half of Haiti’s national territory, the gangs kidnap citizens daily, demanding tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars from the relatives of their victims, most often sexually assaulted during their captivity.
“Canada is very concerned about the unrest and instability in Haiti”, a country “facing relentless gang violence, political unrest and corruption,” said Justin Trudeau.
“This situation is very close to us, not only in the region, but also in Canada with our strong Haitian diaspora,” he added after a meeting with Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
The Canadian Prime Minister also announced the granting of $12.3 million in humanitarian aid to the country, as well as another $10 million to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to help migrants in the region. .
In early February, Canada had deployed a military aircraft for a few days, equipped with intelligence and surveillance capabilities to assist the Haitian authorities.