The situation in Haiti, plagued by criminal gangs, is the subject of a crisis meeting on Monday in Jamaica, the day after the evacuation of European diplomats from Port-au-Prince in a “state of siege”.
The Haitian capital continued this weekend to sink into violence linked to gangs who are demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, just like part of the population, leading the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to invite for a meeting emergency in Jamaica representatives of the United States, France, Canada and the UN.
The vice president of CARICOM member Guyana, Bharrat Jagdeo, said Sunday that these countries would “seek to restore order and restore confidence to the Haitian people.”
“Criminals have taken control of the country. There is no government, it is becoming a bankrupt society,” he added.
Washington announced on Sunday that it had evacuated non-essential staff from its embassy in Port-au-Prince.
The American army indicated that it had “conducted an operation intended to strengthen the security” of its embassy to “allow operations […] to continue and for non-essential personnel to leave.”
“The increase in gang violence in the neighborhoods near the American embassy and the airport has led the State Department to decide to proceed with the departure of additional agents,” a diplomatic spokesperson said on Sunday. American.
The evacuation of part of its staff took place during the night from Saturday to Sunday by helicopter, according to residents of the neighborhood.
” State of siege “
Germany announced a similar move. “Due to the very tense security situation in Haiti, the German ambassador and the permanent representative in Port-au-Prince left today for the Dominican Republic with representatives of the EU delegation,” said a ministry spokesperson told AFP, adding that they would work from this country “until further notice”.
Port-au-Prince is the scene of clashes between police and armed gangs, who attack strategic sites including the presidential palace, police stations and prisons.
It is “a city under siege,” warned Philippe Branchat, the head for Haiti of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), on Saturday.
Dozens of residents sought refuge in public buildings on Saturday, some managing to enter an establishment, according to an AFP correspondent.
“We lost all our property, everything we owned. We are losing our families,” Reginald Bristol, a resident of Port-au-Prince, told AFP.
The authorities declared a state of emergency a week ago in the West department, which includes the capital, and established a nighttime curfew.
The UN Security Council agreed months ago to send a Kenyan-led international mission to help the Haitian police, but its deployment is sorely overdue.
The Prime Minister signed an agreement in Nairobi at the beginning of March to allow the sending of Kenyan police officers, and has since sought to return to Haiti. At last news, he was still stuck in Puerto Rico, an American territory in the Caribbean.
The head of American diplomacy and the president of Kenya spoke about the ongoing crisis and “underlined their unwavering commitment to the deployment of a multinational security support mission” to “create the necessary security conditions to the holding of free and fair elections,” a State Department spokesperson said Saturday.
Haiti, without a president or parliament, has not had an election since 2016 and Ariel Henry, appointed by President Jovenel Moïse just before his assassination in 2021, should have left office in early February.
Closed administrations
The capital’s administrations and schools have been closed for several days, and the airport and port are no longer operating, raising fears of a collapse in supplies for the population of the poorest country in the Americas.
Access to care is severely compromised, with “hospitals that have been attacked by gangs and have had to evacuate medical staff and patients, including newborns,” according to the IOM.
Pope Francis said on Sunday he was following this “serious crisis” “with concern and pain” and called on all parties to work for peace.
According to the IOM, 362,000 people — more than half of whom are children — are currently displaced in Haiti, a figure that has jumped 15% since the start of the year.
“Since last night we haven’t been able to sleep. We are fleeing, me with my personal belongings placed on my head, without knowing where to go,” Filienne Setoute, a civil servant, who had to leave her house, told AFP.
Small sign of hope: five people kidnapped in February in Port-au-Prince, including four religious, have been released, their Catholic congregation announced on Sunday, calling for the release of two other religious held.