(Port-au-Prince) Sporadic gunfire rang out Friday evening in Port-au-Prince, an AFP correspondent noted, with residents of the Haitian capital desperately seeking shelter from gang violence which has exploded in recent days.
Criminal gangs, who control most of the capital as well as the roads leading to the rest of the territory, have been attacking strategic sites (police stations, prisons and even courts) for several days in the absence of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, whose resignation they demand, just like part of the population.
According to the latest news, he is stranded in the American territory of Puerto Rico after a trip abroad.
The shots were heard in Port-au-Prince throughout the evening of Friday, according to the AFP journalist on site, the city center districts, such as Turgeau, Pacot, Lalue, Canapé-Vert, being particularly under tension.
PHOTO ODELYN JOSEPH, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Displaced people take refuge in a school in Port-au-Prince.
Residents fearing attacks from armed groups are taking shelter. Residents contacted by AFP claimed to have witnessed clashes “between police officers and bandits”.
The latter obviously want to take control of the police buildings located on Champ-de-Mars, in the center of the capital.
The Haitian government has declared a state of emergency in the West department which includes Port-au-Prince, as well as a nighttime curfew that is difficult to implement with the police already overwhelmed. Administrations and schools are also closed.
The Caribbean Community (Caricom) has invited representatives from the United States, France, Canada and the United Nations to a meeting on Monday in Jamaica to discuss the outbreak of violence.
“Crucial issues for the stabilization of security and the provision of urgent humanitarian aid” will be addressed, said the President of Guyana Mohamed Irfaan Ali, who holds the rotating presidency of this regional organization.
Aid in danger
Due to insecurity, the capital’s airport is no longer operating, as is its port, whose operator suspended activities on Thursday.
The port was the scene of scenes of looting on Friday, the director general of the National Port Authority (APN), Jocelin Villier, told AFP.
The police managed to secure part of the compound but the looting of containers continues, he added.
The NGO Mercy Corps has warned of the risks for the supply of the population of the poorest country in the Americas.
“With the closure of the international airport, the little aid currently provided to Haiti may no longer arrive,” the NGO said in a statement Thursday. Shipping containers “are being looted” or no longer arriving, she worried. “If we can no longer access these containers, Haiti will soon be hungry.”
In this context, the UN expressed concern on Friday about the fate of 3,000 pregnant women in Port-au-Prince as well as about the care of survivors of sexual violence.
“If the paralysis of the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince continues over the coming weeks, nearly 3,000 pregnant women risk not being able to access essential health care,” several representatives of the UN in Haiti.
Sexual violence
According to them, “nearly 450 of them could suffer from potentially fatal obstetric complications without qualified medical assistance.”
“Approximately 521 survivors of sexual violence could find themselves without medical care” by the end of March, they added, while gangs are accused of using this violence to install fear.
PHOTO RALPH TEDY EROL, REUTERS
Women refugees in a school in Port-au-Prince, March 8.
“Too many women and young women in Haiti are victims of indiscriminate violence committed by armed gangs,” commented the UN humanitarian coordinator for the country, Ulrika Richardson, adding that the United Nations “is committed to continuing to provide them with assistance.
Furthermore, hundreds of thousands of students and teachers could lose their files, with schools and offices of the Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training having been vandalized or threatened with being vandalized.
In a press release, the ministry estimates that this violence will cause “irreparable damage”, such as the disappearance of school archives or even difficulties for students in obtaining their transcripts and diplomas.
“The absence of these documents can block the academic progress of pupils and students, just as it can block the professional progress of teachers,” he regretted, calling for “protecting” the “public good” that represents ‘school.