The UN calls on the international community to support the Haitian police in the face of armed gangs which are gaining ground throughout the country. A year and a half after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, the situation has spiraled out of control.
Between kidnappings, raped children, executions, looting, burning of houses and schools, the situation is more than appalling in Haiti. The UN officials who have succeeded on the spot describe a hell, caused by violent gangs: Port-au-Prince is surrounded by 200 of them, who have taken control of the capital and prevent the population from circulating freely, to go to work and school, or to get supplies.
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On his first visit to the impoverished Caribbean country on July 1, Secretary General Antonio Guterres lamented unbearable living conditions for exhausted residents. Insecurity is comparable to that of countries at war, terror reigns and armed gangs who dispute control of the territory are gaining ground on the island.
The French NGO Médecins sans frontières has documented this daily cruelty: abductions, shootings, lynchings, kidnappings, murders, children being targeted, gang rapes and the risk of being killed or injured in clashes of streets between gangs. It’s a bit like the people of Haiti being held hostage.
Civil war threatens
“Every day counts“said Antonio Guterres, who is calling for the second time for international support for the completely overwhelmed Haitian police. His first request last October went unheeded. The UN Security Council must discuss the situation again during the month of July.
Several powerful states have volunteered to support the security forces, such as Canada, where there is a large Haitian community. The United States, another large and powerful neighbor of Haiti, is “very committed“said Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Friday, July 7. Americans will thus support the creation of an international police force in the country. No time should be wasted, since groups of self-proclaimed vigilantes have been forming for the past month. April to fight against gangs. Civil war threatens in a country that has not had a president for a year and a half, and whose last elections date back to 2016.