In Haiti, the population is subjected to gang violence. Almost the entire city of Port-au-Prince escapes state control and, since January, the violence has caused more civilian deaths than the war in Ukraine.
The Carrefour-Feuilles district, a stone’s throw from the center of Port au Prince, has been transformed into a war zone. The latest UN report counts more than 2,400 deaths in Haiti since the start of 2023. Gangs control more than 80% of the capital Port-au-Prince. Since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse two years ago, the country has descended into chaos.
>> In Haiti, the scourge of armed gangs becomes an international priority
Residents trapped
On the one hand, there are those that the population calls the “bandits”, on the other the Haitian police, poorly equipped and understaffed. And in the middle, trapped residents. “It’s been shooting for 22 days, it’s unbearable”testifies a man who decided to stay in his neighborhood, despite the danger.
But others, like Yolanda, aged around fifty, resigned themselves to fleeing as the fighting grew closer. She moves forward with difficulty, a suitcase on her head.
“We can no longer stay at home. The bandits are chasing us.”
Yolanda, a resident who flees the Carrefour-Feuilles neighborhoodat franceinfo
Yolanda explains why she ended up leaving her neighborhood: “They are setting houses on fire and killing people. They don’t stop shooting. The smoke over there is houses and schools that they are burning down. They are burning everything, even the people. Children, like adults. Now we have nowhere to go. We all live on the streets, we sleep outside in the rain.”
Thousands of displaced people pile up where they can
Yolanda will join the thousands of displaced people from Carrefour-Feuilles who have been crowding into schools, public parks and sports complexes in Port-au-Prince for more than a month. Next to the Vincent gymnasium, the basketball court has been transformed into a campsite, dotted with tents occupied by families who have lost everything. Dominique Charles left behind her home and, above all, loved ones to whom the armed groups gave no chance.
“I lost seven members of my family. I later learned that they were all burned alive. I am a living dead.”
Dominique Charles, former resident of the Carrefour-Feuilles districtat franceinfo
Faced with gang violence, exasperated Haitians take justice into their own hands. Lynchings of men suspected of being part of armed groups are increasing. To put an end to this spiral of violence, the United Nations is considering sending a foreign force, but this decision is far from unanimous among Haitians. They fear that it will turn into an occupying force.
Haiti, from the pearl of the Antilles to the hell of gangs