(Kingston) The security crisis that has shaken Haiti for more than a week is the subject of an emergency meeting Monday in Jamaica, at a time when Western chancelleries are evacuating their diplomats from Port-au-Prince, under the control of armed criminal gangs.
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 France, Canada and the UN.
For the United States, it is the head of diplomacy himself who makes the trip.
Antony Blinken will be in Kingston on Monday to discuss efforts to “rapidly establish a political transition in Haiti through the creation of an independent, broad-based presidential college, as well as the deployment of a multinational security support mission “said its spokesperson Matthew Miller in a press release.
The vice president of CARICOM member Guyana, Bharrat Jagdeo, said Sunday that the countries involved would “seek to restore order and restore confidence to the Haitian people” in the face of “criminals [qui] took control of the country.
Evacuation of embassies
The latest sign of this security crisis is the evacuation on Monday of all European Union staff in Port-au-Prince.
“In response to the dramatic deterioration of the security situation, we have decided to reduce our activities on the ground and have moved the staff of the EU delegation in Port-au-Prince to a safer location outside from the country […]. Currently we have evacuated all EU staff from Haiti,” said Peter Stano, spokesperson for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
The German diplomatic mission announced a similar move on Sunday, announcing that it had sent its ambassador to the Dominican Republic, the neighboring country from where he would work “until further notice”.
During the night from Saturday to Sunday, the Americans evacuated their non-essential diplomatic personnel by helicopter from Port-au-Prince.
“City under siege”
The capital is the scene of clashes between police and armed gangs, who attack strategic sites including the presidential palace, police stations and prisons. A “city under siege”, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The authorities declared a state of emergency a week ago, accompanied by a nighttime curfew, in the West department, which includes the capital, but they do not fully control this territory.
To remedy this, the UN Security Council agreed in the fall to send an international mission led by Kenya to help the Haitian police, but its deployment is sorely awaited.
Prime Minister Ariel Henry signed an agreement in Nairobi in early 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.
PHOTO SIMON MAINA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Prime Minister Ariel Henry visited Kenya in early March.
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. Hospitals, targeted by gangs, cannot function normally.
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.
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.