(Geneva) Some 13,000 Haitian migrants were forcibly returned home by neighboring states in March despite the catastrophic humanitarian and security situation, the International Organization for Migration said Thursday.
This is 46% more than the previous month, notes the IOM in a press release, which specifies that 3,000 of them received humanitarian assistance upon their return and 1,200 benefit from psychosocial support.
“For most Haitians, the prospect of regular migration remains an insurmountable obstacle, leaving irregular migration as the only semblance of hope,” notes the organization.
Just to obtain a passport, it takes “sometimes months or even more than a year”, which prevents the use of regular emigration channels, using humanitarian visas for example, insists the IOM.
She notes a worrying trend, particularly among the population exhausted by repeated travel: “cases of suicidal tendencies which were once a taboo subject, but which are now being revealed more and more frequently”.
According to the IOM count, Haiti has more than 360,000 internally displaced people, “and many of them several times”.
The country had a total population of 11.6 million in 2022, according to UN figures.
The country has been ravaged for decades by poverty, natural disasters and political instability.
Since late February, Haiti’s powerful gangs have teamed up to attack police stations, prisons, the airport and the seaport in an effort to oust Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who ultimately resigned.
But the transition commission is slow to be put in place, which slows down the arrival of the multinational force which must come to lend a hand to the Haitian police – totally overwhelmed – to restore order.
Humanitarian personnel “are faced with unprecedented security challenges, and must weigh the imperative to provide aid with the harsh reality of the personal risk incurred and the difficulties of traveling,” explains Philippe Branchat, the head of the IOM in Haiti.
Martin Griffiths, the UN humanitarian coordinator, released $12 million from an emergency fund on Thursday to tackle the crisis.
“Incessant gang violence has led to the displacement of 50,000 people (outside Port-au-Prince in March), plunged 5 million people into a situation of acute hunger and weakened an already fragile health system,” notes t -he on the social network
In Geneva, the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on Thursday which, among other things, urges UN member states and all stakeholders “to continue to support the measures and efforts of the Haitian Government aimed at combating against the violence of armed gangs and against the illicit sale, importation and circulation of firearms, and to guarantee respect for human rights in Haiti.
The effect of sanctions against gangs “extremely limited”
The impact of UN sanctions against several gang leaders in Haiti is “extremely limited”, and the implementation of the arms embargo is “poor”, according to a report by experts mandated to monitor these sanctions.
In October 2022, the UN Security Council decided to establish a sanctions regime (travel ban, asset freeze, targeted arms embargo), targeting only one gang leader , Jimmy Chérizier, known as “Barbecue”.
The list now includes five gang leaders, among those considered to be the most powerful ravaging the country. Last October, the Council also imposed a general embargo on small arms and ammunition destined for Haiti.
Concerning individual sanctions, the experts mandated by the Council believe that their effect “remains extremely limited, because gang leaders and the activities of their gangs are practically not affected by the measures”, according to the report published Thursday which covers the period from November 2023 to February 2024.
These gang leaders “continued to build up their arsenals, extend their control over the territory and expand their ranks, despite the sanctions imposed against them,” they add.
As for the general arms embargo, “the process is only in its early stages” and “the implementation” of its application “remains mediocre, resources being limited to enforce it in Haiti and the region” .
“Gangs and other non-state actors continue to obtain weapons and ammunition illicitly”, particularly in the United States and the Dominican Republic, they warn, citing their interviews with Haitian police confirming that “ the gangs don’t seem to lack any ammunition.”
“The provisions relating to the embargo are also poorly known to the actors who are supposed to enforce them”, in particular police and customs officers, deplore the experts.