I am currently in the Dominican Republic, from where I observe the desperate situation of our neighbor, Haiti. Impossible in a short article to grasp the horror that is going on in this country. I can only hope that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, special guest of the 44e meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which continues until February 17 in Nassau, will not dismiss the urgent demand for an armed intervention led by Canada.
On January 25, the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, indeed reaffirmed “the urgent need to deploy a specialized international armed force” in Haiti, because “the Haitian people are suffering from the worst humanitarian and of human rights for decades,” he says. Helen La Lime, Special Envoy for Haiti, noted that “on average, we face one kidnapping every six hours in 2022.”
Among Haitians, a consensus has emerged recently that without a Canadian-led response, it will be impossible to tackle the spiral of gang violence in Haiti.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Trudeau was careful not to respond to this request. However, he has pledged to send Royal Canadian Navy ships off the island of Hispaniola in the coming weeks.
In July 2021, the crisis in Haiti had attracted worldwide attention after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. Moïse himself used the gangs as agents of enforcement and surveillance in the poor neighborhoods of the capital, Port-au-Prince. The latter apparently had him murdered anyway before he handed over a list of drug traffickers to the American authorities. Having canceled the elections, Jovenel Moïse governed by decree.
Power, however limited, is now in the hands of the Dr Ariel Henry, whom Jovenel Moïse appointed prime minister shortly before his assassination.
The gangs in control
Haiti’s misfortune dates back to the repressive dictatorship of the Duvaliers (François, or “Papa Doc”, and his son Jean-Claude, or “Baby Doc”), who ruled from 1957 to 1986. The fall of the Duvaliers was followed by power struggles between typically corrupt and inept leaders, backed by elites, some linked to US-based actors. Since the 2010 earthquakes, Haiti has remained in a fragile state, but the murder of Jovenel Moïse in July 2021 — and another earthquake the following month — sent the situation spiraling out of control.
Gangs — estimated to number 200 — have filled the void, with Port-au-Prince at the center of a horrific turf war that has seen a spike in kidnappings, civilian deaths and gang rapes, even of elderly women and children. According to estimates, 70% of the city of Port-au-Prince is under the absolute control of street gangs, which determine who enters and leaves.
There is effectively no constraint on the actions of the gangs, with the exception of opposing gangs fighting for the same territory. The gangs blocked access to drinking water trucks, forcing residents to drink contaminated water. An estimated 155,000 people have fled their homes, nearly one in six residents of the city. According to official figures, gang violence claimed 1,448 lives in 2022, and 1,005 people were kidnapped for ransom.
In addition, 17,600 suspected cases of cholera were detected before the end of 2022. The cholera epidemic has taken its toll on children under six, who account for more than 40% of infections.
The best the overwhelmed 9,500-man police force can do is try to stop the gangs from expanding their base. At least 54 officers have been killed by gangs in 2022. More than 3,000 officers have left the police force since the start of 2021.
Canada to the rescue
The UN has often called for action, but direct UN action is blocked by Russian and Chinese vetoes. Hence the call for “a non-UN mission led by a partner country”. A visit to Ottawa by the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, made it clear that the United States saw Canada playing this role.
France said it would contribute to a Canadian-led intervention supported by Haiti’s neighbors. (Haitians remain sensitive to the lasting effect of France’s forced reparations to reimburse slaveholders after Haiti’s independence in 1804.) Caribbean countries are ready to do their part.
The World Bank has noted that “a child born today in Haiti will grow up to be only 45% as productive as they could be”… “More than a fifth of children are at risk of having limitations cognitive and physical, and only 78% of 15-year-olds will survive to age 60. »
Canada’s approach is to impose sanctions on oligarchs who profit from the violence and instability in the country. Suspected drug and arms traffickers have long sat in Haiti’s parliament, police help drug traffickers, while judges are routinely bribed to dismiss cases.
A necessary intervention
At the end of December, Michaëlle Jean, who was born in Haiti, issued a strong statement denouncing the fact that it is so “difficult to imagine the resolution of this Gordian knot without outside intervention”.
“Things are now at a breaking point. This crisis will not pass,” Jean-Martin Bauer, Haiti director for the United Nations World Food Program, said in early 2023. Nearly half of Haiti’s population — about 4.7 million people — is facing a food crisis.
Haiti is the most densely populated country in the Americas. If Haiti implodes, it will also cause an explosion in its neighbors, especially the Dominican Republic, with which it shares the island of Hispaniola.
So far, Canada has favored what Bob Rae described as a “Haitian-led” approach. This vague and impractical formulation allows the authorities to avoid publicly considering a mission for which it will be necessary to seek the popular support of Canadian voters.
But this cannot last. Canadians need to know that things won’t get better on their own: murders, kidnappings and rapes are increasing rapidly and gang-controlled territory is expanding. Are we ready to take our responsibilities?