(Port-Au-Prince) The Haitian government has agreed to seek military assistance from abroad as criminal gangs and protesters cripple the country and basic supplies, including fuel and water, are declining, according to a document unveiled on Friday.
Updated yesterday at 10:18 p.m.
The document, signed by Prime Minister Ariel Henry and 18 senior officials, says they are alarmed by “the risk of a major humanitarian crisis” which threatens the lives of many people.
It authorizes Mr. Henry to request from international partners “the immediate deployment of a specialized armed force, in sufficient quantity”, to stop the crisis across the country caused in part by the “criminal actions of armed gangs”.
The document considers it “imperative” to restart activities to avoid a complete suffocation of the national economy.
It was unclear on Friday whether the request had been officially submitted, to whom it was submitted and whether it meant the activation of United Nations peacekeeping troops, whose mission in Haiti ended five years ago. years after eleven tumultuous years.
This request would come after Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the Organization of American States, held a meeting Thursday in Peru with officials from member countries, including the Haitian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean Victor Généus, the Secretary of US State Antony Blinken and Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly to discuss the deteriorating situation in the country.
Mr. Almagro wrote Thursday evening on Twitter that Haiti “must request the urgent assistance of the international community to help resolve the security crises, determine the characteristics of an international security force”.
Many Haitians rejected the idea of a new international intervention, noting that UN peacekeepers had been accused of sexual assault and had caused an epidemic of cholera, more than a decade ago, which made nearly 10,000 dead.
“I don’t think Haiti needs another intervention,” said Mathias Pierre, former minister delegate in charge of electoral matters in Haiti. We’ve been through so much and nothing’s been resolved […] If we don’t as Haitians, in 10 years we will be in the same situation again. »
Mr. Pierre instead urged the US government to help reduce the amount of ammunition and firearms arriving in Haiti, and to better equip the police so that they have more weapons and can collect gang intelligence.
He also expressed concern about the situation that an international security force would encounter, which would not be confronted with a conventional army, but with “gangs, located in poor areas and using the population as a shield to protect themselves”.
These gangs have only grown in power since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.
On Wednesday, the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator in Haiti proposed a “humanitarian corridor” to provide fuel and aid to those in need. The Bureau noted that the country was also facing a new outbreak of cholera, with several deaths reported and dozens of patients treated.