Conflicts & War

Some 15,000 people displaced by violence in Haiti last week

United Nations, Mar 5 (EFE). – Violence in Haiti has caused the displacement of 15,000 people in recent days, United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday at his daily press briefing.

The situation in Haiti has deteriorated to the point where 5.5 million people – half the population – need humanitarian aid, the spokesman recalled.

However, the UN has only been able to raise $17 million, just 2.5% of the $674 million needed.

In the face of rapidly deteriorating security, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on member states to take “urgent action” to deploy an international police force to the island.

Several African and Caribbean countries (Benin, Chad, the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Antigua and Barbuda) have agreed to contribute to a force commanded by Kenya once the funds are available.

The UN Security Council has scheduled a special closed-door meeting for Wednesday in which the Special Representative for Haiti, Maria Isabel Salvador, will intervene remotely.

Violence has escalated in Haiti since Thursday, and armed gangs attacked two of the country’s largest prisons on Saturday.

Some 3,600 inmates, about 97 percent of the population, fled the National Penitentiary, the capital’s civilian prison, and at least 15 died.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who left Haiti on Wednesday to attend the Caribbean Community (Caricom) summit in Guyana and then traveled to Kenya to discuss the multinational security support mission, has not returned.

The Kenyan government confirmed that he had left Nairobi, but as of Tuesday, he is not in Port au Prince. Many versions are circulating about where he might be and whether or not his return to Haiti is imminent.

Some point out that the gang attacks on the airports are a move by the gangs to prevent his return because they are looking for Henry to leave power.

On Sunday, the Minister of Economy, Patrick Michel Boisvert, who is acting as interim Prime Minister, signed the decree of a state of emergency and a 72 hour curfew in the western department where Port-au-Prince is.

Situation in Port-au-Prince

The population is trying to return to normal on Tuesday after the intense shooting on Monday, even though, as EFE was able to verify, they are still encountering bodies in the streets.

Police presence has increased near police stations, which in recent days have been the target of armed gangs.

On Monday, the police union reported that armed men set fire to the police station at Carrefour de l’Aeroport; a strategic point where several roads leading to the center of Port-au-Prince converge.

The capital’s Toussaint Louverture airport, which the gangs are trying to take control of, is another hotspot.

Currently, the state of emergency and the curfew are still in force. Nevertheless, gang violence has continued to rage in the afternoon hours in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area.

The escalation of tensions began Thursday after Bahamian Prime Minister Phillip Davis, during the Caribbean Community (Caricom) summit, said Ariel Henry was committed to holding elections before Aug. 31, 2025.

The leader of the G9 gang, ex-cop Jimmy Cherisier, also known as Barbecue, announced then the start of a “revolution” on Thursday, as he has done several times before.

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