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Haitians cross the border between Quanamienthe in Haiti and Dajabon in the Dominican Republic to work in the binational market in Dajabon, Dominican Republic, on 8 March 2024. (Erickson Polanco / AFP)
- Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince has been hit by widespread
chaos after a surge in gang violence last week. - The armed groups and some citizens want Prime Minister Ariel
Henry’s resignation. - Humanitarian conditions in the country are deteriorating,
with shortages of medical resources and food supplies reported.
Sporadic
gunfire rang out in Port-au-Prince Friday night, an AFP correspondent there
heard, as residents desperately sought shelter amid the recent explosion of
gang violence in the Haitian capital.
Humanitarian
conditions continued to deteriorate, and aid groups and NGOs have warned of a
shortage of medical resources and food supplies after armed groups unleashed
widespread chaos on the long-troubled Caribbean nation last week.
According
to an AFP journalist on the scene, gunshots were heard throughout the capital
late Friday, especially concentrated in the southwestern districts of Turgeau,
Pacot, Lalue and Canape-Vert.
Fearful
residents scrambled to take shelter, with witnesses telling AFP they had seen
clashes “between police officers and bandits” as gangs apparently
tried to commandeer police stations in the city centre.
Criminal
groups, which already control much of Port-au-Prince as well as roads leading
to the rest of the country, have attacked key infrastructure in recent days,
including two prisons, allowing the majority of their 3 800 inmates to escape.
READ | Haiti extends state of emergency as gangs target police
The gangs,
along with some ordinary Haitians, are seeking the resignation of Prime
Minister Ariel Henry, who was due to leave office in February but instead
agreed to a power-sharing deal with the opposition until new elections are
held.
Calls for
‘urgent’ reform
On
Thursday, the government issued a month-long state of emergency for the western
region, which includes the capital, and decreed a nighttime curfew until
Monday.
Port-au-Prince
resident Fabiola Sanon told AFP that her 32-year-old husband James was killed
in the unrest. He used to wake up early to earn money for their son’s breakfast
before taking him to school, she said.
“James
has never been in conflict with anyone,” Sanon said. “He’s a simple
cigarette salesman.”
Haiti’s
airport remained closed Friday, while the main port – a key source for food
imports – cited instances of looting since it suspended services on Thursday,
despite efforts to set up a security perimeter.
READ | ‘It’s every man for himself’: Despair in Haiti over violence, UN Security Council concerned
“If we
cannot access those containers (full of food), Haiti will go hungry soon,”
the NGO Mercy Corps warned in a statement.
An alliance
of Caribbean nations, CARICOM, on Friday summoned envoys from the United
States, France, Canada and the United Nations to a meeting on Monday in Jamaica
to discuss the outbreak of violence.
Guyana’s
President Irfaan Ali said the meeting will take up “critical issues for
the stabilisation of security and the provision of urgent humanitarian
assistance.”
The crisis
has drawn concern from the United States, which has told the absent Henry to
enact “urgent” political reform to prevent further escalation.
Henry was
in Kenya when the violence broke out and has since been unable to return to
Haiti. He is reportedly stranded in Puerto Rico.
Pregnant women
at risk
The UN
warned Friday that thousands of people, especially pregnant women, are in
danger of losing vital health care as the crisis drags on.
“If
greater Port-au-Prince remains at a standstill in the coming weeks, almost 3 000
pregnant women could be denied access to essential health care, and almost 450
could face life-threatening obstetric complications if they do not receive
medical assistance,” the UN’s office in Haiti said in a statement.
The body
also warned that more than 500 sexual violence survivors could be without
medical care by the end of March if conditions do not improve.
“Today,
too many women and girls in Haiti are victims of indiscriminate violence
committed by armed gangs. The United Nations stands by them and is committed to
continuing to provide the assistance they need,” said the UN’s Resident
and Humanitarian Coordinator Ulrika Richardson.
READ | ‘Paradise or a hell for all of us’: Top gang leader demands Haiti Prime Minister Henry steps down
In
addition, hundreds of thousands of students could see their records destroyed,
as schools and ministry of education offices were vandalised.
Such
“irreparable damage” could make it impossible for pupils to receive
their transcripts or diplomas in the future, a statement from the Ministry of
National Education and Vocational Training said, calling for the protection of
schools as a “public good.”
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