Over the weekend, violence in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince escalated again. Heavily armed gangs attacked the National Palace and set fire to part of the Ministry of the Interior after attacks on police stations, prisons and the international airport, which remains closed to all flights, including those of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, now stranded in Puerto Rico and after a visit to the US unable to enter the country he supposedly leads, on Monday, the 11th of March, reports the British broadcaster BBC.
With the three-day state of emergency being extended for a month, a group of US military personnel managed to reach Haiti to fly US embassy staff to safety. Soon after, the German ambassador and some European Union diplomats followed suit, fleeing the violence-torn country, which is facing its biggest humanitarian crisis since the 2010 earthquake.
However, millions of Haitians have no such option and are trapped in the country.
At the Haitian National University Hospital, a dead body lies in a bed next to patients waiting in vain for treatment, covered with a sheet and swathed in flies.
“There are no doctors, they all fled last week,” a patient told the BBC, adding that amid the explosions and gunfire, all that is left is courage, because in the chaos there is nowhere to go.
Despite the complete breakdown of law and order in Haiti, residents, including street vendors, are forced to go out to make a living while criminals roam the streets stealing and shooting.
Without a Prime Minister and with chaos reigning in the government,
gangs almost completely control more than 80% of Port-au-Prince.
Notorious gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cheriziere is demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, warning of possible civil war and genocide if international support for the prime minister continues.
Meanwhile, the police, outnumbered and demoralised, are struggling to deal with looters, as evidenced by the burnt down Salomon police station in the capital.
A week ago, some 4 000 prisoners escaped when gangs attacked the main prison in Port-au-Prince. Now the prisoners are back on the streets and rejoining the ranks of the gangs.
Instability in Haiti is a regional concern for the Caribbean Community and is particularly worrying in a US election year as it may affect migration.
While the Biden administration is publicly urging the unelected Haitian Prime Minister to return to facilitate the transition to a new government, US diplomats acknowledge that his return is increasingly difficult, fearing that it could further destabilise Haiti’s already fragile situation.
Meanwhile, in Haiti’s nearest neighbour, Jamaica, representatives of the Caricom regional group, diplomats and heads of state are gathering for an emergency summit.
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