Over this past weekend, Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince was hit by a new wave of violence carried out by rival gangs, which took place near the Toussaint Louverture international airport and displaced hundreds of residents from their homes, burned down houses, and wounded many.
Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) had to evacuate its hospital in the large Cité Soleil slum; the Fontaine Hospital at the same location had to evacuate its newborns. MSF announced that it is impossible to protect its staff and patients in the midst of the gunfighting.
On May 9, Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, during which they discussed the security crisis, immigration pressures, and the humanitarian situation, although Vatican News’ report provided few details. Fils-Aimé also met with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Gallagher, responsible for Vatican relations with states.
Despite plans to hold national elections this year, with a first round scheduled for August and the second by the end of the year, it is now evident that this will be impossible. Speaking from Rome with the daily Le Nouvelliste, Fils-Aimé said, “It is clear that the security conditions do not exist to organize the elections in August…. As a person in charge, can I lead the population to the polls when the security issues are not resolved? Can I ask someone to line up to vote when they could be attacked by a gang? It would be irresponsible to do so.”
The government had pinned hopes on the deployment of the new 5,500-member Gang Suppression Force (GSF) that received its UN mandate last September and was supposed to be in place by April. But to date, only a small contingent of forces contributed by Chad has arrived, so now the GSF isn’t expected to be fully operational until the end of this year. According to the Miami Herald, delays in getting the force in place were due to delays “caused by the Iran War, bureaucratic red tape and other logistical challenges.”
Is throwing yet another foreign “security force” at Haiti going to resolve its crisis, without ever addressing the need for economic development, infrastructure, and a Haitian-run political coalition capable of addressing these issues? The degree of violence, outside the capital, including in areas such as the Artibonite and Center departments, has created an unsustainable situation.
The UN Integrated Office (BINUH) in Port-au-Prince just issued a devastating report noting that only small advances have been made in parts of the capital against gangs but that the overall situation remains “daily and unbearable” for most Haitians. The head of BINUH, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, reported that in the first three months of this year, 1,642 people were killed by gang violence.
