Following the excessive escalation of violence in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, Misereor is supporting its local partner organisations Caritas Port-au-Prince and the Zanmi Timoun Foundation with 50,000 euros to organise survival aid for the population in need. What is currently needed most is food and hygiene products. The government of the Caribbean state declared a state of emergency until the end of March.
At the beginning of the month, armed gangs freed more than 3,000 prisoners in an attack on the national prison, and more than 1,000 inmates escaped from another detention centre. Haiti has been in a serious crisis for years, characterised not only by gang violence but also by political instability and economic hardship. According to the UN, the number of people in the country who are dependent on humanitarian aid has doubled in the past five years.
Hospital looted and vandalised
A Caritas report from the Haitian capital states that due to the brutal violence of criminal gangs, more and more people are fleeing within the country and some are homeless. In addition, millions of people do not have enough to eat. One of the reasons for this is the blockade of food transports by the gangs. The trade in foodstuffs in the capital is also being made more difficult, with prices for rice and beans, for example, having risen dramatically. There are also major problems in other areas of public services: large parts of the population in Port-au-Prince are unable to receive adequate medical treatment and suffer from a lack of sanitation. The country's largest hospital has had to restrict its operations to emergency care, while another has been completely looted and devastated, according to Caritas. Barbara Albrecht, country officer for Haiti at Misereor, sounds the alarm: "According to United Nations figures, hunger has reached a record level. 4.9 million people, almost half of the Haitian population, are affected by a lack of food supplies. Of these, 1.8 million people are acutely threatened by a serious food crisis." At the end of last year, more than 300,000 people were internally displaced, laments the Misereor expert. According to Albrecht, the gangs now have more power and weapons than the police. They have joined forces to force the resignation of the interim Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who was not democratically elected. Yesterday, Henry actually announced his resignation immediately after the establishment of a transitional government.
Numerous dangers after escape
Fedeline Estinphil, project manager at Misereor's partner organisation Zanmi Timoun, reports that thousands of families have been forced to flee areas controlled by armed gangs in order to save their lives. "They had to leave their personal belongings behind. The most vulnerable members of these families, including infants, children, people with disabilities, pregnant women and people with respiratory diseases, are exposed to numerous dangers, such as sexual exploitation, physical violence, unsanitary conditions, lack of food and clean drinking water."
"Haiti is facing a crisis that is unprecedented in its scale," says Barbara Albrecht. "The people of this Caribbean country are in urgent need of international solidarity. Misereor appeals to the Caribbean community CARICOM, the Latin American states, but also Europe, to actively support international efforts to bring peace to the country and end the violence."
