Haiti Violence Continues Unabated
Nuray Lydia Oglu, Kanako Mita, and Sawako Utsumi
Modern Tokyo Times
Haiti continues to be blighted by gang violence and the sense of hopelessness in the capital city of Port-au-Prince. This sense is felt throughout the country.
Last year, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) confirmed that over 5,500 people were killed in Haiti. This concerns gang violence. Hence, the spiralling violence in Port-au-Prince is a way of life for vast numbers year after year.
Internally, approximately one million people are displaced because of the ongoing breakdown in law and order. This is roughly one-tenth of the total population.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) declared that Haiti is in “free fall.”
Al Jazeera reports, “… Kenya-led police force – formally known as the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) – has failed to take control back from the gangs, however. Observers say the mission has been underfunded and ill-equipped.”
UN News reports, “Gangs, armed with increasingly sophisticated weapons mostly trafficked from abroad, are killing civilians, destroying schools and healthcare facilities, and using sexual violence and mass kidnappings to terrorise communities.”
At the same time, extrajudicial executions by embattled police units are gaining traction. Accordingly, hundreds have been killed by police units who seem at a loss in the failed political system.
Self-defence groups and mob lynchings are now part of the landscape of Port-au-Prince.
The BBC reports, “Haiti has been engulfed in a wave of gang violence since the assassination in 2021 of the then-president, Jovenel Moïse.”
Food insecurity affects approximately five million people. Also, the health system is in crisis. Therefore, the mortality rate is being hit by an array of negative factors – adding to the feeling of desperation for the poorest in society.
Sadly, it is difficult for Haitians to trust their politicians, the United Nations, and international charities – given the recent history of Haiti. This concerns countless child sex scandals, the nightmare of spreading cholera, and other ills. Therefore, if one nation sums up internal and external failure, it is the nation of Haiti.
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