Nearly 100,000 displaced by gangs in Haiti, cholera now in most regions, says U.N.
.JPG "A child plays with an inflated condom at the Hugo Chavez public square transformed into a refuge for families forced to leave their homes due to clashes between armed gangs in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022.")
Nearly 100,000 Haitians have been displaced by gang-related violence, which is taking the country to the brink of collapse as critical roads and the seaports remain under the control of armed groups.
Just in the last five months, the number of displaced people has tripled, the United Nation’s International Organization for Migration said in a report issued this week. The violence and kidnappings by Haiti’s gangs, the report said, are forcing people to leave their homes and depriving them of the basic necessities of food and water.
“Thousands of women, children, and men have been forced to leave their homes seeking shelter away from violence and destruction,” said Ulrika Richardson, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Haiti.
IOM said that during an assessment conducted between June and August, aid workers identified 113,000 Haitians who are currently displaced. Of them, 17,000 were victims of the country’s worst natural disaster, the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake that killed over 300,000 and left 1.5 million homeless. The other 96,000 individuals have been forced out of neighborhoods due to gangs, whose violence has resulted in racketeering, kidnappings and other criminal acts.
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In a country where there is already a huge divide between the haves and have-nots, gangs are creating deeper inequalities, high levels of deprivation of basic human needs, and a fragmented security environment, the report noted.
The most recent effects of Haiti’s escalating gang violence can be observed in the current humanitarian crisis. As a result of the ongoing blockade of the country’s main petroleum terminal, fuel, food and water have been in short supply. Cholera, the deadly waterborne disease that led to the deaths of over 10,000 Haitians in just under a decade, has made a resurgence.
In Port-au-Prince, nearly half of the 1,700 suspected cholera cases are children under age 14, the United Nation’s leading child welfare agency, UNICEF, said earlier this week. On Friday, the U.N. confirmed that the outbreak has now spread to eight of Haiti’s 10 regional departments.
“The occupancy rate in the 15 Cholera Treatment Centers in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area had reached more than 80% on Wednesday,” said Stephan Dujarric, spokesperson for U.N. Secretary General António Guterres. “Increasing the number of beds available is a critical effort.”
Dujarric acknowledged that the situation in Haiti remains volatile, including for aid workers, and security assessments are made before deploying help. The U.N. is also working with local authorities, he said, to distribute aid.
“Any work that we do outside of our compound involves risk,” said Dujarric. “But there’s also a huge risk of doing nothing to help people who need help. So, we try ... for every mission, we try to balance an acceptable level of risk, but obviously, the longer this violence continues, the longer the lawlessness continues, the less we’re able to do our jobs.”
Dujarric said the Pan American Health Organization continues to provide assistance to Haiti’s Ministry of Health to help authorities detect cholera, do lab analysis and case management while helping officials procure medical supplies and equipment.
“For its part, UNICEF has distributed 130,000 liters of potable water in Cité Soleil in the last three days, serving close to 3,000 people per day in what is a challenging environment to say the least,” he said.
Community health workers and non-governmental organizations are conducting awareness-raising sessions on cholera. They are also distributing chlorine and water purification tablets in the most affected neighborhoods of the capital city.
“Earlier this week, the UN Humanitarian Air Service transported nutritional supplements, which WFP and its partners plan to use in Cité Soleil,” Dujarric said. “The air service also continues to bring in hospital beds, as part of our support to the cholera response.”
On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with both Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly during his visit to Canada, in which the issue of Haiti came up. Blinken is hoping to convince the Canadians to lead a foreign armed force, consisting of police and military, to help the Haiti National Police take back control from gangs.
This story was originally published October 28, 2022 at 6:21 PM.
