Residents seek shelter as gunfire and gang violence bring Haiti to ‘standstill’
Sporadic gunfire rang out in PortauPrince on Friday night, as residents desperately sought shelter amid the recent explosion of gang violence in the Haitian capital.
Humanitarian conditions continued to deteriorate, and aid groups and NGOs have warned of a shortage of medical resources and food supplies after armed groups unleashed widespread chaos on the longtroubled Caribbean nation last week.
Gunshots were heard throughout the capital late on Friday, especially concentrated in the southwestern districts of Turgeau, Pacot, Lalue and CanapeVert.
Fearful residents scrambled to take shelter, with witnesses saying they had seen clashes “between police officers and bandits” as gangs apparently tried to commandeer police stations in the city center.
Criminal groups, which already control much of PortauPrince as well as roads leading to the rest of the country, have attacked key infrastructure in recent days. This also includes attacks on two prisons, allowing the majority of their 3,800 inmates to escape.
The gangs, along with some ordinary Haitians, are seeking the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who was due to leave office in February but instead agreed to a powersharing deal with the opposition until new elections are held.
‘Urgent’ reform
On Thursday, the government issued a monthlong state of emergency for the western region, which includes the capital, and decreed a nighttime curfew until Monday.
PortauPrince resident Fabiola Sanon said that her 32yearold husband James was killed in the unrest. He used to wake up early to earn money for their son’s breakfast before taking him to school, she said.
“James has never been in conflict with anyone,” Ms. Sanon said. “He’s a simple cigarette salesman.”
Haiti’s airport remained closed on Friday, while the main port — a key source for food imports — cited instances of looting since it suspended services on Thursday, despite efforts to set up a security perimeter.
“If we cannot access those containers (full of food), Haiti will go hungry soon,” the NGO Mercy Corps warned in a statement.
An alliance of Caribbean nations, CARICOM, on Friday summoned envoys from the United States, France, Canada and the United Nations to a meeting on Monday in Jamaica to discuss the outbreak of violence.
Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali said the meeting will take up “critical issues for the stabilisation of security and the provision of urgent humanitarian assistance.”
The crisis has drawn concern from the United States, which has told the absent Henry to enact “urgent” political reform to prevent further escalation.
Mr. Henry was in Kenya when the violence broke out and has since been unable to return to Haiti. He is reportedly stranded in Puerto Rico.
Pregnant women at risk
The UN warned on Friday that thousands of people, especially pregnant women, are in danger of losing vital health care as the crisis drags on.
“If greater PortauPrince remains at a standstill in the coming weeks, almost 3,000 pregnant women could be denied access to essential health care, and almost 450 could face lifethreatening obstetric complications if they do not receive medical assistance,” the UN’s office in Haiti said in a statement.
The body also warned that more than 500 sexual violence survivors could be without medical care by the end of March if conditions do not improve.
“Today, too many women and girls in Haiti are victims of indiscriminate violence committed by armed gangs. The United Nations stands by them and is committed to continuing to provide the assistance they need,” said the UN’s Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Ulrika Richardson.