A person rides a motorcycle through street fires, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 1, 2024, a day after gang violence left at least five dead and 20 injured. On Monday, the U.N.’s top envoy for the country warned that gang violence in Haiti was nearing the “point of no return.” Photo by Johnson Sabin/EPA-EFE
April 22 (UPI) — Gang violence in Haiti has continued to further deteriorate the country’s security and the crisis is reaching “a point of no return,” according to the United Nations’ top envoy for the Caribbean nation.
Maria Isabel Salvador, the special representative of the U.N. Secretary-General for Haiti, issued her warning Monday during a Security Council briefing in New York City.
She said that since she last spoke before the council in January the situation has further devolved, with gangs launching coordinated attacks to expand territorial control and undermine state security.
She detailed attacks targeting Kenscoff, the last road out of the capital, Port-au-Prince, not fully under gang control, and advancements by gangs into the city’s downtown areas.
Attacks have also spread across the West, Center and Artibonite departments, which are similar states or provinces — which Salvador described a part of a gang strategy to further stretch national security forces thin.
There have been at least five prison breaks in under a year, she said, with more than 500 inmates recently freed as “part of a deliberate effort to entrench dominance, dismantle institutions and instill fear.”
“The scale and duration of this violence overwhelmed the Haitian National Police, despite support from the Armed Forces of Haiti and the Multinational Security Support Mission, further obstructing stabilization,” she said.
Haiti has been facing spiraling gang violence since President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in July 2021.
Over the last year, there has been an increase in killings and kidnappings by criminal gangs due to Haiti’s weak security situation and justice system, Human Rights Watch said in its annual report on the country.
A transitional council has been created and the United Nations has authorized a Multinational Security Support Mission. However, a lack of funds and personnel has hampered the effort, according to HRW, which said gangs control about 85% of Port-au-Prince as well as other regions, including the West and Artibonite departments.
Salvador said that over the months of February and March, 1,086 people were killed and another 383 were injured due to gang violence. Meanwhile, U.N. statistics show that 60,000 people were forcibly displaced during those two months — on top of the 1.04 million people who had alredy been displaced multiple times as of January.
These numbers are expected to rise, said Salvador as she called on the international community to step up its support for Haiti through increased funding and operational capacity for the MSSM.
“Haiti could face total chaos and any delay in your support could be a direct cause of such stark deterioration,” she said. “I urge you to remain engaged and answer the pressing needs of the country and its people.”