Gang violence is escalating
German ambassador leaves Haiti
March 10, 2024, 9:26 p.m
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Powerful gangs want to overthrow Haiti’s interim government. The country has been in chaos for ten days, with violence escalating, especially in the capital. Because of the tense security situation, the German embassy is now taking action. She’s not the only one.
Continuing serious gang violence in Haiti has increased pressure on Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who is stranded abroad, and further exacerbated the humanitarian crisis. Due to “the very tense security situation”, Germany’s ambassador and permanent representative traveled to the neighboring country of the Dominican Republic together with representatives of the EU delegation, as a spokesman for the Foreign Office said. The US military also flew non-essential US embassy employees out over the weekend and increased security precautions, as the US regional command Southcom announced.
The violence of the powerful gangs that want to overthrow Prime Minister Henry’s interim government has paralyzed large parts of Haiti for around ten days. All flights have been canceled for days. According to media reports, there was heavy shooting around the presidential palace on Friday evening. Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader declared Henry persona non grata on Saturday. Abinader’s office said he was not welcome for security reasons. The crisis in Haiti also represents a direct threat to the stability and security of the Dominican Republic. The country, which is popular with vacationers, shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with Haiti, the poorest country on the American continent.
At the end of February, violence escalated in Haiti, where, according to the UN, gangs already controlled around 80 percent of the capital Port-au-Prince. Henry was on a trip abroad at the time, including in Kenya – the country set to lead a UN Security Council-approved security mission in Haiti. Since then, he has apparently not returned to Haiti because of the security situation. On Tuesday, Henry traveled to Puerto Rico after the Dominican Republic refused to grant him permission to land. Both international airports in Haiti are closed due to the violence.
Reports of dead bodies on the street
The country’s two main armed groups had merged. Their leader, ex-police officer Jimmy Chérizier alias “Barbecue”, called on Henry to resign – otherwise there would be a civil war. The gangs freed more than 4,500 prisoners from two prisons and attacked, among other things, police facilities and airports. There was looting at the port of Port-au-Prince. According to a report by the “AyiboPost” portal, the notoriously understaffed police hardly had any presence on the streets of the capital.
It is still unclear how many people fell victim to the violence. The Washington Post reported bodies lying in the street that could not be buried because of the security situation and were instead burned. According to the UN, almost half of Haiti’s approximately eleven million inhabitants suffer from acute hunger. The health system was on the brink of collapse, according to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Wednesday.
Henry, a 74-year-old neurosurgeon, took over the reins of government after President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated at his residence on July 7, 2021. No elections have been held since then, and Haiti currently has neither a president nor a parliament. The former occupying power USA – which many Haitians and observers say has kept the unpopular Henry in power – has called on him in recent days to accelerate the political transition.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for funding for the multinational security mission. According to the UN, more than 300,000 people have been displaced within Haiti because of gang violence in recent years.