Violent gangs have driven Haiti, the poorest country in the Caribbean, into complete chaos.
The gangs currently control most of the capital, Port-au-Prince. They released thousands of prisoners from prisons last weekend.
Bodies of those killed in shootings lie in the streets, and hospitals are filled with wounded civilians.
In this story, we tell you what the violence in Haiti is all about – and how to try to solve the situation.
What has happened in Haiti?
Escalating gang violence has been a problem in Haiti for a long time, but during the beginning of the year the situation has worsened.
Prime minister Ariel Henry has tried to get international police forces into the country to support the authorities. He traveled to Kenya last week to arrange the arrival of Kenyan policemen to Haiti.
The gangs immediately began coordinated attacks on Port-au-Prince’s largest prisons, police stations and the international airport. A total of around 4,000 prisoners have been released from the two prisons.
An estimated 80 percent of Port-au-Prince is now controlled by gangs. At least 15,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in the latest wave of violence.
What is the country’s humanitarian situation?
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has demanded the urgent intervention of external security forces, because according to him there is no other realistic option to protect human lives.
– This situation is untenable for Haitians, Türk said according to the news agency Reuters.
According to the UN, there are a total of 360,000 internal refugees in the country, and since the beginning of the year, almost 1,200 people have died and 700 have been injured in violence. Rapes and torture have been widely reported.
According to the UN, hospitals are overwhelmed by the number of wounded civilians, and more blood is urgently needed.
– We have no authorities, we have no managers, we have no one and nothing, merchant Linda Antoine Port-au-Prince was photographed by the news agency AFP.
Haiti is already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. It has suffered from several natural disasters, the worst of which was the 2010 earthquake.
What do gang members want?
The gang’s goal is to overthrow the unpopular Prime Minister Henry’s regime.
– If Ariel Henry does not resign, if the international community continues to support Ariel Henry, they will lead us straight into a civil war that will end in genocide, gang boss Jimmy Cherizier said at a news conference on Tuesday.
The cooperation of the gangs, which usually quarrel with each other, has been an extraordinary display of strength.
What is the position of the Prime Minister?
Prime Minister Ariel Henry has not been elected, but took charge of the interim administration with the support of the international community in 2021 after Haiti’s previous president Jovenel Moise was assassinated.
Henry has postponed the previously promised elections on the grounds that the security of the country must be ensured first.
Henry has not returned to Haiti from his trip to Kenya. He has been in Puerto Rico since Tuesday. In recent days, Henry has not commented on his country’s situation in public at all.
How has the international community reacted?
The US has said it is not pressuring Henry to step down, but wants him to speed up a political process that would lead to elections – and thus a change of power.
The US is also not going to help Henry return from Puerto Rico to Haiti.
According to the AP news agency’s diplomatic source, other Caribbean countries have presented Henry with various options to resolve the situation in Haiti. One of the options was Henry’s resignation, which he refused, according to the source.
President of Caricom, the trade community of Caribbean countries Irfan Ali said in a video statement that Caricom leaders have been negotiating with Haitian officials and opposition activists around the clock for the past three days. According to Ali, they have not been able to find a consensus so far.
– They all know the price of failure, Ali, who is also Guyana’s president, said according to Reuters.
– The fact that more people have died in Haiti at the beginning of the year than in Ukraine should make everyone really stop.
AFP, AP, Reuters