According to Catherine Russell, violent, armed gangs control more than 60 percent of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, as well as large areas of the countryside.
Director of the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF Catherine Russell warned the world on Thursday not to abandon violence-ridden Haiti. According to him, the poor Caribbean state is really becoming a forgotten crisis.
– Children recruited into gangs, burnt houses and raped young girls are examples of the latest horrors that have befallen the Haitian people, he described.
Russell, who returned from Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince a few days earlier, said that nearly half of Haiti’s population, a record 5.2 million people, are now in dire need of humanitarian aid. There are almost three million children in this group.
According to Russell, violent, armed gangs control more than 60 percent of the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince, and large areas of the countryside.
– Our team there told me that the situation has never been this bad, he said.
– Haiti is plagued by unprecedented hunger and malnutrition, inconsolable poverty, a crippled economy, a resurgence of cholera, and massive insecurity, which creates a deadly, downward spiral of violence, Russell emphasized.
Haiti’s crisis is exacerbated by floods and earthquakes.
– They continue to remind us all how vulnerable Haiti is to climate change and natural disasters, Russell said.
Rapes are used to intimidate and control
The head of UNICEF said that gangs in Haiti use rape as a weapon to intimidate and control people.
He met one of the victims at the survivors’ center in Port-au-Prince.
– An 11-year-old girl told me in the softest voice that five men had grabbed her from the street, Russell said.
– Three of the men raped her. When we spoke, the girl was eight months pregnant, and she gave birth just a few days later.
According to Russell, schools and public spaces that should be safe are no longer in the midst of relentless violence.
Catherine Russell accused the international community of incompetence
– The world is collectively failing Haitians, and unless we take immediate action, it is difficult to imagine a dignified future for them, he said.
Russell also noted that the Haitian government’s plea for international aid has so far gone unanswered.
– We cannot watch this country fall apart completely, he said.
Source: AFP