“Now is not the time to forget Haiti”said UN Secretary General António Guterres upon his arrival in Port-au-Prince on Saturday to demonstrate his “solidarity” with a population trapped in a “tragic cycle” of violence, misery and health disasters.
“I am in Port-au-Prince to express my solidarity with the Haitian people and call on the international community to continue supporting Haiti, including with an international force that can back up the national police”Guterres said in a tweet minutes after beginning his first visit to the country as secretary general.
“Now is not the time to forget Haiti”he added, while his spokesperson’s service recalled the “tragic cycle of security, political and humanitarian crises” Haitians live.
During this visit, which was kept secret until he landed in the capital, Guterres will meet with the country’s Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, and political leaders, as well as members of civil society and United Nations staff.
The secretary general “will reaffirm the UN’s support for Haiti, its strong call to the international community to support Haiti and its humanitarian needs, as well as its call for the immediate deployment of an international force to assist the national police”says the statement.
In October, echoing a request from Henry, he had already called on the Security Council to send troops to support the Haitian police, overwhelmed by gang violence.
Although some countries have said they are ready to participate in a force like the one claimed, none have offered to lead an operation of this type in a country scalded by multiple foreign interventions.
Since that call, the UN has continued to describe the nightmare experienced by Haitians, with snipers on the roofs, kidnappings, attacks on schools, rape used as a weapon…
never worse than today
This Thursday, after returning from a visit to Haiti, UNICEF’s executive secretary, Catherine Russell, said that the situation in the country is critical.
“Haitians on our country team have told me that the situation has never been as bad as it is now: unprecedented hunger and malnutrition, economic paralysis, a resurgence of cholera, and widespread insecurity creating a spiral of violence.”.
Russell relayed testimony from one of the many gang victims, an 11-year-old girl. «She told me in her sweet voice that five men caught her in the street. Three of her raped her. When we spoke she was eight months pregnant and she gave birth a few days later.”.
Some residents have taken to the streets to respond on their own to the violence. In April, a group of civilians captured several gang members in police custody, beat them to death, and burned their bodies in the street.
Foreign Cooperation Minister Ricard Pierre warned in June of the high risk of a “civil war” if there is no foreign intervention.
Nearly half the population, some 5.2 million people, also needs humanitarian aid, including some 3 million children.
In Port-au-Prince, Guterres will highlight “the need for an inclusive Haitian-led political process towards elections and a return to constitutional order”.
Since 2016, no elections have been held in the country. Henry, appointed prime minister just 48 hours before the last president, Jovenel Moise, was assassinated in July 2021, faces questions about his legitimacy.
After Haiti, the UN chief will fly to Trinidad and Tobago, where he will participate in the Caribbean Community (Caricom) summit. The Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, will also be present at the meeting and will address the Haitian case.
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