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Haiti humanitarian crisis deepens as country awaits support mission

As Haiti faces a situation of “absolute brutal violence”, the deployment of a multi-national security support mission is awaited with hope, the UN’s top humanitarian official in the country said on Friday.

“For many Haitians, daily life is a matter of life and death”, Ulrika Richardson, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the country said. Talking to reporters in Geneva, she painted a grim picture of current conditions in the small Caribbean state, which has had no president since its last one, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated in 2021.

“Many Haitians go to great risk of just leaving their house, going about a normal life, risking being caught in a line of fire, being kidnapped, lynched, or raped,” Ms. Richardson said. In the first 11 months of 2023, the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) registered 8,000 killings, lynchings, kidnappings and rape, often collective rape also targeting young girls.

An estimated 300 gangs operate in Haiti, with the largest groups controlling up to 80 per cent of the capital. Sprawling gang violence is spreading beyond Port-au-Prince to previously peaceful areas in Haiti’s central and northwest regions, particularly to the Artibonite Department, which used to be the breadbasket of Haiti. The country used to produce all its food and even export some. It now struggles with increasing food insecurity amid skyrocketing inflation.

Two out of five Haitians face acute food insecurity

In the country of 12 million people, “5.2 million are in need of humanitarian assistance. 4.35 million Haitian face acute food insecurity, and that's a staggering figure,” Ms. Richardson emphasized. “It is two out of five Haitians that face acute food insecurity.”

Murders, looting, kidnappings and widespread sexual violence have also fueled mass displacement. “We have 200,000 [displaced people] in the country, 143,000 in the capital alone, which is, of course, a very large number,” Ms. Richardson stressed.

Needs have soared but funding for aid remains scarce. Ms. Richardson said that the 2023 humanitarian response plan for Haiti is only 33 per cent funded as the year draws to a close.

Hopes are now focused on the deployment of a multinational security support mission to Haiti as per resolution 2699 adopted by the UN Security Council last October. Kenya has agreed to lead this multinational armed force and pledged 1,000 police officers. Its deployment, potentially as soon as the first quarter of 2024, awaits a green light from the Kenyan high court.

“We have to really approach this with a comprehensive plan to assist Haiti, to accompany Haiti to the return of state institutions, state control in many of these areas where the state is not present. Reinstate basic services, including water and sanitation, health and education, but also looking at the justice system and the correction system,” Ms. Richardson said.

Prisons in Haiti are up to three times over capacity, with most inmates awaiting trial.

The support mission to shore up the Haitian National Police is intended to help reestablish security in the country in order to create the conditions for holding free and fair elections.

“We consider it will take between 12 and 18 months to organize an election. Obviously, we must stabilize the situation of violence,” Ms. Richardson concluded.

Ends

Haiti humanitarian crisis and deployment of multi-national force - OCHA

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