The despair in Haiti is pervasive. For 3-4 weeks, gang violence has surged to such a degree that there is literally nowhere to hide. According to the New York Times Nov. 25, humanitarian organizations, the UN, medical charities and foreign diplomats are now exiting—either to relocate to safer parts of the country or leave altogether. The situation is so bad that Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has suspended operations at five of its clinics in Port-au-Prince, because its staff—doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers—are being attacked, most often by police officers. The unit it has shut down is the only one able to provide care for trauma patients. The Haitian National Police are supposed to be working with Kenyan police officers in the Multilateral Security Support Mission (MSS) to combat gangs; but some have found more lucrative work with the gangs.
Most worrisome is that personnel working for different UN agencies—World Food Program, UNICEF, International Organization for Migration, and the UN Integration Office in Haiti (BINUH)—are also leaving, by the dozens, causing panic. David Lloyd, an American missionary whose son and daughter-in-law were killed by gangs earlier this year, asked, “My question is, after Port-au-Prince is burned, where is next? Will the gangs go to Cap Haitien then? Someone needs to make a stand and say enough is enough!” But a recent gang attack in Petion-Ville, where many international agencies have their offices, has led many to reevaluate their staffing and begin evacuating some employees.
In the past week, the U.S. has been lobbying at the UN Security Council for its plan to convert the MSS into a UN peacekeeping force, that would be financed by UN members, as the Biden administration has thus far provided all the financing, contrary to the original plan. But China and Russia are opposed to the plan, arguing that peacekeeping forces aren’t likely to have any better success rate than the MSS, which is still woefully understaffed, underfinanced and lacking vital equipment. The gangs operate with impunity and are recruiting children—some as young as 8 years old—at an unprecedented rate. What approach the Trump administration will have toward the MSS and Haiti remains to be seen.
