New kidnappings and more and more displaced people in Haiti, a country plagued by violence
According to the latest figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), there are now more than 346,000 internally displaced people in Haiti, where even regions that were spared until recently are now affected.
The kidnapping of six religious people in Port-au-Prince on February 24 once again illustrates the spiral of violence the country is stuck in.
Haitians, faced with gang violence in Port-au-Prince, leave their homes, February 12, 2024. AP - Odelyn Joseph
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At the end of 2023, there were 314,000 internally displaced people in Haiti.
This February 26, 2024, the IOM puts forward a new increased figure with
more than 346,000 people who were forced to leave their homes
in the face of armed gang attacks.
Regions hitherto spared, such as Artibonite or the Center, are today also confronted with the phenomenon.
But it is especially within the capital Port-au-Prince itself that the vast majority of these forced displacements are recorded.
This disastrous situation covers many realities, explains Philippe Branchat, head of mission of the IOM in Haiti, at the microphone of
Mikaël Ponge,
of the international service for RFI: “
Each figure is so many stories, so many broken lives , so many murders, assassinations, rapes.
So the situation is much worse, too, due to the new violence since November and the situation of confinement experienced by the population of Port-au-Prince.
»
“
Today, the road leading to the South, which allowed many displaced people to get out and find refuge with relatives, is closed.
So we find ourselves not only with violence inside Port-au-Prince which is not decreasing, on the contrary, which is expanding, and, in addition, confinement which means that the biggest find themselves locked up in unsanitary situations.
And there are more and more of them in sites which are very, very far from being able to accommodate a resident population over long periods
,” he continues.
Also listen: Haiti: the spiral of chaos
The multinational security mission is still delayed
Friday February 24, six religious were kidnapped in Port-au-Prince, revealed the Congregation of the Brothers of the Sacré-Cœur.
A teacher working in the mission was also kidnapped.
The congregation announced the closure of the school where they were going, in the Bicentenaire district (city center);
it was the last establishment in the area that was still open despite gang violence.
“
For several years, absurd and unjustified violence has been visited upon the peaceful Haitian people, and even people who dedicate their lives to the cause of the most vulnerable are not spared
,” notes the congregation.
A ransom demand was made, AFP learned from a source close to the congregation.
With at least 806 people killed, injured or kidnapped in January 2024, and some 300 gang members also killed or injured, the start of the year was "
the most violent in more than two years
" in Haiti, indicated in early February Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Faced with this crisis, the UN Security Council gave its agreement in October to send a multinational mission led by Kenya to Haiti.
But its effective implementation is slow, notably
due to a court decision in Nairobi
.
The head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, from Brazil on Thursday February 22, tried to put pressure on partner countries to bring about this international police force.
(
and with AFP
)
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