Faced with gang violence, Haiti extends state of emergency by one month
The Haitian government extended by one month, this Thursday, March 7, the state of security emergency declared throughout the West Department in order to regain control of the situation and restore order, according to a government press release.
A man kicks burning tires during a protest as the government announced it would extend a state of emergency for another month after an escalation of violence by gangs seeking to oust Prime Minister Ariel Henry, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 7, 2024. © Ralph Tedy Erol / Reuters
By: RFI with agencies
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The Haitian
government
has extended by one month, from March 7 to April 3, 2024, the state of security emergency decreed throughout the western department.
The
curfew
is maintained between 6 p.m. and 5 a.m. on Thursday March 7, Friday March 8 and Saturday March 9 and from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. on Sunday March 10, 2024. This measure does not apply to law enforcement officers on duty, to firefighters, ambulance drivers, health personnel and journalists, reports our correspondent in Port-au-Prince,
Marie-André Belange
.
During this period, all demonstrations on public roads are prohibited, day or night, in the western department.
The police were ordered to use all legal means at their disposal to enforce the curfew and to apprehend all violators.
Despite this state of emergency, armed gangs continue their abuses.
On Wednesday evening, they set fire to another police building located in the Bas-Peu-de-Chose district, in the heart of Port-au-Prince.
Activities are still slowing down in the Haitian capital, punctuated for more than a week by
armed gang violence
.
Among the strategic infrastructures targeted in recent days are also courts and police stations.
The main port at a standstill
The port of Haiti's capital is at a standstill this Thursday in the face of a surge in gang violence that has constrained the authorities of this poor Caribbean country.
Caribbean Port Services SA, the operator of the capital's port, announced on Thursday that it was suspending its activity due to "
disturbing public order
", citing "
malicious acts of sabotage and vandalism
" suffered since March 1.
Criminal gangs control most of the capital as well as the roads leading to the rest of the territory.
For several days they have been attacking the country's strategic sites in the absence of the contested Prime Minister Ariel Henry, whose resignation they are demanding, like part of the population.
A first state of emergency, accompanied by a curfew – difficult to implement – had already been declared on Sunday after the attack on prisons by armed gangs which resulted in the escape of thousands of inmates.
Antony Blinken calls for an “
international response
”
The head of American diplomacy spoke Thursday with Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry and pleaded for an “
urgent
” political transition, said an American official, calling for an “
international response
” to the crisis that Haiti is going through.
Antony Blinken spoke with the head of the Haitian government about the “
urgent need to accelerate the transition to a broader and inclusive government
,” Brian Nichols, senior State Department official told the press, adding that the situation in Haiti called for “
an international response, in the same way as the international community
” in Ukraine or Gaza.
The country, currently without a president or parliament, has not had an election since 2016 and the contested prime minister, appointed by President Jovenel Moïse just before his assassination in 2021, should have left office in early February.
The WFP “sounds the alarm”
Providing enough aid to more than five million Haitians was already a daily challenge for the UN.
But the security crisis has terribly complicated the work of humanitarians.
Jean-Martin Bauer who heads the World Food Program (WFP) in Haiti.
He's never been so worried.
“
I would like to sound the alarm.
The humanitarian situation was already very tense before the events of recent days.
It is made worse because we can no longer implement the program as before.
This all has to stop.
This violence must stop.
We must lift the barricades, we must stop taking the civilian population hostage.
We are in a very tense situation and action is needed now
,” he said.
The arrival of imported foodstuffs is threatened.
It is also impossible for planes to land at the capital's airport.
The WFP therefore had to find other solutions to continue helping the population.
“
We need to be very creative.
We work with local NGOs to bring hot meals to people who have been displaced and who have lost everything.
We also work with a decentralized network of small Haitian agricultural producers who manage to supply the country's schools
,” he continues.
The UN agency also transfers money directly to beneficiaries to buy food.
These alternatives will not be enough to cope with the influx of displaced people, the most vulnerable populations.
Fifteen thousand people have already fled Port-au-Prince in a few days.
Also read on the same subject:
Crisis in Haiti: what future for Prime Minister Ariel Henry?
“In Haiti, we assume that gangs always have strong links with power”
Who is Jimmy Chérizier aka “Barbecue”, gang leader in Haiti who is plunging the country into chaos?
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