The new UN special representative for Haiti, María Salvador, has campaigned before the UN Security Council for the deployment of an international force in the Caribbean country plagued by violence.
The country is experiencing one of the worst human rights crises in decades and an unprecedentedly dramatic security situation, in the course of which violence could also spread in the region, she said yesterday in her first report to the United Nations Security Council in New York since she announced it a few weeks ago took office. Time is of the essence and Haitians deserve urgent action by the UN Security Council.
Haiti suffers from fighting between numerous gangs, which the UN estimates now control about 80 percent of the capital Port-au-Prince. The interim government, which has been in power since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, asked for help from an armed international force in early October – it has not come so far.
Children become victims of crime
According to Salvador, 1,647 homicides, rapes and kidnappings were recorded in Haiti in the first three months of 2010 – more than double the number for the same period last year. Children were among the victims of the worst crimes.
With limited to no police presence, residents of the capital have begun to take matters into their own hands – the Ecuadorian pointed out that 13 suspected gang members were beaten to death and their bodies burned in Port-au-Prince on Monday.
Haiti is also experiencing a hunger crisis that has reached a critical point, according to the World Food Program. According to the UN, almost half of the eleven million inhabitants need humanitarian aid. In addition, there is a cholera outbreak in which, according to figures from the Ministry of Health, at least 670 people have died since October and around 40,000 suspected cases have been registered.
