The Doomed Republic of Haiti
"We believe the security and humanitarian situation in Haiti is worsening and the situation on the ground will not improve without armed assistance from international partners."UN National Security Council"Kidnappings are rampant.""The sexual violence that is taking place in Haiti is at levels never seen before -- and rarely seen in any society."Helen La Lime, special representative, UN secretary-General for Haiti
Police fire tear gas at protesters demanding the resignation of Haiti's prime minister, Ariel Henry, in Port-au-Prince on Monday. (Ralph Tedy Erol/Reuters) |
What
is it about Haiti? A completely failed state. From the time of Papa
'Doc' Duvalier to the present. The Island of Hispaniola is shared
between the Republic of Haiti (west) and the Dominican Republic (east).
They are as unalike in their societal values, culture and makeup,
politics and orderly civilized life as it possible to be. Destabilized,
rampant crime and an inability of any government to bring order to the
country, it requires the intervention now and again of the international
community to bring a level of stability to bear. Yet it always seems to
revert in time to yet another version of dystopian disorder.
Five
months ago its interim prime minister Ariel Henry pleaded for the
deployment of a "specialized armed force" from outside the country to
restore order in the country reeling from one crisis to another. Most
Haitians want no intervention despite the critical nature of the failing
state, in memory of its long history of foreign interventions. But its
current struggle with gang violence, civil and political unrest and a
cholera resurgence leaves it in a desperate state.
Both
the United Nations and the United States support immediate rescue of
the country through a brief intervention to restore calm and the
authority of the government. Nothing has yet emerged, however, despite
good intentions and the country is left to stagger from one misery to
another with no end in sight. 2023 has seen 531 people killed, 300
wounded, 277 kidnapped in gang-related violence. In the first half of
March alone 208 people died, 154 were wounded, 301 kidnapped.
Most
of these unsettling violent episodes take place in the capital,
Port-au--Prince. Most victims in the first half of March were killed or
injured by snipers randomly shooting at people in their homes or out on
the streets. According to analysts, allies of the United States remain
hesitant to risk lives in a logistically complicated mission requiring
an unknown but significant amount of time and resources, not to mention
complexity.
Many Haitians are wary of International forces. Jaime Razuri/AFP via Getty Images) |
"You don't go there for three months or six months. You will go there for at least a couple of years",
said Gilles Rivard, a former Canadian ambassador to Haiti who has
advised the foreign ministry on UN-led peacekeeping missions. Haiti's
presidency has been vacant since the 2021 assassination of Juvenal
Moise. The national government has no democratically elected officials
in the absence of elections.
Gang
violence linked to drug-running and other criminal activities as the
violence has gone deeper into more neighbourhoods. Haitian police
struggle with high rates of attrition, outnumbered and outgunned by the
gangs. Some in Haiti fear an outside force to bring order to the country
would support interim President Henry's retention of his temporary
post, a deeply unpopular appointee whose claim to power is viewed as
illegitimate.
Some
Haitians take a dim view of the international response to date as
security conditions deteriorate. When two navy ships were deployed by
Canada to patrol Haitian waters in February, Le Nouvelliste,
the largest newspaper in Haiti, published a front-page cartoon showing a
bandit holding a gun in one hand, a man upside down in the other ...
shaking him down as he shrugs off the ships.
A
Haitian historian, Georges Michel, who contributed in writing the
nation's 1987 constitution, remarked that some measures taken by the
international community have been well-intentioned, but too late. What
will save this West Indies nation from itself?
Members of the Haitian diaspora as well as faith and human rights leaders protest outside the White House to demand the Biden administration stop supporting Haiti's government on Oct. 9 in Washington. Shannon Finney/Getty Images for Beyond Borders |
Labels: Cal to Action, Criminal Gangs, Dystopian Nation Haiti, Non-Stop Crime, Port-au-Prince, United Nations
<< Home