In a press release, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, in a new count of victims in Haiti, reveals that since the beginning of the year, 1,193 people have lost their lives and 692 others have been injured, victims of criminal gang violence, stressing that the situation in Haiti is "unsustainable".

The situation has worsened since last week, when thousands of prisoners escaped from the National Penitentiary in Port-au-Prince https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41793-haiti-flash-the-national-penitentiary-stormed-many-prisoners-escape-chaos-in-the-capital-video.html after an attack by armed men and that Jimmy Chérizier, alias "Barbecue", engaged with his men to dismiss the Government and make the Prime Minister a.i. Ariel Henty resign.

Volker Türk calls for the "urgent" deployment of the International Mission to Support the Haitian National Police in its fight against armed gangs "The reality is that, in the current context, there is no other realistic alternative to protect lives [...] We simply don’t have enough time."

The chain of violence has caused serious humanitarian deficiencies in Haiti where "the health system is on the verge of collapse". In this sense, the UN official regretted that "hospitals often do not have the capacity to treat those who arrive with gunshot wounds."

Additionally, with schools and businesses closed, gangs are "increasingly" turning to children to carry out their criminal acts, while the number of internally displaced people now stands at "at least 313,000". The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that 15,000 people who had already been displaced moved again in just a few days.

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41822-haiti-flash-update-on-the-situation-march-5-2024.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41818-haiti-flash-barbecue-threatens-the-country-with-civil-war-if-the-pm-remains-in-office.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41816-haiti-flash-haiti-deploys-the-army-against-attacks-on-port-au-prince-airport-video.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41813-haiti-crisis-the-usa-will-not-deploy-soldiers-in-haiti.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41804-haiti-flash-update-on-the-situation-in-haiti.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41793-haiti-flash-the-national-penitentiary-stormed-many-prisoners-escape-chaos-in-the-capital-video.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41781-haiti-flash-barbecue-announces-the-start-of-the-revolution-video.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41779-haiti-flash-the-metropolitan-area-under-attacks.html

HL/ HaitiLibre