Port-au-Prince and western Haiti enter a month-long state of emergency (file photo)
Port-au-Prince, Haiti:
Members of several diplomatic missions, including the U.S. and German ambassadors, began leaving Port-au-Prince on Sunday as gang violence intensified in Haiti’s capital.
Beleaguered residents are scrambling for safety after the latest riots, with a United Nations group warning of a “city under siege” after armed assailants stormed the presidential palace and police headquarters.
Criminal gangs that already control much of Port-au-Prince and roads leading to the rest of the country have wreaked havoc in recent days as they try to oust Prime Minister Ariel Henry as leader of the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country.
The U.S. military said earlier Sunday it had “conducted an operation to enhance security at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, allow our embassy mission operations to continue, and allow non-essential personnel to leave.”
The U.S. Southern Command statement added that “airlift of personnel to and from the embassy” was also in place “in line with our standard practices to enhance embassy security.”
The pre-dawn operation was apparently conducted by helicopters flying to and from the airport; AFP reporters and nearby residents heard the distinct sound of helicopter blades overhead.
A U.S. State Department spokesman said the embassy “remains open with limited operations” and reduced staff.
Germany’s foreign ministry also said its ambassador left for the Dominican Republic on Sunday along with other EU representatives.
“Due to the very tense security situation in Haiti, the German ambassador and permanent representative in Port-au-Prince are traveling to the Dominican Republic today together with representatives of the EU delegation,” a foreign ministry spokesman told AFP, adding that they would work “until further notice” from there “.
“Living in fear”
CARICOM, an association of Caribbean countries, convened a meeting in Jamaica on Monday of envoys from the United States, France, Canada and the United Nations to discuss the violence and ways to deliver aid to Haiti.
Guyana’s Vice President Barratt Jagdeo said the two countries would “seek to restore order and restore the confidence of the Haitian people.”
“Criminals have now taken over the country. Without government, it is becoming a failed society,” he added.
As the dysfunction grew, corpses littered the streets of Port-au-Prince.
The International Organization for Migration said on Saturday that the unrest had resulted in 362,000 Haitians being internally displaced.
“Haitians are unable to live a decent life. They live in fear, every day, every hour,” Philippe Branchat, IOM country director in Haiti, said in a statement , their trauma will become more severe.”
“The capital is surrounded by armed groups and is full of dangers,” he said. “This is a city under siege.”
Dozens of residents sought safety in public buildings on Saturday, with some managing to break into one facility, AFP reporters reported.
Lionel Lazar of Haiti’s police union said police repelled gang attacks late Friday, including on the presidential palace, and killed several “bandits.”
The well-armed gangs have recently attacked critical infrastructure, including two prisons, leading to the escape of most of the 3,800 inmates.
The gangs join some ordinary Haitians in seeking the resignation of Prime Minister Henry, who was due to step down in February but agreed to a power-sharing deal with the opposition until new elections are held.
Washington asked Henry to implement urgent political reforms. He was in Kenya when the violence broke out and is reportedly currently stranded in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.
The U.N. Security Council approved a Kenyan-led multinational policing mission in October, but a Kenyan court blocked the deployment.
Homelessness and “escape”
Port-au-Prince and western Haiti are under a month-long state of emergency, with a nighttime curfew set to last until Monday, although overstretched police are unlikely to enforce it.
In Port-au-Prince, Philiane Setout told AFP how she had worked for more than 20 years at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour.
The job meant she “was able to build her own house,” she said. “But now here I am, homeless. I’m running away and don’t know where to go and it’s abusive.”
Haiti’s airports remain closed, while looting has been reported at the main port – a key point for food imports – since services were suspended on Thursday.
“If we lose access to these containers, Haiti will soon go hungry,” NGO Mercy Corps warned.
In a hopeful sign, a Catholic diocese said on Sunday that four missionaries and a colleague had been released after being kidnapped last month in Port-au-Prince, where kidnappings have become commonplace.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
