This is not the first warning signal from the United Nations (UN) about the terrible drift in Haiti, but this one is sent at the heart of the country’s visit by the head of the international agency, Antonio Guterres .
“We must put Haiti on the map of international political life and put the drama of the Haitian people as (…) priority of the international community”, thus pleaded, Saturday, July 1, the Secretary General of the United Nations at the end of this “solidarity” trip of a few hours. “I met Haitians, and I felt all the exhaustion of a population that has faced for too long a cascade of crises and unsustainable living conditions,” said he added, saying he had “listened to their call for help” on his first visit to the impoverished Caribbean country as UN chief.
“Now is not the time to forget Haiti,” he said after meeting with Prime Minister Ariel Henry, leaders of various political parties and members of civil society.
Antonio Guterres in particular urged the Security Council, which is due to discuss the situation again in July, “to authorize the immediate deployment of a robust international security force”.
A call that went unheeded
He had relayed in October 2022 this call from Ariel Henry for a non-UN force intended to support a police force overwhelmed by gang violence which continues to spread. But nine months later, the appeal has gone unheeded. While a few countries have said they are ready to participate, none has volunteered to lead such an operation in a country scalded by multiple foreign interventions.
“I call on the States that have the capacity to provide a robust security force to no longer hesitate and be ready to follow a decision of the Security Council”, insisted Antonio Guterres. “Every day counts. If we don’t act now, instability and violence will have a lasting impact on generations of Haitians.”
Many UN officials have come and gone in recent months to describe the nightmare experienced by Haitians: snipers on rooftops, kidnappings, schools targeted…
“Port-au-Prince is surrounded by armed gangs blocking the main roads that lead to the North and South departments, which control access to water, food and health care,” said alarmed, Saturday, the Secretary General.
“Widespread sexual violence”
He condemned “in the strongest terms the widespread sexual violence used by armed gangs as a weapon to instil fear”. Remarks that echo the “horrors” described this week by the boss of Unicef, Catherine Russell, speaking of a situation “never worse than today”.
“An 11-year-old girl told me in the sweetest voice that five men grabbed her on the street. Three raped her. She was eight months pregnant when we spoke, and gave birth a few days later,” she said.
And nearly half of the population, or 5.2 million people, need humanitarian assistance, including almost three million children.
But humanitarian aid is not enough to meet these needs. Again, Antonio Guterres appealed to the international community: “It is a question of solidarity, but it is also a question of moral justice. »
No election since 2016
He further called for a return “to democratic order as soon as possible”, asking everyone to “go beyond their personal interests and make concessions in order to facilitate the emergence of a common vision and a viable and credible electoral path”.
No election has been held since 2016, and Ariel Henry, appointed prime minister only 48 hours before the assassination of the last president, Jovenel Moïse, in July 2021, faces questions about his legitimacy.
After Haiti, Antonio Guterres goes to Trinidad and Tobago for the summit of the countries of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), in which the American Secretary of State Antony Blinken must also participate to discuss the Haitian file.
