The situation in Haiti, a country plagued by criminal gangs, must be the subject of a crisis meeting of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) on Monday March 11. The meeting is to be held on the neighboring island of Jamaica a day after European and American diplomats were evacuated from the capital Port-au-Prince in a “state of siege”.
The head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, announced that he would go to Jamaica on Monday for this meeting, in order to discuss efforts aimed in particular at “rapidly establishing a political transition in Haiti via the creation of an independent presidential college”, said its spokesperson, Matthew Miller, in a statement. In addition to the American delegation, the meeting is expected to welcome representatives from France, Canada and the UN.
On Sunday, the United States announced that it had evacuated part of its embassy staff and reinforced the teams responsible for its security. “Increased gang violence in the vicinity of the US Embassy and airport has led the State Department to make arrangements to allow the departure of additional personnel,” the embassy said on x.
The operation, led by the American army, took place during the night from Saturday to Sunday by helicopter, according to residents of the neighborhood. “This airlift of personnel to and from the embassy is part of our planned procedures to enhance embassy security,” the US military said in a statement on Sunday. The United States embassy in Port-au-Prince remains open, she said.
The same day, the German Foreign Ministry announced the departure of its ambassador, along with other European Union (EU) representatives, adding that they would work from the neighboring Dominican Republic “until further notice.”
“In response to the dramatic deterioration of the security situation, we have decided to reduce our activities on the ground and have moved the staff of the European Union delegation in Port-au-Prince to a safer location in outside the country (…). Currently we have evacuated all EU staff from Haiti,” Peter Stano, spokesperson for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, said on Monday.
Emergency state
The criminal gangs which control most of the capital as well as the roads leading to the rest of the territory have been attacking police stations, prisons and courts for several days, in the absence of the Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, whom they demand resignation, just like part of the population. According to the latest news, he is stranded in the American territory of Puerto Rico after a trip abroad.
Faced with the violence, dozens of residents took over the premises of a public administration in Port-au-Prince on Saturday, hoping to find refuge there, according to a correspondent from Agence France-Presse (AFP). “Since last night we haven’t been able to sleep. We are fleeing, me with my personal belongings placed on my head, without knowing where to go,” said a resident who had to leave her house. “Today, it is not our neighbors in the Dominican Republic who are fighting against Haiti, but it is Haitians, of the same blood, who are fighting among themselves,” she lamented.
According to the International Organization for Migration, 362,000 people – more than half of whom are children – are currently displaced in Haiti, a figure that has jumped 15% since the start of the year. The Haitian government has declared a state of emergency in the West department which includes Port-au-Prince, as well as a nighttime curfew, difficult to enforce by already overwhelmed law enforcement.
