The United Nations will set up an “air bridge” between Haiti and the neighboring Dominican Republic to help the Haitian population, the UN mission in Haiti announced Wednesday, March 13. The objective is to ensure “the fluidity of aid and the movement of its personnel,” the UN mission in the country wrote on X.
Earlier in the day, the organization announced that its “non-essential” staff would leave the country from this Wednesday “due to the volatile security situation”, through the voice of the UN spokesperson, who did not specify the number of people affected by these departures. Some of these personnel will be temporarily relocated “externally,” the mission later explained, adding that the arrival of other “crisis” personnel was expected.
The UN, which currently has some 1,500 employees in the country, including more than 250 international employees, “is not leaving Haiti,” the statement insisted, specifying that personnel in charge of “vital activities” would continue their work.
A “presidential transition council” is to be created to try to restore some semblance of stability in this poor Caribbean country undermined by gangs. Monday evening, during an emergency meeting in Jamaica with the participation of Haitian representatives, the Caribbean Community (Caricom), the UN and several countries such as the United States and France had instructed Haitian formations to put on foot this transitional council.
Just before, the upcoming resignation of Ariel Henry had been announced. Appointed a few days before the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, he was strongly contested. Haiti, which has not had an election since 2016, is still without a head of state.
The power of gangs
The presidential council must be made up of seven voting members representing the main political forces in Haiti and the private sector. He must choose an interim prime minister and appoint an “inclusive” government. Jean Charles Moïse, of the left-wing Pitit Desalin party, said on Wednesday that he rejected the formation of this council and most of the parties contacted by Agence France Presse said they were still in talks.
Gangs are a priori excluded from the transition in preparation. But because of their firepower, they risk de facto influence. These armed bands control entire swaths of the country, including 80% of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Their violence – murders, rapes, kidnappings for ransom, looting – has spread to rural areas previously considered safe, the UN pointed out in November.
In an interview with Colombian radio W, the leader of one of these armed gangs, Jimmy Chérizier alias “Barbecue”, assured that the resignation of Ariel Henry “matter[ed] little” to him. “I saw Caricom countries deciding for the Haitian people (…). We will continue the fight for the liberation of Haiti,” he said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken nevertheless expressed hope on Wednesday that the new Haitian transition council could be formed “in the coming days”, which would allow the sending of a security force to the country. Mr. Blinken said he spoke to this effect by telephone on Wednesday with Kenyan President William Ruto.
An advice put in place “in the coming days”, according to Blinken
Kenya was to deploy a thousand police officers in the country as part of an international mission supported by the UN, but it announced its suspension in view of the situation. The Kenyan president confirmed that his country “is ready to lead this mission as soon as this new council has been established – which is expected to happen in the coming days – and an interim president has been elected,” Mr. .Blinken.
“None of this is easy. None of this is going to happen from one day to the next, the head of American diplomacy acknowledged. But at least there is a plan, a process in place to get there. » The United States announced that it had sent a team of its Marines to protect its embassy.
“Obviously, the political situation remains a little unclear,” acknowledged the spokesperson for the UN Secretary General, Stéphane Dujarric, urging an agreement on this council “as quickly as possible”. “What we are asking is that the international community supports the creation of this support mission as quickly as possible,” he added. I don’t think it’s fair to rest the future of Haiti, the security of Haiti solely on the shoulders of Kenya. »
In Port-au-Prince, commercial activities resumed on Wednesday and certain public administration offices reopened their doors, according to an Agence France-Presse correspondent. However, schools remain closed, as does the international airport.
