From Port-au-Prince, which is “surrounded” by gangs of “predators”, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to the international community yesterday Saturday to reduce the “drama” of the Haitians to a “priority”, criticizing the “hesitations” to an international force is sent to assist the country’s police.

“We must put Haiti on the map of international political life and reduce the drama of the Haitian people to a key priority of the international community,” Guterres said after a few hours of “solidarity” visit, the first he has made to the poorest country Caribbean as head of the UN.

“I met Haitians and I felt all the exhaustion of a population that has been facing for too long a deluge of crises and unbearable living conditions,” he added, saying that he “heard their cry for help.”

“Now is not the time to forget Haiti,” Guterres stressed after meeting with Prime Minister Ariel Enri, officials of various political parties and members of civil society.

In particular, Guterres called on the UN Security Council, which is expected to discuss the situation in Haiti again in July, “to allow the immediate deployment of a strong international security force.”

The UN secretary-general had in October carried Henri’s call for an international — not UN — force to back up Haiti’s police force, which is no longer able to deal with the unrelenting violence. it spreads.

But nine months later this appeal has not been heard. Although some countries have signaled their intention to participate, none have taken the initiative to lead such an operation in a country that has suffered the consequences of multiple foreign interventions.

“I call on the countries that have the ability to provide a strong security force to not hesitate any longer and be ready to follow a decision of the Security Council,” Guterres underlined.

“Every day counts. If we don’t act now, the instability and violence will have long-term consequences for generations of Haitians,” he added.

“Generalized sexual violence”

Many UN officials have described in recent months the nightmare Haitians are living, with snipers on rooftops, kidnappings, schools being targeted…

In April, Guterres said the security situation in Port-au-Prince was comparable to that of countries at war, and that Haitians were facing one of the worst human rights crises in decades.

In September, armed gangs worsened the humanitarian situation by blocking access to a refinery for six weeks, bringing most economic activity to a halt. The UN Security Council in October imposed sanctions on Haiti’s most powerful gang leader, who has been accused of leading the blockade of the refinery.

Guterres pointed out that the country’s police estimate there are seven major gang coalitions and about 200 other groups that have pledged allegiance to them. They have ambushed and attacked security forces, while “their other tactics include terrorizing (the population) by shooting indiscriminately at passengers in transport and committing rape”.

“Port-au-Prince is surrounded by armed gangs who have blocked the main roads leading north and south, controlling access to water, food and health services,” he complained.

At the same time, Guterres condemned “in the strongest possible way the generalized sexual violence used by armed gangs to instill terror”.

This week Unicef ​​chief Kathryn Russell described “the horror” in Haiti, calling the situation “worse than ever”.

“A little girl of 11 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.

Almost half of Haiti’s population, 5.2 million people, are in need of humanitarian assistance, of which almost 3 million are children.

But humanitarian aid is not enough to meet the needs. The UN has requested $720 million to provide aid to Haiti this year, and so far only 23% of the amount has been raised. “It is a question of solidarity, but also a question of moral justice,” Guterres stressed.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced that approximately 73,500 people fled Haiti last year.

“Democratic class”

On the other hand, the UN Secretary General requested that “democratic order be restored as soon as possible”, asking all Haitian leaders to “overcome their personal interests and make concessions in order to facilitate the creation of a common vision and a sustainable and reliable road to elections”.

Haiti has not held elections since 2016 and Enri, appointed prime minister days after the July 2021 assassination of the country’s last president, Jovenel Moise, faces questions about his legitimacy.

Enri has repeatedly postponed the election, citing first the August 2021 earthquake in Haiti that killed more than 2,000 people and then gang violence.

He has pledged to leave power by February 7, 2024.

During this period, a UN political mission has been deployed in Haiti.

UN peacekeepers were deployed to Haiti in 2004 after the uprising that toppled then-president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Peacekeepers left in 2017 and were replaced by UN police, who left the country in 2019.

Haitians have been wary, even hostile, of the presence of an armed UN force in their country since a cholera epidemic broke out in 2010 when blue-collar workers dumped contaminated water into a river. More than 9,000 people died from the disease and about 800,000 were infected.