2024-03-11 22:51:35
Port-au-Prince (agencies)
The capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince, is witnessing clashes between police and armed groups attacking strategic sites, including the presidential palace, police stations and prisons, in light of a humanitarian situation that is deteriorating with the escalation of violence, as the International Organization for Migration described the Haitian capital as a city under siege.
The capital’s departments and schools have been closed for several days, and the airport and port are no longer operating, raising fears of a collapse in supplies to the population of the poorest country in the Americas.
Hospitals targeted by violence cannot function normally.
According to the International Organization for Migration, there are 362,000 people, more than half of whom are children, currently displaced in Haiti, an increase of 15% since the beginning of the year. Yesterday, the European Union announced the evacuation of all its diplomatic staff from Haiti due to the rapid deterioration in the security situation, following armed groups took control of large parts of the capital, while the American army announced the evacuation of non-essential employees and the strengthening of security measures at the American embassy in the Haitian capital, Port Au. Prince.
European Commission spokesman Peter Stano said: “We have currently removed, transferred, and evacuated all European Union staff from Haiti,” while US Southern Command said in a statement yesterday: “The overnight measures taken at the request of the State Department will allow our mission’s operations to continue.” At the embassy, non-essential personnel were able to leave.
The Southern Command added in its statement that the air bridge to and from the embassy was in accordance with usual practices to enhance the security of the embassy, noting that there were no Haitian citizens on board the plane.
She noted that the US Embassy in Haiti remains focused on accelerating the peaceful transition of power in Haiti through free and fair elections.
The situation in Haiti has deteriorated in recent days, as armed groups over the weekend set fire to the Ministry of the Interior overnight, and attacked police stations and government offices in the capital.
The violence that occurred last week aimed to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who left the country on February 25 and was recently seen in Puerto Rico.
Armed groups control most of the capital, as well as the roads leading to the rest of the country, and have been attacking police stations, prisons and courts for days, in the absence of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
To address this problem, the UN Security Council agreed to send an international mission led by Kenya to assist the Haitian police, but the deployment of this mission was delayed.
The Director of the International Organization for Migration’s mission in Haiti, Philippe Branchat, warned that the residents of the capital live in isolation and have nowhere to go, stressing that the city is under siege, which has led to the deterioration of the humanitarian situation of the population.
Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry reappeared in Puerto Rico following his whereregardings remained unknown for several days, following his country descended into chaos and violence.
In the face of violence, dozens of residents took refuge last Saturday in public administration headquarters in the capital. Hoping to take refuge there, while gunmen attacked the presidential palace and the capital police headquarters, as confirmed by the General Coordinator of the National Police Union.
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