Families were fleeing the city in fear as there were numerous signs of a gang fight in the National Palace area of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.A woman was found laying in the street on Saturday, her leg shot.While police and gang members were exchanging gunfire to clear the neighbourhood, she was struck by a stray bullet.
In armoured cars, police with assault guns warily monitored the area, the streets littered with bullet casings from the fight on Champ de Mars the night before, which took place near the National Palace and numerous other government buildings.Following the fighting from previous night, the few surviving families in Carrefour Feuillie, a nearby area, hastened to evacuate their houses.
Carrying plastic bags, they are leaving with their kids and whatever belonging to them in order to join the 15,000 other people who have been displaced since the violence escalated on February 29.Since it doesn’t appear that the violence will stop anytime soon, they will go to shelters in schools or any other safe place to spend the day, and probably many more days and nights.
To find a solution to the escalating gang violence in Haiti, Caribbean leaders have organised an emergency conference with the US, Canada, and France on Monday in Jamaica.For months, CARICOM regional trade bloc members have been attempting to persuade Haiti’s political players to accept the formation of an umbrella transitional unity administration.
The U.N. and Brazilian delegations have also been invited to the emergency meeting on Monday.Irfaan Ali, the president of Guyana in his capacity as the Caribbean Community’s chairman, stated in a statement that “the situation on the ground remains dire and is of serious concern to us.”Ariel Henry, the prime minister of Haiti, may or may not visit Jamaica.
Henry had gone to Kenya to advocate for the United Nations-backed transfer of an East African police force to combat gang activity in Haiti.Henry is still unable to go back home, despite calls for him to step down or establish a transitional council.After failing to land in the Dominican Republic, which borders Haiti, he arrived in Puerto Rico on Tuesday.For almost three years, Haiti has been beset by widespread gang violence, especially after President Jovenel Moise’s death in July 2021 exacerbated the country’s already severe political unrest.
