The dire situation in Haiti continues. The situation in the capital is gruesome
1:15 PM EDT, March 18, 2024
The outbreak of street fights in the capital of Haiti in Port-Au-Prince. The police is collecting arms, the gangs are trying to defend their influence. The local groups of voluntary freedom fighters are trying to take the matters in their own hands and fight the criminals.
Last week, the Prime Minister Ariel Henry finally agreed to resign. He was forced to do so by the leader of the most powerful gang in Haiti Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier. His resignation did not return the calmness to the Haitian people. In fact, the situation is as tough as it was before. Currently, Haiti faces an unprecedented outbreak of street fights and violence.
Bwa kale - a spontenous movement of people of the Haiti formed in order to fight the gangs. They are trying to take the matters in their own hands and they are working together with the police. They capture, murder and burn gang members on the streets of Port-Au-Prince. The phenomenon unthinkable in many countries is the reality now for the people of Haiti and the movement is approved by the police.
Hundreds of thousands of people of the Haiti are escaping their homes in fear of the gangs taking over the territories the inhabit. In fact gangs posses about 80% of the capital's territory, although it is very hard to asses as the fights are constantly taking place and the territories are changing. We take a small citation from CNN News where they make further description of the situation:
Just five minutes away by car, another community is trying desperately to hold together in even more trying conditions: a displacement camp – one of dozens of sites across the city where tens of thousands of city residents congregate, after being forced from their homes by violence and arson.
Marie Maurice, 56, had seen the gang take territory closer and closer; on February 29, when the warning came of an imminent gang attack, she didn’t waste any time. She left all her belongings behind and fled with the others nearly an hour on foot to the public Argentine Bellegarde school for shelter, she said.
Nearly three weeks weeks later, children here fly kites made of discarded foil and plastic, drive homemade toy cars cut from empty soda cans, with bottle caps for wheels and stones for passengers.
The adults also make a show of normalcy, but with a sense of futility; they’ve elected a leader to liaise with local police and to advocate for aid organizations to bring food and water, for example, but little aid has actually come due to roadblocks across the city.
Sources: BBC News; CNN News
