UN Secretary-General Visits Haiti Amid Escalating Violence

António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, made a visit to Haiti recently. His visit comes at a time when gang violence has escalated significantly, making over 1 in 10 Haitians homeless.

According to the latest statistics from the U.N., this year alone, violence in Haiti has resulted in 2,300 deaths. Additionally, 100 people have been kidnapped, and there are 1.5 million displaced individuals. Among the kidnapped is the Defense Ministry’s cabinet director, James Boyard, taken from one of the few safer areas in the capital.

Guterres’s visit to Port-au-Prince followed a tragic incident where over 30 individuals were reported dead, injured, or missing in the Cité Soleil area. According to the Cooperative for Peace and Development, this seaside slum has been hard hit by violence. As Guterres’s convoy moved through the city, they passed areas once dominated by gangs. Signs of the violence were evident, with abandoned homes and buildings marked with bullet holes. A well-known gang called Viv Ansanm is responsible for much of this turmoil, managing control over 70% of the city.

The people of Port-au-Prince have felt the full force of this violence. More than 300,000 individuals have been forced to flee their homes due to gang activity, marking a record displacement. For example, more than 18,000 fled Cité Soleil in May.

Haiti’s displacement crisis is entering an even more alarming phase, shared Gregoire Goodstein, IOM Chief of Mission in Haiti.

Guterres’s tour began at the headquarters of a newly formed gang-suppression force. The U.N. Security Council had previously approved this force, which aims to replace the mission once led by Kenyan police. Despite its purpose, the original mission was hampered by funding and staffing shortages. Jamaica, Chad, El Salvador, and Guatemala have contributed to the new initiative with less than 1,000 troops. These troops are expected to collaborate with Haiti’s National Police and growing Armed Forces.

During his visit, Guterres also met Prime Minister Alix Didier-Fils-Aimé. There is mounting pressure on the Prime Minister to hold elections in a nation that has been without a president since the assassination of Jovenel Moïse in July 2021. The Prime Minister emphasized the need for security to pave the way back to democratic governance.

We had a frank conversation about what’s happening in Haiti, the vision the government has for the future, Fils-Aimé told The Associated Press, asserting Guterres’s role in ensuring international support.

Guterres took time to visit a makeshift shelter converted from a school. Here, dozens who had fled gang violence have made their homes, collectively expressing a yearning to return to their original communities.

Clifford Lala, a 31-year-old resident, reflected on the state of his community, Solino is not ready, but remained hopeful, like many displaced Haitians.

During his interactions, Guterres listened to the shelter residents’ grievances, particularly concerns voiced by a group of women regarding the conditions in the crowded living space. The shelter struggles with inadequate privacy for basic hygiene needs and limited food supplies.

Amid the chaos outside, a man’s desperate plea to return home underpinned the urgency of the humanitarian situation.

Prior to Guterres’s visit, Human Rights Watch called on him to address the root causes of the violence. Guterres acknowledged the severity of the crisis, expressing that the daily struggles faced by women and children made a lasting impact on him.

What I saw will not leave me, he said. Each day is a fight to survive. … The women and the children pay the highest price.