Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 5th April. UN migration agency on Thursday expressed an alarm about the ever-worsening humanitarian situation in Haiti as a siege imposed by heavily armed gangs on Port-au-Prince stretches into a second month.
IOM said the surge of violence since February this year has reached “unprecedented levels” resulting in rampant food insecurity and multiple displacements.
The agency said families continue to struggle to secure even the most basic necessities as desperation exacerbates.
Philippe Branchat, head of IOM in Haiti said “While assistance provision was easier during the aftermath of earthquakes, today, it is an increasingly daunting task”.
“Humanitarian staff including our own, are facing unparalleled security challenges, balancing the imperative to assist others with the stark realities of personal risk and displacement.”
IOM said that the crisis extends its reach far beyond the confines of Port-au-Prince, affecting communities across Haiti and leaving over 360,000 people displaced nationwide.
Over 100,000 internally displaced people living in temporary sites, conditions are deplorable, amplifying the depths of suffering. Their needs include access to food, healthcare, water, psychological support, and hygiene facilities, the agency said.
IOM psychosocial team said it has encountered cases of suicide tendencies which once was a taboo topic, but is now becoming more commonly disclosed, especially among displaced populations.
According to the IOM team the lack of economic opportunities coupled with a collapsing health system and shuttered schools, casts a shadow of despair, driving many to contemplate migration as their sole viable recourse.
The agency reported that the prospect of regular migration remains an insurmountable hurdle, leaving irregular migration as their only semblance of hope.
IOM said 13,000 migrants were forcibly returned to Haiti by neighboring countries in March, 46 per cent over the previous month despite the worsening security situation.
According to IOM, 3,000 have received humanitarian assistance upon arrival, with an additional 1,200 migrants benefiting from psychosocial support.
IOM and partners are delivering assistance to the areas where it is most needed.
In March, over 1.5 million litres of water were delivered to sites hosting internally displaced people, reached 23,500 people.
The agency said that essential items such as blankets, water containers, solar lamps, and kitchen sets have also been distributed to more than 18,000 people.
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