Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 2nd Sept. Head of the UN humanitarian affairs office Mr. Martin Griffiths on Friday noted “extreme brutality”, with gang-related violence forcing thousands to flee their homes after widespread suffering in Haiti.
Mr. Griffiths tweeted on Friday urging an immediate end to the fighting.
“This carnage needs to stop” Griffiths said.
According to OCHA, in past 2 weeks, some 71 people have been killed and injured in Port-au-Prince, marked a major escalation.
Philippe Branchat, acting UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Haiti said in a news release that “Entire families, including children, were executed while others were burned alive. This upsurge in violence has caused unspeakable continued suffering of Haitians.”
The gang violence has claimed more than 2,500 lives, with over 1,000 injured.
OCHA reported 970 Haitians have been kidnapped and 10,000 forcibly displaced.
The latest wave of violence has resulted in the forced displacement of over ten thousand people who have sought refuge in spontaneous camps and host families.
UN Integrated Office in Haiti issued a report outlined the dire human rights situation there, including brutal killings and lynchings.
The report noted lack of security and functioning government, residents armed with machetes, rocks, and fuel cans have resorted to brutal measures to prevent gang members and anyone associated with them from entering their neighbourhoods.
Report said that between April and June 240 alleged gang members were killed by these self-proclaimed “self-defence groups.”
“While some killings appeared to be spontaneous, others were encouraged, supported, or facilitated by high-ranking police officers and gang members belonging to the G-9 and allies,” the report said.
The report documented horrifying instances of sexual violence, including collective rape and mutilation, perpetrated by gangs to spread fear, punish rivals, and target women and girls under their territorial control.
BINUH expressed concern about the forced recruitment of children by gangs and the severe mental and psychological toll the violence is exacting on the population.
The office reiterated its call to the international community to deploy a specialized international force to address the crisis.
According OCHA, half of Haiti’s population needs humanitarian and food assistance.
Humanitarian partners are reaching the displaced people with immediate aid such as food, water, shelter, sanitation, health, and psychosocial support, particularly for victims of sexual violence despite access challenges due to insecurity.
OCHA said “The people in Haiti cannot continue to live trapped in their homes, unable to feed their families, find work and live in dignity,”.
It added that humanitarians are committed to stand with the people in Haiti and assist in providing immediate assistance to alleviate human suffering.
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