By Anjali Sharma
UNITED NATIONS – According to the UN aid coordination office on Friday stated that violent clashes between security forces and armed groups on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince have led to another wave of displacement
UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric reported that over 1,600 men, women and children have fled.
International Organization for Migration said that two-thirds are seeking refuge with host families and over 500 sheltering in three newly established displacement sites.
The situation for children remains dire. The number of internally displaced children in Haiti has increased by 50% since September, now exceeding half a million.
UNICEF reports that one in eight children in the country is now displaced.
The agency warns of a 70 per cent rise in child recruitment by gangs over the past year, with up to half of gang members in Haiti now estimated to be children.
UNICEF spokesperson James Elder described the growing desperation as he was speaking from a prison in Port-au-Prince where dozens of children are being held.
“I’m in a prison in Port-au-Prince where dozens of children are being held,” he said, explaining that 85 per cent of this capital city is controlled by armed groups.
“So, child recruitment into armed groups is rampant. Children get recruited. It’s out of desperation. It’s out of manipulation, out of being engulfed in violence,” he emphasized.
He said that 16-year-old girl who dreamt of being a paediatrician, but was caught up in a raid, he said: “The point of this is that childhood should not be a gift. Childhood is a right.”
The crisis is further aggravated by forced returns from neighboring countries.
Some 15,000 Haitians were returned from the Dominican Republic, added to 200,000 people deported across the region last year.
The natural disasters have worsened conditions across the country.
Over 330,000 people have been affected by floods in six of Haiti’s departments, leaving dozens dead and damaging or destroying 50,000 homes.
UN has launched a $908 million humanitarian appeal to assist 3.9 million people in Haiti.
Mr. Dujarric said “We urge the international community to scale up its support so that we and our humanitarian partners can support the people of Haiti who need it,”.
UN agencies and humanitarian organizations stressed the need for urgent international action to protect Haiti’s most vulnerable, its children – trapped in a cycle of violence, displacement and deprivation.
“For those of us with freedom, those with safety, those who have an opportunity – we also have a responsibility. We have a responsibility to raise our voices for those who simply do not have one,” Mr. Elder added.
Comments are closed.