Haiti: Insecurity grows in the country

The US embassy in Haiti has invited its citizens to leave the country “as soon as possible”, due to growing insecurity on the island. This is yet another step that follows a decision last month to evacuate all non-essential staff and families of diplomats that were present in the capital, Port au Prince. Currently, there are approximately 200 thousand internally displaced people in the nation, due to continued clashed among armed militias. Criminal groups de-facto control two-thirds of the capital, as well as key roads and ports. Kidnappings are very common and occur almost daily. o Haiti has a total population of approximately 11 million, and only 12.800 policemen.

Looking ahead, an international police force, possibly guided by the UN, remains a dubious solution. In fact, UN forces were present on the island from 2004 to 2019, but their actions were marked by many scandals, including numerous instances of sexual violence as well as an outbreak of cholera that started among its forces and impacted severely the country’s population.