In Haiti, where the health system is “close to collapse” according to the UN, the state of emergency has been extended.

On Thursday March 7, Haitian authorities extended a state of emergency in parts of the island, including its capital, Port-au-Prince. While control of large areas of the capital has returned to the advantage of criminal gangs who are demanding the departure of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, “Decree Establishing a State of Security Emergency in the Entire Western Division”Including Port-au-Prince, “for a period of one month”, was published in the official journal.

The first state of emergency and curfew – difficult to enforce – was already declared on Sunday after attacks on prisons by gangs led to the escape of thousands of inmates. A new night curfew was also imposed in the Western Division from 6 pm to 5 am on Thursday, till Monday.

Haiti’s health system “Near Breakdown”Also warned the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). “Many health facilities are closed or have had to drastically curtail their operations due to alarming shortages of medicines and absence of medical staff”He also cited a lack of blood, medical equipment or beds to treat gunshot wounds, he said.

Washington pushes for “immediate transition”.

The head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, spoke with the Haitian prime minister on Thursday. He spoke to Ariel Henry about this “There is an urgent need to accelerate the transition to a broader and more inclusive government, which includes many more political forces, and which has the necessary scale to lead the country through the election period”Brian Nichols, a senior State Department official, explained to the Council of the Americas organization.

The country, currently without a president or parliament, has not held an election since 2016 and Ariel Henry, appointed prime minister by President Jovenel Moise before his assassination in 2021, must step down in early February.

The American Secretary of State also met with President Mohamed Irfan Ali of Guyana, who holds the rotating presidency of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), with whom he held discussions. “Intensive Diplomacy” Conducted by group to respond to current crisis. “We urgently need to do more” urged Brian Nicholson, saying that “Humanitarian Proportion” of conflict “Call for an international response, the same way the international community responds to challenges in Ukraine or Gaza”.

Ten police buildings destroyed

Crisis in Haiti “is more than unsustainable for the Haitian people”On Wednesday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, condemned the situation while the UN Security Council addressed the situation. “critical”. While administration and schools remain closed, many residents are trying to flee the violence.

Criminal gangs that control roads leading from Port-au-Prince to the rest of the region have launched attacks at strategic locations in the country in recent days. According to the National Union of Haitian Police Officers (Sinapoha), since the start of coordinated gang attacks, ten police buildings have been destroyed and two civilian prisons have been attacked and their inmates evacuated.

On Wednesday evening, a new police station at Port-au-Prince was set on fire, Sinapoha general coordinator Lionel Lazare told Agence France-Presse (AFP), but police had time to leave the premises before the attack. According to this union official, the attack had been planned since last weekend.

Jimmy Charizier, an influential gang leader known as “Barbecue”, assured on Tuesday that if Ariel Henry does not resign and the international community continues to support the Prime Minister, the country will “Straight to civil war leading to genocide”. Ariel Henry has been abroad and still hasn’t managed to return to Haiti, particularly because of the lack of security around the international airport. As of Thursday morning, he was still in Puerto Rico, a border police spokesman for the American Caribbean territory told AFP.

“Government Officials Resign”

The Association National Network for the Defense of Human Rights in Haiti (RNDDH) condemned the inaction of the Haitian state to combat this violence. “The findings are clear today: government officials have resigned”she wrote in a report on Wednesday. “The streets of the capital and the entire western sector have been given over to armed bandits. And the Haitian population is left alone to their fate”Adds the association, which condemns the fact that the police “left the streets”.

“In the absence of being able to come to the aid of the population, their presence plays an important role in restoring peace and is likely to be avoided” Certain offenses according to the RNDDH. Among their recommendations: “Do everything possible to fully regain control of the national territory. »

To this end, the UN Security Council agreed in October to send a multinational security mission led by Kenya, which wants to send 1,000 police officers, an agreement reached between the two countries a few days ago. But its deployment has been delayed by Kenya’s justice system and an apparent lack of funding. No date has been given for the mission’s arrival.

The NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Thursday published a survey on mortality in Haiti over ten years, which “City Soleil in Port-au-Prince reveals extreme level of violence endured by slum dwellers”.with “About 41% of deaths are associated with violence and a crude death rate of 0.63 deaths per 10,000 people per day”. “MSF had already observed similar mortality in Raqqa camp, in 2017”The Syrian city and a former stronghold of the Islamic State group, assured the NGO, which on Wednesday announced it would strengthen its presence in Port-au-Prince to respond to the influx of wounded.