Port-au-Prince, Feb 9 (EFE).- Activity timidly resumed Friday in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince and in several provincial cities of Haiti that saw massive violent protests in recent days that left at least six dead and dozens injured.
A man demonstrates during a protest in Pétion-Ville, Haiti, Feb. 8, 2024. EFE/Johnson Sabin
Some private and public institutions in the capital opened their doors and public transport returned to the streets, although not as busy as before, however schools have not yet resumed classes.
Since mid-January 2024, protests have led to the temporary closure of more than 1,000 schools across the country, especially in Port-au-Prince and urban areas of the West, Grand ‘Anse, Northeast, Nippes and Artibonite, according to the United Nations.
According to UN data, anti-government street demonstrations and riots have occurred in at least 24 cities throughout the country, including the capital, in recent days.
This slow resumption of activities does not mean the end of the anti-government protests demanding Prime Minister Ariel Henry step down. According to an agreement signed in December 2022, Henry was to leave power on Feb. 7, 2024.
Protesters have promised to continue taking to the streets to demand the departure of the current government, which has proven incapable of combating the rampant insecurity.
This week’s protests were marked by violence, roadblocks and looting, which led to clashes with the police and left people dead and injured, especially in Port-au-Prince, Ouanaminthe and Mirabelais.
A humanitarian organization was looted in the department of Sur, which will seriously hinder its operations in the coming days.
The UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) has expressed ‘deep concern’ over recent reports highlighting the violence that children face and witness in the context of current socio-political events in Haiti.
“The escalating violence is simply too much for Haiti’s children to bear. Children and families are already enduring relentless waves of brutal violence perpetrated by armed groups in their neighborhoods, with each day bringing new horrors, the loss of loved ones, homes being destroyed by fires or bullets, and an ever-present shadow of fear,” said a Unicef press release, in the face of the “escalating violence in Haiti.”
The population of Haiti is facing some of the worst human rights violations and threats to their lives in the country’s recent history, the agency added.
Unicef said that years of political turmoil, poverty, institutional and socioeconomic crises, disease outbreaks, increased rates of malnutrition, disasters and escalating armed violence have left over 3 million children in need of humanitarian assistance.
The unrest and violence have seriously disrupted humanitarian operations of the UN and NGOs, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Haiti, which regretted that “this situation has hampered access to essential social services for the Haitian population.”
“Road blockades by demonstrators and restrictions on the movement of people, including healthcare workers, have impacted on people’s access to health services,” OCHA said.
According to a recent study by the World Food Program, the impact of the road blockade to the south and weeks of demonstrations has caused a 23 percent increase in the price of the food basket in the departments of Sud and Nippes.
The Health Action Group reported that the Peace University Hospital in Port-au-Prince has treated a dozen injured people and, to manage the situation, a contingency plan has been activated, both in that center and in the Tabarre Hospital, to deal with any massive influx of wounded.
The total number of people affected by violence in Haiti in January was 1,106, more than triple that of January of last year. Some 806 people unrelated to the various violent incidents that have taken place were killed, injured or kidnapped, while about 300 gang members were killed or injured.
According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, over Jan. 20 to Feb. 7 alone, at least 16 people died and 29 were injured without being linked to the protests and gang actions.
The organization issued an urgent warning on Friday about Haiti’s worsening human rights catastrophe, after figures showed January was the most violent month in more than two years. EFE
mm/tw