In light of a severe increase in gang violence that has claimed dozens of lives recently, Doctors Without Borders reported on Wednesday that it was obliged to close its hospital in Cite Soleil, Haiti temporarily.
The slum, one of the biggest in Port-au-Prince, has witnessed several gang fights.
- Advertisement -
The advisor to the humanitarian organization, Vincent Harris, remarked, “We are looking at a war scene just meters from our hospital.”
The hospital compound has been hit by several stray gunshots, according to officials, making it difficult for those who are ill or injured to go to the facility for treatment.
The organization also mentioned that personnel at another neighboring hospital recently admitted up to ten times as many patients with gunshot wounds as normal.
Human rights advocates claim that between February 24 and March 4, there were over 60 murders and hundreds of kidnappings in one section of the city alone.
With the killing of President Jovenel Mose in July 2021, gangs have continued to battle for more land and are in a stronger position of authority. Since October, Prime Minister Ariel Henry has made many requests to the international community for the dispatch of foreign soldiers.
Instead, other nations have imposed sanctions and have supplied military weapons to support Haiti’s National Police, which is critically under-resourced and understaffed. More than a dozen police officers have been slain so far this year.
The situation in Port-au-Prince has become “increasingly desperate,” according to a tweet from Maarten Boute, the head of Digicel in Haiti, on Monday.
“Armed gangs now roam freely across the entire capital city,” he authored. “Nobody is safe. Desperation is kicking in. We need help!”
