by Karl B. Rodney
It is encouraging to see that Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness will be leading a delegation of CARICOM ministers to Haiti to explore a possible solution to the ongoing Haitian crisis.
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We have always held that any solution to the Haitian problem must be Haitian-led to some degree. Haiti still needs to have the full backing and experience of CARICOM as a regional organization to solve regional problems and to provide the regional support that the Haitian people can depend on and feel uplifted.
Haiti has been the subject of international manipulation for centuries, and that has created a climate of distrust segments of interests now turned into gangs that are pursuing their own interest, rather than that of the country. So Prime Minister Holness leading this special mission to Haiti at a time when Haiti is really facing a humanitarian crisis and where gangs are pretty much in control of the country.
The solution will not be an easy one, but with the support of international partners, the UN has been called for the use of force to bring about order in Haiti for some time now. Canada has been supporting the use of force to bring order and in fact, deployed naval vessels to the area. United States has in fact indicated some support for an international force to bring back order to the troubled country.
If this force is put together under the leadership and command of CARICOM, it will have the most favorable possibility for success because Haiti’s CARICOM neighbors are very much in tune with Haiti’s desires. Many of the problems that Haiti faces can relate to some degree to bring about a solution, the solution has to be supported by Haitians in Haiti, the large Haitian diaspora and of course the international community. It has to start with treating the ills of Haiti, right now that have been imposed upon the people of Haiti by the gangs and their violence, those gangs should be treated as criminals and removed from the streets of Haiti.
The gangs must be disarmed and placed in custody while the country is opened up to economic and political activities.
BINUH, the UNITED NATIONS Integrated office in Haiti, reports … “Extreme violence and gross human rights abuses, including mass incidents of murder, gang rape and sniper attacks, have sharply increased in Cité Soleil on the outskirts of the Haitian capital, said a UN report* published today, creating “a living nightmare” for thousands.
“The findings of this report are horrifying it paints a picture of how people are being harassed and terrorized by criminal gangs for months without the State being able to stop it. It can only be described as a living nightmare,” Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said.
The report said that from 8 July to 31 December 2022 gang violence resulted in 263 murders in the neighbourhood of Cité Soleil, the impoverished and densely populated commune near the capital Port-au-Prince. It documented at least 57 gang rapes of women and girls, as well as kidnappings and sexual exploitation.
On one day alone, 8 July 2022, gang members murdered 95 people, including six children one of whom was two years of age.
The G-9 gang has spread terror by using snipers, who indiscriminately kill anyone who enter their field of vision, the report said, adding that on average six people are killed each week by snipers.
The gang blocked access to the neighbourhood, thus controlling the entry of basic necessities such as food and health services. Unsanitary conditions have been exacerbated, leading to the spread of infectious diseases such as cholera.”
Of course, there needs to be a view of the long-term solution for Haiti, and while disarming the gang might be an immediate fix, a long-term solution has to be put in place by an international group. Again, hopefully, CARICOM can be a leader in that particular effort at the long-term solution of building the institution of the economy and government in a sustainable way.
There are sections of Haiti that need to be cleaned up and where slums would be raised. And now open and public spaces should be developed that would not have the possibility of the gang’s operation. There should be an immediate effort to organize elections with some provisional government in place to guide Haiti through this transitional period and to regain the confidence of the Haitian people in their government and their system.
Where the international friends of Haiti can feel comfortable with seeking investment in the country, the diaspora of Haiti has done well in the US and other countries will have the confidence to reengage with Haiti, and provide skills and funds that can be a strong source for Haiti’s development and knowing of their own love for the country and the pride in which they hold their history and heritage of the country. Haiti’s proud and strong history should be taught to every child in the Western hemisphere, for that matter in the world, especially children of color.
They should learn about the brave and historic people they were, and what they have accomplished in the struggle for freedom. Haiti needs to be rescued, CARICOM and friends of Haiti need to be leading that effort. Providing the solution and the international community should be moving to assist Haiti much in the same way that they have moved to assist other countries in distress or under attack and give Haiti the chance and the ability to reengage, redevelop and restore its rightful place in the history of the hemisphere and indeed the world. It will take courage and it will take commitment from several sectors, but it can be done, and it’s needed to be done and done now.
