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P-au-P., August 9, 2024 (AlterPresse) – Haitian Prime Minister Gary Cornier expressed serious concern about the slow response of the international community to the multifaceted crisis that has rocked the country, including the capital Port-au-Prince, which is 80% controlled by gangs.
Cornell has just issued a new appeal for help to the international community through an interview broadcast by the British public broadcaster BBC on August 8, 2024, and subsequently reported by AlterPresse.
“The immediate assistance provided by the international community in the form of a multinational force is extremely important, but it is coming too slowly and people are getting impatient,” Conil worries.
“We are of course very, very, very worried,” he revealed.
“It is extremely important that the commitments made by our partners (…) are fulfilled as quickly as possible.”
Here are some extracts from an interview on the BBC programme Hardtalk, in which Garry Conille was questioned about gang violence, mass hunger, corruption and a collapsing economy (transcribed/paraphrased).
Still held hostage by the gang
The situation in Port-au-Prince, and in Haiti in general, has not changed much for several reasons. So we are still hostages to these bullies. 80 to 85% of the capital is still under his control. The displacement of 600,000 inhabitants is still a reality. There is little security for half the population, but as you know, we have only been active for six weeks and we are doing everything we can to put systems in place to meet the needs of the Haitians, who have been very patient…
Most of the country is functioning well
80% of the capital is still heavily controlled or affected by these gangs, but most of the country, eight out of ten departments, are outside the capital and are still functioning well. Right now, we have two departments that are heavily affected by gang-controlled activity, but most of the country is still functioning, and in the capital we can send our children to school. (…) We help people in the camps for internally displaced persons. We work on health services. We work very, very hard to provide the minimum services for the Haitian people, and as you know, the barbecue is not doing that. So we are dealing with a difficult situation.
12 million people show great resilience
We live in a country where there are 200 different gangs actively engaged in disrupting life, just to terrorize people. That’s the reality we have to face, and it’s very serious. I just hope that your listeners can understand the second part of the picture, which is that 12 million people have shown great resilience and are committed to working with this transitional government in order to improve their future. Haiti does not have 200 gangs. Haiti has 12 million people who are under all kinds of pressure and are desperately trying to figure out how to improve their lives. So I just hope that the balance is shared equally.
Harnessing Haiti’s incredible potential
Haiti has incredible potential, and we are working to bring all of that together. (…) It’s about getting the support we need from our friends in the international community, bringing together the best of what Haiti has to offer, and addressing issues that are not specific to Haiti. Gang violence existed in El Salvador for years, and the Salvadorans came together to start addressing it. It’s in Colombia, too. There are still areas in Brazil that are completely controlled by gangs. So this is not a Haitian phenomenon. But what has not happened is that the Haitian people have not had a government that reflects their resilience, their courage, and their desire to come together and fight for a better future. That’s what we are trying to achieve now as a caretaker government.
Justice must be served
You know, the problem of impunity in Haiti is not new. Part of the problem that we have is that we have had impunity for many years. So justice has to be part of the solution. We obviously want to keep all the tools available in the toolbox from now on. We also understand that 30 to 50 percent of gang members may be children. So how we move forward in the future certainly depends on a range of issues. But the focus right now is definitely on making sure that justice is done, that the victims are compensated, and that the state is able to regain authority over parts of its territory. I think that’s an important element that we need to determine.
First, justice must be done. We need justice first. Once we have justice for the Haitian people, once we are able to give them reparations, once we are able to restore state authority, we can turn to other tools that we all know can pacify our country. But as we move toward the future we want, it is very important to end the cycle of impunity that has lasted for more than 50 years. This has to be part of the scenario and the solution. That’s what we want to say.
Aid to the multinational force is slow to arrive, and people are growing impatient
As you know, we currently have about 103 police officers per 100,000 people. Again, if I take as an example countries that are known to have had similar problems, which I certainly haven’t, and where the institutional capacity is much greater, Jamaica has about 306 police officers per 100,000 people. El Salvador has 306. Colombia has 608, six times as many as the police plus the military. So I have no doubt that we are short-handed. More importantly, 150,000 Haitians have left the country in the last year and a half to try to secure a better future for their families. That’s why it is so critical that the international community provide immediate assistance in the form of a multinational force, but it’s coming so slowly and people are growing impatient.
We are certainly very, very, very concerned. The support that has been promised has been slow to come. The Haitian people are very patient. I would say that we have a very fragile transition team based on the hope that support will be forthcoming very quickly. The political season is certainly not going to be long. There will be some manipulation that will try to take advantage of the very difficult situation that the Haitian people are going through right now. It is extremely important that the commitments that have been made by our partners, our neighbors and our country to support this effort are delivered as soon as possible.
It is a challenge to elect officials by February 7, 2026
We are working very hard with the electoral commission to put in place systems that work and give us options to ensure that we elect officials by February 7. We are working very closely with the police and the two Kenyan contingents on the ground, as well as the military and other government departments, to improve the security situation. Our assets and partners have done a lot of work, and we will continue to move forward. There is no other choice. We have to restore democracy. We have to regain control of these territories. We have to restore security, and we have to do it together. Now, obviously, I understand that this is going to be a challenge and we are working hard to overcome it, but I will not underestimate the courage of the Haitian people when they come together. In 1804, when we faced the most powerful army in the world, the French, the task seemed impossible, but we won our independence. So this is a question of really uniting the Haitian people with the international community to accomplish a task that I think is completely achievable.
(April 9, 2024 01:00)
Photo: Pnh/Archives
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