Port-Au-Prince Archives

Haitian gang massacre kills at least 70 people including 3 infants

October 4, 2024
A Haitian gang massacre killed at least 70 people including three infants and 10 women, and injured at least 16 others on Thursday, Oct. 3. The United Nations said members of the Gran Grif Gang raided a farming community north of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, and opened fire on its residents.

U.N. officials reported that the gang members set fires to dozens of houses and vehicles as people ran for safety. The rampage eventually ended in a gunfight with police as two gang members were injured and as people fled the town toward a coastal city.

The leader of the Gran Grif gang claimed the killings were retribution for residents remaining passive while his soldiers were killed by police or vigilantes. Another gang leader said the attack is part of a plan to stop the town from supplying food to the country.

The community is a major rice producer in a nation facing a growing hunger crisis. Some of the main roads in Haiti go through the town and it’s been a source of revenue for gangs, who are reportedly responsible for a rash of kidnappings and ambushes along the roads. From 2022 to 2023, crime data shows the area has seen nearly 1,700 people killed, injured or kidnapped by gangs.

The outbreak of violence puts more strain on a recommitted, yet limited Kenyan-led International Security Force approved by the U.N. meant to quell gang activity in the country. Officers from the force were reportedly deployed to the farming community. However, the force’s mission is based in Haiti’s capital and does not have a permanent presence in rural areas.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Haitians have reportedly fled their homes over the past three years as gang violence has spiked.
Related Stories
Why US-backed international police force isn’t stopping Haitian gangs

August 19, 2024
An international police force is struggling to get Haiti’s gang crisis under control, as reported on Sunday, Aug. 18. A United States-backed, Kenyan-led police force that was deployed months ago is outmanned and underfunded.

The 400 police troops face thousands of gang members and have yet to advance through the capital of Port-Au-Prince to clear out criminals despite being there for almost two months.

Amid the ongoing efforts, a prison break turned deadly on Friday, Aug. 16, in a coastal city just north of the Haitian capital. Haitian authorities said about a dozen people died during a shooting involved in the search and recovery of inmates. The escape stemmed from a riot by inmates over a lack of food and poor conditions.

Since the arrival of the international forces, the prison system in Haiti has been thrown into chaos. Prisons reportedly lack critical resources while facing an influx of prisoners.

Meanwhile, Haiti’s interim prime minister said on Aug. 7, “Haitians are growing impatient” with the failure to stop the violence.

U.S. officials acknowledged that the multinational security support mission is not moving at the speed they expected. However, they did say that they are strapped for money and resources, making it difficult to bring Haiti back to “normalcy.”

The U.S. government is also caught between funding Ukraine and Israel, and is hesitant to get further involved in Haiti’s security mission. However, the U.S. military did promise the delivery of armored vehicles, riot control gear and protective gear for police.

Still, the delivery may not be enough as gangs are only growing in strength and numbers. Officials estimate that there are anywhere between 5,000 to 10,000 gang members, mainly around Haiti’s capital city. The United Nations-backed mission is in need of helicopters, combat vehicles and more infrastructure to defeat the criminal organizations in Haiti.
Related Stories
Haiti reopens airport after months of gang violence. Where are the gangs now?

May 21, 2024

Haiti’s main international airport in Port-au-Prince reopened Monday, May 20, three months after being forced to close due to escalating gang violence. Haitian gangs grew more powerful and independent since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.

Previously, the gangs relied on financial support from Haiti’s corrupt political and business elites, particularly during election times. Gangs used financial backing to influence votes to maintain power.

In recent years, however, these gangs funded their activities through kidnappings, extortion and drug trafficking, making them less dependent on political partners. According to the U.S. Justice Department, some groups acquired more sophisticated weapons and adopted a more militaristic stance. The gangs focused on national ambitions instead of typical turf wars. Gunfights became prominent in the streets.

Tensions escalated in March after gangs stormed prisons, freeing thousands of inmates and prompting a mass exodus of tens of thousands of Haitian citizens.

Several groups then took control of the capital city and demanded the resignation of then-Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who ultimately stepped down. A transitional council with nine members now governs the country, with Henry’s former finance minister serving as interim prime minister. However, gangs continue to cause chaos.

In response, Kenya prepared to lead an international task force, approved by the U.N. Security Council, to deploy a police presence to help the transitional council restore stability.

“A bilateral reciprocal agreement was entered into between Kenya and Haiti which facilitates Kenya to be able to deploy, and we are in the process or government is in the process of finalizing preparation to deploy,” said Korir Singoei, the principal secretary of foreign affairs for Kenya. “I can tell you for sure that that deployment will happen in the next few days, few weeks.”

The militia-like gangs’ growing influence deepened Haiti’s political instability, complicating efforts to stabilize the country. Neighboring Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader announced Sunday, May 19, a government crackdown along its shared border, promising to finish a border wall.

Abinader, now in his second term, deported more than 250,000 migrants in 2023.

U.S. airlines JetBlue and American expect to resume flights to Port-au-Prince by early June.
Protests follow kidnapping of American nurse, daughter in Haiti

August 1, 2023

About 200 Haitians marched in the capital city of Port-Au-Prince on Monday, July 31, just days after an American nurse and her daughter were kidnapped in Haiti. The protests were meant to express anger over not only the kidnapping, but the worsening gang violence in the city.

Alix Dorsainvil of New Hampshire works for El Roi Haiti, a nonprofit Christian ministry. She was working at a clinic in Haiti when armed men broke in.

“I can’t explain 100% but I was inside and a man told me to relax. I couldn’t understand what he was saying to me, then he pulled out his weapon,” Lormina Louima, a patient waiting for a check-up at the time of the kidnapping, said July 31. “When I saw the gun, I was so scared… I said, ‘I don’t want to see this, let me go.’”

According to some members of the local community, the unidentified men asked for $1 million in ransom, a standard practice of Haitian gangs who commit a kidnapping. However, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller wouldn’t say if the abductors had made demands.

“I just think it would be inappropriate to comment on details. You shouldn’t read into that one way or the other what the answer might be,” Miller said at his July 31 daily briefing. “But because it’s an ongoing law enforcement situation, those are obviously quite sensitive and I just don’t want to comment on.”

According to figures from the local nonprofit Center for Analysis and Research in Human Rights, hundreds of kidnappings have happened in Haiti in 2023 alone. The same day of the American nurse’s kidnapping, the State Department advised Americans to avoid travel in Haiti and ordered nonemergency personnel to leave.

“Kidnapping is widespread, and victims regularly include U.S. citizens. Kidnappers may use sophisticated planning or take advantage of unplanned opportunities, and even convoys have been attacked,” the department wrote in its advisory. “Kidnapping cases often involve ransom negotiations and U.S. citizen victims have been physically harmed during kidnappings. Victim’s families have paid thousands of dollars to rescue their family members.”

A day before the kidnapping, local police evicted families that had taken shelter in front of the U.S. embassy gates in Port-au-Prince after fleeing their homes because of gang violence in their neighborhood. Hundreds took refuge after being forced to leave their homes on Monday, July 24 because of a heavy gunfight in the neighborhood of Tabarre in downtown Port-au-Prince.

“I’ve been on the streets since Saturday. I have no other place to go with my three children. I have no help from their fathers,” one displaced woman said on Wednesday, July 26. Another added “My little brother almost died there; they poured water on his face to check if he was dead. I went crazy, holding a little child of 3 years old in those conditions.”