The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the United Nations have expressed concern amid an increasingly chaotic situation in Haiti.
The French-speaking country has experienced a mass prison breakout, expanding gang violence, and rising hunger.
On Wednesday, CARICOM Chairman Guyana’s President Dr. Irfaan Ali, despite efforts toward a domestically derived solution to the Haiti crisis, spoke of the need for the country to receive assistance from CARICOM and the international community.
But Ali lamented that consensus was elusive.
“We have been working on this around the clock for the last three days. And in spite of many meetings, we have not yet been able to reach any form of consensus between the Government and the respective stakeholders in the opposition, the private sector, civil society and religious organisation,.” the Guyana President stated.
Nevertheless, Ali affirmed that CARICOM remains fully committed to using its efforts and energies to address Haiti’s pressing matter.
Ahead of a closed-door United Nations Security Council meeting, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called for the urgent deployment of the Council-mandated multinational security support mission in Haiti without further delay.
“The reality is that, in the current context, there is no realistic alternative available to protect lives,” the High Commissioner said. “We are simply running out of time.”
Türk said Haitian officials described last weekend’s mass prison breakout in their country as a lethal threat to national security.
More than 4,500 inmates are now known to have escaped.
They include prominent gang members as well as those arrested in connection with the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.
The break followed coordinated gang action against national institutions with the stated aim of bringing down the Haitian Government and preventing embattled Prime Minister Ariel Henry from returning home.
The Associated Press reported on Wednesday that Haitian politicians had started creating alliances to lead the country.
According to the news organization, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations responded Wednesday to whether the United States asked the Haitian Prime Minister to step down.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield replied that the U.S. has asked Henry to “move forward on a political process that will lead to the establishment of a presidential transitional council that will lead to elections.”
PHOTO: Stock image of armed gangsters in Haiti.
