P-to-P, April 23, 2024 [AlterPresse] —The South of Haiti represents, in particular, an area of growing concern in terms of drug and firearms trafficking, given the poorly monitored airspace and the uncontrolled coastline, renews the executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Egyptian Ghada Fathi Ismail Waly, citing the latest UNODC report
“Gang violence, enabled by the continued influx of guns into Haiti and supported by corruption, has increased in frequency and intensity. They extend geographically,” points out Ghada Waly, during an intervention before the Security Council of the United Nations (UN), on Monday April 22, 2024, attended by AlterPresse.
Also entering via the southern coast of Haiti, the firearms and ammunition are transported directly to Port-au-Prince, via routes believed to be controlled by gangs affiliated with the federation of criminal gangs, called Gpèpreveals UNODC.
He points to prominent political and economic figures who are suspected of involvement in these criminal markets.
UNODC denounces arms and ammunition trafficking, largely directed from abroad.
There is a considerable increase in the firepower of armed gangs in Haiti, notes UNODC, putting forward as proof the latest coordinated attacks by gangs against key infrastructure in the country.
Since Thursday February 29, 2024, coordinated attacks by armed gangs have targeted key state infrastructure, including several police stations and two of Port-au-Prince’s main prisons, as well as educational and health facilities. and religious sites.
83 private and public institutions and/or businesses were attacked, vandalized and/or set on fire in Port-au-Prince and neighboring communes, including 19 police stations and 5 peace courts and one (1) court of first instanceidentified the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (Rnddh), in a report dated Wednesday April 10, 2024, which covers the period from January to March 2024.
UNODC warns of an increase in the risks of migrant smuggling and human trafficking, due to increasing displacement and situations of extreme vulnerability.
Faced with this general deterioration, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime calls for strengthening Haiti’s national capacities in firearms regulation, as well as border and customs capacities, particularly in ports and at border points between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
In the absence of deployment of the Multinational Security Support Mission (Mmas) in Haitimandated by the UN Security Council, alongside a long-term political solution, “the situation will remain extremely difficult”, warns the UNODC.
The deployment of the Mmas has been authorized by the United Nations Security Council since Monday October 2, 2023, following a robust request for assistance, formulated on Friday October 7, 2022, by the de facto government of Ariel Henry in favor of the Haitian National Police (PNH) in the fight against armed gangs.
UNODC calls on the international community to stand alongside Haitian institutions and citizens to confront armed violence, corruption and chaos.
From January to March 2024, around 2,500 people have been killed or injured due to armed gang violencean increase of 53% compared to the quarter from October to December 2023, according to a report from the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (Binuh), published on Friday April 19, 2024. [emb rc apr 23/04/2024 12:35]
