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Overview:
Haiti’s National Police carried out an operation against armed bandits in Pétion-Ville, killing 28 suspected gang members. The operation followed the escalation of gang violence in Haiti’s capital this week. The attack, combined with mass displacement and humanitarian strife, underscores Haiti’s deepening security crisis.
PORT-AU-PRINCE – At least 28 suspected gang members were murdered in Pétion-Ville on Tuesday morning, November 19, when the Haiti National Police (PNH) carried out a major operation following a nighttime attack on the upmarket neighborhood by the ‘Viv Ansanm’. gang coalition. The residents of Petion-Ville are in lockdown after this operation, fearing that bandits fleeing PNH will hide in their neighborhood.
PNH deputy spokesman Lionel Lazarre confirmed the death toll, adding that hundreds of ammunition were seized during the operation. Residents, armed with machetes, joined police efforts and blocked roads with barricades to prevent gangs from advancing further.
The violence broke out just days after the inauguration of Fils-Aimé’s new government, which pledged to tackle Haiti’s security crisis. Viv Ansanm gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier had previously warned of plans to attack Pétion-Ville, where he accused local elites of harboring political figures and oligarchs. The attack also spread to nearby Canapé Vert and other areas, leading to a total shutdown in Pétion-Ville. Both NGOs and residents were advised to take shelter on site.
This latest gang attack adds to the terror that has gripped Port-au-Prince over the past week, as families continue to flee en masse. With thousands of displaced people and neighborhoods such as Nazon and Delmas under attack, the capital remains tense.
Fleeing from gang attacks, the desperate strategy of the residents of Port-au-Prince
Residents of Solino, a once resistant neighborhood, lost hope after a gang attack on November 12 left a police officer dead. The next day, thousands of families began packing their belongings and running for their lives, fearing further violence. This desperate exodus soon spread to other neighborhoods, most notably Poupelard, Nazon, Delmas 24, and Delmas 30.
From November 11 to 17, Port-au-Prince endured a week of extreme terror as gangs expanded their reach. Families, including newborns, children and the elderly, carried what they could – clothes, briefcases, furniture and other essential items – using cars, motorcycles, bicycles and even wheelbarrows to escape. They ran into the street, looking for safety.
“There is no hope anymore,” said a Solino resident who sought shelter at the Office of Citizen Protection (OPC). “We can’t bear it anymore. We are forced to take to the streets.”
A crane with a refrigerator, beds and home decorations on the afternoon of Saturday, November 16, 2024, on the run from the Nazon area of Port-au-Prince before being attacked by gangs. Photo by Juhakenson Blaise / The Haitian Times
Another accused the armed gangs of terrorizing their own people.
“When they (armed gangs) look in their mirror and look at us, they will see that we all look alike. I don’t see the difference,” a Ruelle Anglade resident at an OPC shelter in Bourdon, Port-au-Prince, told local reporters on the site, requesting anonymity for his safety.
“A revolution doesn’t happen this way. You cannot kill people who are part of the popular mass with you and then talk about revolution,” he said, referring to the story of Chérizier’s gang coalition, “Viv Ansanm”, which equates criminal activity with a revolutionary movement against the oligarchy of Haiti.
“What I would ask these armed men is what they want,” he reflected. “If you look at Delmas 6, 4, 2, Bel-Air, Ruelle Maya, Solino, it’s all one community; we are (all families) brothers and sisters. I don’t understand what the difference is today, that they enter the area to destroy, burn and kill.”
A child, holding an adult’s hand, on the Delmas Freeway, fleeing gang violence, in Port-au-Prince, on Saturday, November 16. Photo by Juhakenson Blaise / The Haitian Times
More than 20,000 displaced in four days
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported More than 20,000 people were displaced in Port-au-Prince between November 13 and 16. Many residents fled to informal refugee camps, including OPC offices, while others sought shelter with relatives or in makeshift camps.
The escalating violence has paralyzed much of the capital, with schools, banks and other crucial businesses closed. According to the IOM report, only 20% of Port-au-Prince remains accessible to humanitarian aid.
“There is no time to lose. Every day lost is a blow to the hopes of our people.”
Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé
“The isolation of Port-au-Prince exacerbates the already dire humanitarian situation,” wrote Grégoire Goodstein, IOM’s chief official in Haiti. “Without immediate international support, suffering will worsen exponentially.”
More isolation from the United States makes life even more complicated.
On November 12, the The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) banned flights to Haiti until December 12 after gang gunfire struck three commercial airliners over Port-au-Prince. In response, Toussaint Louverture International Airport suspended all operations for six days, including emergency and UN humanitarian flights, further exacerbating the plight of already vulnerable communities.
Two residents come from Nazon Road passing Delmas 30, northeast of Port-au-Prince, with some of their belongings in a bag and a basket in a wheelbarrow, on Saturday, November 16, 2024. Photo by Juhakenson Blaise / De Haitian times
Growing despair amid a rising death toll, mass displacement, limited resources and criticism of the government
Residents describe the violence as senseless and devastating.
“I don’t understand what the difference is that today they destroy, burn and kill,” said one resident, lamenting the destruction of homes and livelihoods.
Women and girls, who are already disproportionately affected by the crisis, are at greater risk. This was reported by the United Nations Human Rights Office almost 4,000 deaths this yearwith gender-based violence reaching alarming levels, as reported by OIM.
According to the UN, sexual violence against women and girls is used as a weapon by gangs.
For its part, the OIM regrets that 94% of displaced women and girls are particularly vulnerable to violence.
“I have lost everything except the clothes I am wearing,” says a mother of four. “They enter our homes, loot, rob, abuse, burn and kidnap.”
Residents flee with briefcases in hand, suitcases on their backs and their children with them, in Port-au-Prince, on Saturday, November 16, 2024. Photo by Juhakenson Blaise / The Haitian Times.
Haiti’s National Police (PNH), despite help from the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS), is struggling to contain the violence. Although the mission is strengthened by the recent arrival of equipment from the United States and promised reinforcements, it lacks sufficient resources to secure the Haitian capital and surrounding areas.
“The recent attacks have caused unbearable suffering for thousands of civilians,” said Nou Se Dorval, Creole member of We Are Dorval, a local advocacy group for human rights victims.
“Passivity by the transition government in the face of this catastrophe is unacceptable.”
While awaiting a government response, many in the refugee camps accuse authorities of allowing gang actions to go unpunished.
“It is the state that sent us to Solino,” says a woman, mother of two, who only managed to flee her home with her identity papers and a blanket to sleep with her children. “I can’t talk to the state; it is complicit. I will stay outside until they decide to take me off the streets.”
“Such a scale of displacement has not been observed since August 2023,” OIM said in its November 16 report.
Criminal groups in the capital are expanding their reach, seizing control of new neighborhoods and cutting off access to already vulnerable communities. Once rival factions, previously locked in territorial disputes, have now forged alliances to resist the counter-offensive by the PNH, whose limited resources are hampering efforts to curb escalating violence.
Two residents carry a bed to flee the Nazon area, threatened by attacks from the “Viv Ansanm” gangs, in Port-au-Prince, on Saturday, November 16, 2024. Photo by Juhakenson Blaise / The Haitian Times
A new government with the same promises
Meanwhile, authorities continue to promise stability and a solution to escalating gang violence. On Saturday, November 16 a new government led by Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé was installed. This is the second government in five months to be inaugurated by the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT). Similar to the mission undertaken by the government of former Prime Minister Garry Conille, the Fils-Aimé government is tasked with tackling gang violence and restoring an environment conducive to organizing the elections necessary to restore the country get back on the democratic track.
Amid widespread displacement, CPT President Leslie Voltaire called for calm during the government’s inauguration ceremony at the Villa d’Accueil in Musseau, about six miles northeast of central Port-au-Prince.
In his speech, Prime Minister Fils-Aimé echoed Voltaire’s call and emphasized the urgency of immediate action, stressing that delay would only increase the desperation of Haitians forced to flee their homes in despair.
A resident fleeing the Brun Ricot area in Nazon, Port-au-Prince, riding on the back of a motorcycle with a suitcase on his back and a bag on his legs, on Saturday, November 16, 2024. Photo by Juhakenson Blaise / The Haitian times.
“You bear a historic responsibility to the nation,” said Voltaire. “Restoring security, successfully carrying out the referendum and organizing elections are imperative tasks. Trade transparently and restore the trust people expect. You became ministers to achieve results.”
‘There’s no time to lose’ the new Haitian Prime Minister added. “This government takes office with a sense of urgency and seriousness. We have no honeymoon and no time for observation. Every day lost is a blow to the hopes of our people.”
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