The Deterioration of Haiti’s Humanitarian Crisis

The indiscriminate violence of armed groups and the near collapse of basic services have plunged Haiti into a humanitarian crisis unprecedented since 2010

There are fears that the epicentre of the current humanitarian crisis will gradually shift to an increasing number of areas previously spared by the insecurity in the Haitian nation

UN Report:

Years of underfunding of humanitarian aid and increasing needs have put millions of Haitians at risk of chronic vulnerability, according to a newly released UN report.

Reversing the situation will require the international community and donors to increase the funding of UN and non-governmental organization (NGO) relief operations, the UN humanitarian office, OCHA, said in its latest advocacy note.

Growing hunger and needs

Months of violence have led to a deterioration of Haiti’s humanitarian crisis.  Displacement has tripled in the last year in Haiti as gang violence continues to rock the Caribbean-island nation, with nearly 600,000 people on the run.

“The indiscriminate violence of armed groups and the near collapse of basic services have plunged Haiti into a humanitarian crisis unprecedented since 2010,” OCHA reported, referring to the devasting earthquake that struck the nation 14 years ago.

Following the spiralling security situation in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and Artibonite in the north in February, the number of displaced persons has soared by 60 per cent, the report showed, using the latest figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) data tracking matrix for Haiti.

Collapsing basic services

The violence continues to target civilian infrastructure, with only 24 per cent of hospitals remaining operational, OCHA reported.  The insecurity has also left 1.5 million children shut out of classrooms.

Half of the 578,000 displaced people, desperately fleeing the capital in search of safety, had made their way south, where the vast majority are staying with already economically vulnerable host families.

However, basic social services, such as education, health and water, hygiene and sanitation, already insufficient to meet the needs of the local population, have been severely strained, OCHA reported.

Forced deportations

Meanwhile, forced repatriations of Haitians from countries in the region is continuing.  Indeed, deportations of Haitian nationals even increased, particularly from April onwards, when incidents of violence were at their peak, OCHA reported.  In the first seven months of the year, nearly 100,000 people were deported from countries in the region to Haiti, according to data from IOM.

‘Wave of violence’

The violent clashes between gangs and the authorities have also persisted, even as the multinational security support mission arrived in late June to help Haitian police address the ongoing crisis.

“This wave of violence continues to have humanitarian consequences on the populations of the affected neighbourhoods and localities, but also in areas far from the capital which have become host lands for hundreds of thousands of people,” OCHA stated in the report.

Almost 300,000 malnutrition cases have been documented, and five million people, about 50 per cent of Haiti’s population, face heightened food insecurity, according to a report earlier this year by a global monitoring group, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

Fears the crisis will spread

There are fears that the epicentre of the current humanitarian crisis will gradually shift to an increasing number of areas previously spared by insecurity, according to OCHA.

At the same time, the current hurricane season is expected to be active and could cause an additional shockwave on the daily lives of Haitians.

Haiti is bracing for between four and seven major storms in the months to come.

Calls to fill funding gaps

Additional financial resources are urgently needed to meet the increased needs of the Haitian population affected by this multidimensional crisis, OCHA said in its report.

Without additional funds, OCHA fears that these crises will continue.

Humanitarian concerns abound that food insecurity will continue to spread, hundreds of thousands of out-of-school children will face the risk of recruitment by armed groups and experience “lost years”, growing up without the skills needed for their future and survival, and that half a million vulnerable children and victims of protection incidents will be deprived of mental health services and psychosocial support, according to OCHA.

“While humanitarian assistance is a lifeline for many, it is only part of the solution,” the UN agency said.

“The government, political and development actors must work together to find lasting solutions to Haiti’s structural challenges,” OCHA said, echoing a call made last month by a joint UN-European Union mission to the country.

Eight months into the year, Haiti’s 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan is 33 per cent funded, having received $162.5 million out of $674 million.

Source

Parents 'reclaim' children in Haiti abduction-adoption row

WASHINGTON, USA (AFP) -- The 33 infants and children that an American Christian group tried to smuggle out of quake-hit Haiti are being reunited with their families, the US-based aid group now caring for them said Tuesday.

The children were picked up last week by members of an Idaho-based Baptist group called New Life Children's Refuge who tried to take them across the border to the Dominican Republic where they planned to establish an orphanage.

But some of the children are not orphans at all.

A woman who identified herself as the mother of one of the 33 children caught up in the process of ten members of a US Christian group charged with child-trafficking speaks to the press. AFP PHOTO

"The parents now are coming to the village to reclaim their children," Heather Paul, the CEO of SOS Children's Villages USA, told NBC's "Today Show". "We already hear that many are saying that we have parents."

Police seized five men and five women with US passports, as well as two Haitians, as they tried late Friday to cross into the neighboring Dominican Republic with the children aged between two months and 14 years.

The case came to light as authorities in the capital Port-au-Prince expressed concern that some Haitian children may have fallen prey to human traffickers or been misidentified as orphans.

Paul said the children had been in poor condition when her group first received them but that they appeared to be on the mend.

"They came quite traumatized, as you can imagine, for a number of reasons. First, the devastation of the earthquake and then the mystery or confusion of their family's disappearance."

"They're getting better," she said.

Paul added that while in the care of the US Baptist group, the children, "weren't well dressed, they were dehydrated. They needed medical assistance."

She said the case underscored the need for stricter rules and greater vigilance in dealing with children in Haiti.

"I don't know all the facts, but if they were good intentions, they've certainly gone awry," she said.

"I think this is proof positive for all those people around the world who would like to adopt Haitian children, that we must wait on the right registration."

Laura Silsby, head of New Life Children's Refuge, has insisted the group's aims were entirely altruistic.

"We came here literally to just help the children. Our intentions were good," she told AFP from police detention. "We wanted to help those who lost parents in the quake or were abandoned."

In Port-au-Prince, interim prosecutor Mazar Fortil said the Christians may face a charge of criminal conspiracy in Haiti as well as possible charges of kidnapping minors and child-trafficking.

US consular officials visited the detained Americans and brought them food and insect repellent, but relatives back in the United States said they had hoped American officials might have done more.

"I've seen them on TV and they look like they're in good spirits," Sean Lankford, whose wife and 18-year-old daughter were among those held, told NBC.

He said he had not been able to speak to them since their arrest and was concerned that they had not received better treatment in detention.

"First off, you know, I think they were required to give them food and water. I mean, the basic essentials for life. And they were to help them to contact counselors on their behalf -- at least to give them the ability to do that. They were late in doing that," Lankford complained.

"I appreciate everything they have done. I know that it took them a while to find them first off. I know also that there's a lot of needs that are happening in Haiti," the Meridian, Idaho resident said.

But he added "as a dad and a husband, you know, I just want to make sure that my wife and my daughter have everything that they need, and my friends there have everything they need to stay healthy while they work through this, and while we try to help them work through this."

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