More than 53,000 people have fled the capital of Haiti in less than three weeks, the vast majority to escape the incessant violence of gangs, according to a United Nations report published Tuesday.
More than 60% are heading to the rural southern region of the country, which worries UN officials.
“Our colleagues in the humanitarian sector have shown that these departments do not have sufficient infrastructure, and that local communities do not have sufficient resources to cope with the large number of people fleeing Port-au-Prince.”said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
The southern region is already home to more than 116,000 Haitians who previously fled the capital, according to the International Organization for Migration report.
The exodus from the capital, of some 3 million inhabitants, began shortly after powerful gangs launched several attacks against government institutions at the end of February. Gunmen have burned police stations, shot up the main international airport, which remains closed, and raided Haiti’s two main prisons, freeing more than 4,000 inmates.
According to UN data, as of March 22, more than 1,500 people had been killed and another 17,000 had been left homeless.
Marjorie Michelle-Jean, a 42-year-old street vendor, and her two children, ages 4 and 7, were among the few people trying to head north instead of south of the capital.
“I want to see them alive”he said, explaining that stray bullets had not stopped hitting the tin roof of his house. Twice last week, Michelle-Jean and her children tried to travel to Mirebalais, her hometown in central Haiti, but were forced to turn back because of road blocks.
““I will surely try it again.” he claimed. “It is not safe at all to be in Port-au-Prince”.
Of the 53,125 people who fled Port-au-Prince between March 8 and 27, nearly 70% had been forced to leave their homes and were living with relatives or in the overcrowded and unsanitary makeshift shelters set up in various parts of the capital. indicated the UN.
More than 90% of Haitians who have left the capital have used buses, risking traveling through territories controlled by armed groups, where gang rapes and shootings against public transport by armed men have been recorded.
Source: Gestion
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