With additional reporting from Milourdes Augustin and Kery Forges
EDITOR’S NOTE: The developing story of Haitian Prime Minister Aryel Henry’s March 11th resignation has resonated throughout the Haitian community stateside, especially the estimated 14,000 who have come to the Greater Boston area in the past few months.
The violence that has erupted in Haiti in recent weeks has been fueled by an explosive mix of government corruption, emboldened gangs and a string of natural disasters on the deeply traumatized Caribbean island nation.
While those just seeing the headlines of how Haiti has unraveled into chaos, the violence was actually preceded by the dangerously destabilized and fragile state the country has been in since the 2010 earthquake, which killed up to 300,000 people. Since the disaster, gang violence exploded after 3,000 inmates – most of whom were gang members now heavily armed – broke out of the National Penitentiary, Haiti’s largest prison, during the earthquake. The inmates either rejoined old neighborhood gangs or formed new groups. Then, when President Jovenel Moïse came to power in 2017, Moïse and his government allegedly cooperated with the gangs and provided them with government support in attacks at Port-au-Prince. According to Daniel Foote, the former U.S. Special Envoy to Haiti, Moïse aligned with G9 – one of two major gangs, the other being G-Pep, – which acted as a security force for Moïse.
President Moise was assassinated in 2021 and gangs in Haiti have grown even more powerful. After the assassination of Moise, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti and killed more than 2,200 people, injured more than 12,000, and flattened and destroyed tens of thousands of houses in an area that was still recovering from the devastating Hurricane Matthew in 2016. Ariel Henry, appointed by Moise to be his successor but was never sworn in because Moise was assassinated, became the acting prime minister. He began to serve after the assassination. In 2022, Henry announced that fuel subsidies would be eliminated, causing fuel prices to double. According to Reuters, in response to the government’s decision to cut fuel subsidies, the G9 gang coalition blockaded the main port and the Varreux fuel terminal.
The escalating gang violence, political instability, and rising prices for basic goods has made it impossible for Haitians to support themselves. According to an IPC analysis, Haiti, in 2022, experienced its worst-ever famine with 4.7 million people, which amounted to approximately 40.5% of the Haitian population, suffering acute hunger. Meanwhile, the lack of gas and diesel due to the blockade of the fuel terminal greatly impaired transportation in Haiti and as a consequence forced many businesses and hospitals to halt operations, worsening the situation in Haiti.
While the gang activity and violence escalated, Haiti’s National Police became outmatched and outnumbered by these heavily armed gangs. To address this crisis, Haiti’s government authorized Acting Prime Minister Henry to ask the international community for a “specialized armed force.” While several countries declined to lead such a mission, Kenya committed to help. However, the African country’s top court ruled that a 2023 agreement to send police officers to Haiti was unconstitutional since Kenya’s National Police Force could not be deployed outside of the country, and that Kenya and Haiti did not have reciprocal agreements. In order to rally support for the United Nations-backed International Police Force to be deployed to Haiti, Henry went to Nairobi, capital of Kenya, in February 2023, to sign the reciprocal agreements that could help send 1,000 Kenyan police officers to Haiti. Following the signing ceremony, Henry appeared in a lecture at Kenya’s United States International University and pointed out that democratic governance and elections were needed in order to settle the political instability in Haiti. Haiti has had no elected president since the assassination of President Moïse in 2021 and has had no parliament since the last 10 senators of the nation had their terms terminated in January in 2023.
“Living in Port-au-Prince became a living hell. After almost three years in power and facing pressure to organize elections, Prime Minister Henry decided to visit Kenya to seek assistance from its police forces in curbing gang violence. During his absence, the gangs unified under the slogan ‘living together’ and turned against Henry, preventing his return by storming all the airports in Haiti, causing widespread destruction and loss of life,” said Jacques Andre Vertilus, an NGO worker in the Northeast of Haiti on the presidential council, who spoke with Sampan on the condition his name has be changed.
While Henry has been abroad, the gang violence in Haiti has dramatically escalated. According to the Washington Post, Chérizier, who is also known by the nickname “Barbecue” – a former police officer now leading the gang alliance G9 Family and Allies – had called for Haiti’s warring criminal factions to unite to oust Acting Prime Minister Henry. To strengthen their plans for his removal, the gangs attacked the National Penitentiary again and allowed a total of 3,597 prisoners to escape.
According to AP News, the gangs soon attacked a second prison in nearby Croix-des-Bouquets which contained approximately 1,400 inmates. Haiti immediately declared a state of emergency and imposed a nighttime curfew between 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Meanwhile, these heavily armed gangs have attacked and shut down the International Airport and the main seaport, locking out Henry. According to the Washington Post, the gangs have blockaded main roads in Haiti nationwide, making it almost impossible to reach Port-au-Prince by land. Currently, the gangs control up to an estimated 80% of Port-au-Prince. In addition to blocking all ways of entering the capital, the gangs have been terrorizing the population. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, reports that gangs have been committing systematic sexual violence, including collective rape and mutilation, indiscriminate kidnapping, violent arson, and mass killings.
Gang violence has driven many Haitians to flee the country to nearby nations including the Dominican Republic and the United States. Some Haitians fled to the United States under the Humanitarian Parole Program – a program that allows certain people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela who have a sponsor in the U.S. and who pass a background check – to come to the U.S. for a period of two years to live and work lawfully. According to AP News, since the launch of the Humanitarian Parole Program in fall 2022, more than 357,000 people have been granted parole and allowed to enter the U.S. Haitians have been the biggest group to use the program. Approximately 138,000 Haitians have arrived in the U.S. under this program while many Haitians fleeing to the Dominican Republic have been arrested and deported. According to the Dominican-based National Coalition for Migrations and Refugees, complaints have been lodged about Dominican authorities bursting into houses to arrest people who they believed to be Haitians and destroying their properties. The United Nations and many human rights activists have called on the Dominican Republic and other countries to halt the deportations or diminish or postpone the push for deportations. However, according to NBC News, the Foreign Minister of the Dominican Republic, Roberto Álvarez, told the reporters that the deportations are a result of a national security policy and that there is no choice but to continue them. This month, more than 4,500 Haitians have been deported.
Meanwhile, gang violence has trapped many Haitians inside their homes. The gangs have cut off the capital from food, water, and medical supplies by road, by air, or by sea. The violence has shut down schools, businesses, public hospitals, and government buildings and has limited public services such as trash collection which has led to the resurfacing of cholera. Cholera is mainly linked to inadequate sanitation and insufficient access to safe drinking water. The roadblocks have impeded the World Food Program’s efforts to distribute food to Haitians and the closure of the International Airport has impeded World Health Organization’s effort to import essential goods and medicine amid the ongoing Cholera outbreak in Haiti. According to the United Nations, more than 5 million Haitians need immediate humanitarian assistance because of famine, displacement, and other deprivations.
The shutting down of the international airport and the denied permission to land in the Dominican Republic has Henry to find refuge in Puerto Rico. In a video address from Puerto Rico on March 11, he announced that he would step down “immediately after the installation of a Transitional Council,” members of which are to be chosen by representatives from several sectors of the Haitian people. The Transitional Council would appoint an Interim Prime Minister until a new prime minister and a new government are appointed, Henry’s government would continue to handle routine affairs.
While diplomats from several countries are pushing to set up the Transitional Council, gang violence has further escalated and, according to NBC News, has spread to the Petion-Ville suburb of the capital Port-au-Prince, an upmarket area with several embassies. The leader of the G9 gang, Cherizier, has threatened to target the harboring politicians. Currently, all groups and political parties involved in choosing members for the transitional council have submitted nominees. The council is composed of nine members. In addition to appointing an interim prime minister, the Transitional Council will also be responsible for appointing a council of ministers, a provisional electoral council, and a national security council. Furthermore, all members of the council are required to back the deployment of a foreign armed force.
Here in Boston, Pastor Dieufort Jean Fleurissaint, better known as Keke, a Senior Pastor and Founder of Total Health Christian Ministries in Mattapan, is urging U.S. politicians do what they can to help Haitians, both by using their political clout and policy changes to assist immigrants.
Pastor Keke is pushing for the expansion of protected immigration status for the migrants who can not return to their home of Haiti. Pastor Keke states the need to expand the Biden Humanitarian Act to TPS status for the migrants that can not return to their home of Haiti. “Two weeks ago when this situation definitely escalated in Haiti, a few Haitian organizations gathered, including the Center Immigrant Families Services Institute and the Association of Haitian Women to call representatives of Senator Markey , Senator Warren , and Congresswoman Pressley to discuss and request their assistants in this situation.”
“In light of the deep-rooted issues within Haiti’s political landscape, it is skeptical whether the Presidential Council will effectively address the country’s crises,” said Jacques Andre Vertilus, the NGO worker. “The pervasive division and self-interest among Haitian politicians cast doubt on the council’s ability to bring about meaningful change.”
Juslene Tyrasias, Deputy Director and Program Coordinator at Mouvement Paysan de Papaya in Haiti describes, “Ariel Henry spent 32 months in power without the consent of the Haitian people and satisfied the Core Group (Germany, United States, France, Brazil, EU OAS and the UN). He continued to adopt a new Constitution by referendum and held an election to satisfy foreigners to the detriment of the Haitian people. During his time in power, armed gangs kidnapped, massacred, and burned homes in working-class neighborhoods of Port au Prince.”
David Pierre, (name changed upon request), an Amazon warehouse worker living in Malden, came to Massachusetts last year in May via the Humanitarian parole program. He says, “The presidential council that has just been created does not bode well. Aryel Henry has been overwhelmed by events. He was no longer the man for the job. He has always been unable to solve the security problems that Haiti is facing… He is a very poor leader. He has never shown any sympathy or compassion towards the population even in the most difficult times. It is said that he is a great neurosurgeon. He used to operate on patients sometimes for free. But he is incompetent in politics…. Haitians have shown themselves unable to resolve the crisis on their own. Good riddance [to Aryel Henry]!!! I think the gangs will calm down a little. We can hope for a better tomorrow for Haiti…For the moment, I am not thinking at all about a potential return to Haiti.”
