Thousands of displaced people from Solino and other neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince, attacked by gangsters from the Viv Ansanm gang coalition, are taking refuge in state offices, schools or even the offices of political parties
When the gangs attacked Solino, Daniella Occeus took refuge in a church.
This church was itself attacked, which forced the mother of three to take up residence in the offices of the Office for the Protection of the Citizen (OPC) in Bourdon since November 14.
The lady can no longer work due to a uterine condition.
Daniella sitting in the OPC courtyard. ©Fenel Pélissier
“What I am experiencing today is much worse than my experience of the earthquake of January 12, 2010,” she tells AyiboPost.
Thousands of displaced people from Solino and other neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince, attacked by gangsters from the Viv Ansanm gang coalition, are finding refuge in state offices, schools or even the offices of political parties.
The assaults on poor neighborhoods by this group of criminals, the largest in the country, remain constant, but have intensified since the dismissal of former Prime Minister Garry Conille by the Presidential Transitional Council, a council with three of its seven voting members are mired in a corruption scandal.
What I am experiencing today is much worse than my experience of the earthquake of January 12, 2010
At the OPC office, displaced people from Solino or Nazon share the courtyard, pitch tents for shelter, or simply sleep under the stars.
The only state human rights institution lacks drinking water, food remains insufficient, and sanitary conditions are difficult.
“The Viv Ansanm bandits torched our house in Solino,” Chela Jules, a 30-year-old mother of two children aged 2 and 11, told AyiboPost.
Chela Jules and her family at the OPC. Friday, November 15. ©Fenel Pélissier
“We barely managed to escape without being able to take anything with us,” laments Jules.
At the OPC office, displaced people from Solino or Nazon share the courtyard, pitch tents for shelter, or simply sleep under the stars.
Humanitarians predict the worst. In a context of the closure of the vast majority of hospitals in the capital, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has just suspended its activities following threats from the police against its staff.
Temporary shelters at the OPC. ©Fenel Pélissier
Temporary shelters at the OPC. ©Fenel Pélissier
“We know that the price of the decision will be paid by the population who already have so few options for receiving care if necessary,” Jean-Marc Biquet, head of mission of MSF Belgium, told AyiboPost. But “we cannot risk the lives of our staff,” continues the manager.
A woman fixing a pole to build a shelter in the courtyard of the KID political party premises. ©Fenel Pélissier
A woman preparing food in the OPC courtyard. ©Fenel Pélissier
At La Paix hospital, the only major public hospital still in operation, gunshot wound cases are exploding.
In one week in November, the hospital recorded 49 gunshot wounds, including one death. “The situation is becoming more and more unmanageable,” Dr Paul Junior Fontilus, executive director of the institution, told AyiboPost.
Alongside gang violence, a fuel shortage is paralyzing Port-au-Prince. Water is starting to run out and basic foodstuffs are becoming scarce.
At La Paix hospital, the only major public hospital still in operation, gunshot wound cases are exploding
According to an executive at the Varreux oil terminal, fuel stocks already present in the country remain sufficient, however the roads are too dangerous for truckers.
At least two vehicles carrying bandits and ammunition were intercepted in the capital on November 19. According to police, nearly 30 gang members were killed by angry citizens.
Read also: Testimonies from the Bourdon Valley
Camps for displaced people remain precarious.
Martha Théus, a 43-year-old mother of four, was shot in the back by a stray bullet on the evening of Friday, November 15, 2024, at the Ministry of Communication in Bois Verna.
Théus left her home in Fort National two days prior to the incident to escape Viv Ansanm’s gangs.
The trader joined her cousin at the ministry, a former resident of Rue de la Réunion, who had taken refuge in the center since the beginning of March.
Unable to place checkpoints next to each refugee center, the police regularly patrol these areas, the institution’s deputy spokesman Lionel Lazarre tells AyiboPost.
More than a dozen vehicles were distributed to police stations in Port-au-Prince on Sunday, October 17 to reinforce police patrols in the streets, continues Lazarre.
At least 700,000 Haitians are displaced by the violence. Around 20,000 recently swelled this count, according to a November 15 report from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Read also: La Gonâve: The risky journey of families pushed by insecurity to Arcahaie
As gangs take over more and more territory, more than half of the country finds itself in food insecurity.
The bandits isolate the capital from the rest of the country by controlling the main roads.
The new victims run to take shelter wherever they can find them.
At the Faculty of Human Sciences of the State University of Haiti, around 300 displaced people live with students in precarious conditions, according to Josué Vaval, a member of the Coordinating Council of the Faculty of Human Sciences.
Even neighborhoods known for their calm are not spared.
An accountant who resides in Vivy Mitchel informs AyiboPost that his house was attacked on the morning of Monday, November 11.
The professional fled with his wife and two children just a few minutes before the thugs came to loot his house and shoot his two dogs.
Even neighborhoods known for their calm are not spared.
The police were able to restore calm in the residential area. But the professional fears a new attack and refuses to return home.
By Fenel Pélissier & Rolph Louis-Jeune
Cover image | Temporary shelter at the OPC. ©Fenel Pélissier
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