Port-au-Prince, Haiti: Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has suspended its operations in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, citing “violence and threats from police.”
The international medical health organization (IMHO) stated that, over the past week, its staff had been repeatedly stopped by police officers who made threats of death and rape.
Haiti has faced escalating violence and instability in recent years, with police and vigilante groups engaged in a brutal battle against gangs that have controlled much of Port-au-Prince since earlier this year.
MSF has been one of the few providers of quality healthcare in the region, but it announced that patient admissions have been halted at five medical facilities in the capital until further notice.
Christophe Garnier, MSF’s Haiti mission chief, said that, “We are accustomed to working in conditions of extreme insecurity in Haiti and elsewhere, but when law enforcement itself becomes a direct threat, we have no choice but to suspend our projects.”
This decision follows an attack last week when vigilante groups and law enforcement officers surrounded one of MSF’s ambulances, tear-gassed the staff, and executed at least two patients.
MSF reported four separate incidents where police issued threats. One armed officer, in plain clothes, warned on November 18 that he would begin executing and burning MSF staff, patients, and ambulances the following week.
Recently, interim Prime Minister Garry Conille was dismissed, and violence from gangs controlling 85% of Port-au-Prince has forced over 20,000 people to flee the city. An additional 700,000 people have been displaced in recent years. Vigilante groups have also emerged, joining police in retaliatory actions against the gangs.
The Haitian government has sought international assistance to support its police forces in combating gang violence, which has been linked to sexual assault, kidnappings, extortion, child recruitment, and the blocking of essential supplies.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) approved a support mission last October, but only a small portion of the promised personnel have been deployed. The UNSC is scheduled to meet soon to address the ongoing crisis.
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