Haiti transitional government takes power as gangs hold capital “hostage”
Port-au-Prince. Haiti Reuters Haiti’s transition council took power in a ceremony on Thursday, formalising the resignation of former Prime Minster Ariel Henry as the Caribbean country seeks to establish security after years of gang violence wreaking chaos and misery. Henry’s Finance Minister, Michel Patrick Boisvert, will be interim Prime Minister until the transition council appoints […]
Haiti police bolster security around palace ahead of transition
Port-au-Prince Reuters Haitian police deployed tear gas to move people back from a security perimeter around the National Palace while soldiers gripping rifles patrolled the international airport’s diplomatic entrance on Tuesday, ahead of a planned change of government. The palace has come under repeated fire from gangs that have paralysed the capital Port-au-Prince. A nine-member […]
UN warns Haiti’s capital blockaded, no aid for malnourished children
United Nations/Port-au-Prince, Haiti Reuters Haiti’s capital is almost completely cut off by air, sea and land blockades as gang violence intensifies, stopping aid from getting to 58,000 children with the most life-threatening form of malnutrition, the head of the UN children’s agency warned on Monday. UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said two-thirds of Haiti’s children […]
Haiti’s capital under gang attacks ahead of government transition
Port-au-Prince Reuters Armed gangs launched fresh attacks on parts of Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince ahead of the installation of a transitional council set to usher in a new government, local media said on Sunday, reporting arson and heavy gunfire in the city centre. The Lower Delmas area is turning into “a battlefield between police and armed […]
Haiti’s death toll rises as international support lags, UN report says
Reuters More than 2,500 people were killed or injured in gang violence in Haiti from January through March, up 53 per cent from the last three months of 2023, the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) said on Friday. At least 590 were killed during police operations, BINUH said in a report. Several were […]
Haiti decrees long-awaited transition council, but questions remain
Port-au-Prince Reuters Haiti’s government on Friday issued a decree formalising the creation of a nine-member transitional presidential council, a long-delayed move intended as the first step in restoring security to the gang-ravaged Caribbean country. The decree, however, leaves many questions unanswered. It does not name the new council members or establish a timeframe for its […]
Haitians seek to flee gang-fueled anarchy as neighbours boost militaries
Port-au-Prince, Haiti/Kingston, Jamaica Reuters With no sign yet of a long-promised transitional council to usher in the deployment of international troops and restore order, Haitians who can are trying to flee the country. Violent gangs have taken over much of the capital, killed thousands, and forced millions into acute hunger. People take cover from gunfire […]
Over 50,000 fled Haiti capital in three weeks, with politicians in deadlock
Port-au-Prince, Haiti Reuters More than 53,000 people fled Haiti’s capital in just three weeks of March as conflict between powerful armed gangs wreaked havoc for civilians, with the state largely absent and a path out of the chaos yet to be established by politicians. Tens of thousands of people left Port-au-Prince’s metropolitan area between 8th […]
Ransom demands: In crime-stricken Haiti, Catholic priests and nuns are targeted as kidnap victims
Kidnappings by criminal gangs have continued to terrorise the country’s residents, not least Catholic priests and other missionaries. In 2024 alone, at least 14 priests and religious brothers and sisters were abducted. EDUARDO CAMPOS LIMA reports in an article first published by Religion News Service…
Essay: Gangs, kidnappings, murders – why thousands of Rohingya are desperately trying to escape refugee camps by boats
In an article first published on The Conversation, RUTH WELLS and MAX WILLIAM LOOMES, of UNSW Sydney, look at why so many Rohingya are fleeing Bangladesh and what Australia, New Zealand and regional partners can do to help them…