People arrive with their belongings at a shelter fleeing from violence around their homes, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on March 9.Ralph Tedy Erol/Reuters
Canada’s UN ambassador flew to Jamaica on Sunday for emergency multilateral meetings on the deteriorating security situation in Haiti, saying there was a need to swiftly re-establish order as violence escalates and armed gangs increasingly assert control in the beleaguered Caribbean country.
In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Bob Rae said the meetings – set to include U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as well as leaders from France, Caribbean countries and others – were convened urgently to try to stem the chaos.
Haiti’s Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, is outside the country and has been attempting to negotiate a way home. But the United States has called for him to resign and for elections to form a new government.
Speaking from the Jamaican capital of Kingston, Mr. Rae said putting Canadian boots on the ground is not an option and would not be on the agenda at the meetings, called by Caricom, an organization of Caribbean countries. Instead, he said more Canadian support and training for Haiti’s national police would be discussed.
“It’s the sense of urgency once again, that brings us together. With ports and airports being closed, there’s an enormous difficulty in getting assistance into the country,” he said.
“And there’s an extraordinary amount of disorder, and the killings and the rapes and the kidnapping continues. And there’s just a lot of need for us to address critical questions, one being what can we do to re-establish order quickly.”
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He said another issue being discussed at the meetings, which began Sunday evening and continue into Monday, is supporting the creation of a “council of transition across party lines” and what can be done to get different parties together to achieve this.
“We need to have an election in order to re-establish constitutional government. And all of this needs to happen yesterday,” he said.
Last weekend, Haiti declared a state of emergency amid violent clashes. Heavily armed gangs are rampaging through the streets and have consolidated control of parts of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
They launched a revolt against Mr. Henry in late February, while he was returning from Kenya to try to secure support for an international security force.
Gang leader Jimmy Chérizier, also known as “Barbecue,” has called for Mr. Henry to step down, threatening further chaos if he does not.
Gang members have overrun two of Haiti’s largest prisons and thousands of inmates have escaped. Armed gunmen have also tried to seize control of the airport in Port-au-Prince, in what was viewed as an attempt to stop Mr. Henry from returning from abroad.
Mr. Rae, who is leading Canada’s delegation at the Caricom talks, said he thinks that a “political agreement would go a long way to creating the conditions that will make more order possible.”
He said there have already “been a lot of discussions behind the scenes between a number of political actors.”
“People are taking this seriously,” adding that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is “following it very, very carefully.”
“The issues in Haiti of violent gangs, free access to weapons, the collapse of civil order is a major issue in Haiti, but it’s an issue that has reverberations” outside the country, Mr. Rae said.
Canada has been heavily involved in helping train the Haitian national police and would continue its support, Mr. Rae said. He said the RCMP had been helping with training, which is taking place outside Haiti, including in Jamaica.
In February, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly announced that Canada would allocate $123-million in funding to support Haiti, including $80.5-million to back the deployment of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission led by Kenya. The funding will also help buy protective equipment, vehicles and logistical and communications equipment.
Canada’s Global Affairs department said Sunday that it is “mobilizing partner nations” to strengthen Haiti’s national police and security sector, and provide them with resources.
International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen said in a statement that the “current situation in Haiti is extremely concerning. Canada is closely monitoring the situation.”
“We are determined and will continue to work with our international partners and the Haitian people to restore peace and security to Haiti,” he said.
The United States military conducted an overnight operation into Sunday morning to evacuate some non-essential personnel by airlift from Haiti and added forces to bolster embassy security.
Canada’s embassy in Port-au-Prince remains closed to the public, owing to the “unpredictable security situation,” Ottawa said. But it has no current plans to airlift Canadians out of the country.
“Consular services are being provided remotely,” said Marilyne Guèvremont, a Global Affairs spokesperson.
“The Government of Canada is not planning any departure assistance or repatriation flights for Canadians in Haiti,” she said. “However, we continue to monitor and assess the security situation very closely.”
There are currently 2,904 Canadians registered in Haiti.
One Canadian, David Rocheleau, a 63-year-old agricultural mechanic from Saint-Hyacinthe, Que., flew to Haiti on Feb. 28 for a four-day contract with a Haitian non-profit, to repair machinery and teach locals how to operate it.
He flew back to Port-au-Prince last Sunday to catch another flight home. But it was cancelled, along with another early in the week.
Mr. Rocheleau and a colleague, fellow Canadian Richard Phillips, heard gunshots last week near their hotel close to the airport. Mr. Rocheleau was unfazed, posting on social media a picture of his laptop and a “good cold beer” at the bar, while shots were fired outside the brick wall and barbed wire surrounding the hotel.
The U.S. has been pushing for a United Nations-authorized multinational security mission to support a peaceful transition of power in Haiti.
Global Affairs said in a statement that it supports “Haitian-led solutions to the political, security and humanitarian crises.”
“Canada’s position is that it is Haitians themselves who have to decide what the transition structures will be, and also what the path towards the election will be,” Mr. Rae told The Globe. “We’re not interested in imposing anything. We’re just interested in working with everybody and making sure that what is in place is something that’s going to work.”
Haiti has been beset by instability, violence and lawlessness for decades. In 2010, a devastating earthquake hit the country and was followed nine months later by a cholera outbreak, which killed thousands. Haiti was hit by a hurricane in 2012, precipitating floods and landslides.
President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in 2021, leaving a power vacuum that has been exploited by gangs.
Mr. Henry arrived in Puerto Rico on Tuesday, after he was unable to land in the Dominican Republic, which borders Haiti.
On Saturday, the office of Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader issued a statement saying that “Henry is not welcome in the Dominican Republic for safety reasons.”
The Dominican Republic has closed its land border to Haiti.
With reports from Frederik-Xavier Duhamel in Montreal, AP, Reuters and The Canadian Press