Front table from left, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Guyana's President Irfaan Ali and Jamaica's Prime Minister Andrew Holness attend a meeting on Haiti at the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community in Kingston, Jamaica, on March 11.Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/The Associated Press
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that a group of countries was close to agreeing on measures to stem escalating violence and restore stability in Haiti, after talks on the deployment of a multinational force and a transition council to oversee the country ahead of elections.
Mr. Trudeau said he had spoken to Ariel Henry, the Prime Minister of Haiti, and pledged help for the beleaguered Caribbean nation – where armed gangs are threatening to topple the government – including through financial and humanitarian aid.
Mr. Henry announced early Tuesday that he would resign once a transitional presidential council is created.
Mr. Trudeau said the multinational meeting in Jamaica, which included neighbouring Caribbean countries, Canada, the United States and France, was close to agreeing a path forward but hasn’t yet clinched a deal.
Explainer: What’s going on in Haiti? The news from the Caribbean nation’s crisis
“I know we’re close to resolving it but there’s still more work to do and Canada will continue to be there with financial contributions, humanitarian contribution, and any sort of political support we can on continuing to move forward,” Mr. Trudeau said.
“We need to recognize that this has been a very, very challenging few years, not just for the Haitian people, but for the entire political class in Haiti, and I really commend them for continuing to come together.”
Gang leader Jimmy Chérizier, also known as “Barbecue,” appears to have united Haiti’s gangs, and has called for Mr. Henry to step down, threatening further chaos if he does not.
Heavily armed gangs have consolidated control of parts of the capital and have overrun two of Haiti’s largest prisons. Thousands of inmates have escaped.
Speaking remotely at a press conference in Jamaica, after the multinational meeting called by Caribbean leaders, Mr. Trudeau said he supported a “Haitian-led solution” to the crisis, adding that Canada was there to support the Haitian people establish “a safer and more prosperous future.”
The meeting was held by Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Heads of State and Government on Monday. It followed a number of bilateral meetings and was attended by Bob Rae, Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. France, Mexico and Brazil were among the other countries to take part.
Armed members of the G9 and Family gang stand guard at their roadblock in the Delmas 6 neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on March 11, 2024.Odelyn Joseph/The Associated Press
Mr. Trudeau stressed the urgency of deploying the UN-authorized Multinational Security Support mission, which is likely to be led by Kenya, and reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to contribute $80.5-million to the mission to help Haitian police fight gangs.
At the press conference, Mr. Blinken said the U.S. would contribute an additional $100-million to a UN-backed force, as well as $33-million in humanitarian aid. This brings the proposed U.S. contribution to the force to $300-million.
Mr. Blinken said a political crisis and escalating violence had created “an untenable situation for the Haitian people” and urgent action to restore stability. He said the U.S. supported a plan developed by CARICOM and Haitian stakeholders to expedite a political transition.
This would include a “broad based, inclusive, independent presidential college that would ... take concrete steps to meet the immediate needs of Haitian people,” he said.
He said the U.S. also supported “the swift deployment of the multinational security support mission” and “through a reinforced Haitian National Police, create the security conditions that are necessary to hold free and fair elections.”
The UN Security Council in a statement on Monday urged Haiti’s gangs “to immediately cease their destabilizing actions” including sexual violence and the recruitment of children, and said it expects that a multinational force will deploy as soon as possible to help end the violence. It urged the international community to support the Haitian National Police’s capacity. Canada has been training Haiti’s police force, including in Jamaica, as well as funding protective equipment.
The U.S. has been calling for the resignation of Mr. Henry, who is in Puerto Rico and has been attempting to negotiate a way home, and fresh elections.
Mr. Blinken said Monday that “only the Haitian people can, only the Haitian people should determine their own future. Not anyone else.”
Armed gangs launched an insurrection against Haiti’s government at the end of February and are increasingly asserting control in the beleaguered country.
Violent clashes, including gun battles between gang members and security forces, have pushed an estimated 15,000 Haitians from their homes, while foreigners – including aid workers – are marooned as they wait for the airport to reopen.
Canada’s embassy in Port-au-Prince remains closed to the public, owing to the “unpredictable security situation,” and consular services are being provided remotely. Global Affairs says it has no current plans to airlift Canadians out of the island-nation but is monitoring the situation very closely.
It has advised Canadians in Haiti to “shelter in place” and stock up on food, water and medications.
There are 2,901 Canadians registered in Haiti. Some are holed up in airport hotel rooms waiting for flights home.
Sandra Rabrun left Haiti in 2013 and lives in Montreal. Over the past few weeks, she tried to keep regular contact with family members and friends in Haiti as it descended into chaos. “Again, this morning one of them had not answered me, and I was so worried,” she said in an interview Monday.
Ms. Rabrun’s brother, who owns a corner store in Port-au-Prince, has seen his business attacked several times recently, she said. Now, “it’s looted, it’s closed, there’s nothing left.”
Médecins sans frontières (Doctors Without Borders) says the country’s health service is on the verge of collapse. Jason Nickerson, humanitarian representative to Canada, told The Globe and Mail that it had opened another trauma clinic in the capital to deal with the escalation in violence.
“We are seeing a lot of trauma cases, gunshot wounds,” he said. “There are huge challenges in people being able to reach the clinics. There’s a lot of fear of stray bullets. There’s a lot of concern for safety of staff.”
With reports from Frédérik-Xavier Duhamel, Associated Press and Reuters
The U.S. military said on March 10 it has carried out an operation in Haiti to airlift non-essential embassy personnel from the country and added U.S. forces to bolster embassy security, as Caribbean nation reels under a state of emergency.
Reuters