The International Organization for Migration (IOM) Tuesday reported that over the past 48 hours, more than 4,500 people have become newly displaced due to ongoing insecurity in Haiti where criminal gangs have been seeking to overthrow the government and increase the level of insecurity in the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country.
The spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric, said that the IOM added that the number of displaced people is in addition to the more than 700,000 people already uprooted from their homes.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the activities of armed gangs in the capital, Port-au-Prince, continue to disrupt people’s lives, especially the most vulnerable.
The Ministry of Justice and Public Security in Haiti said that a judge, Méréus Dorlismé, deputy of the Peace Court of Petite-Rivière de l’Artibonite, had been kidnapped and the bailiff at the same court, Jean Claude Joseph, had been killed at his residence in Petite Rivière.
But Dujarric said despite the challenges, “we and our partners continue to respond,” noting that during the first week of December, the World Food Programme (WFP) distributed more than 100,000 hot meals to an estimated 24,000 people across four displacement sites in the capital.
“In the past few days, IOM delivered water to some 14,000 displaced people at 6 different sites.
IOM also reports that medical, mental health and psychosocial support services were made available to more than 12,000 displaced people.”
Dujarric also announced that the Isaie Jeanty maternity ward, which is located in Cité Soleil, was able to reopen after being closed for nine months due to insecurity.
He said the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) is providing support, including medicines and medical equipment.
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 10, CMC –
CMC/af/ir/2024