Thousands flee gang violence in Haitian capital
Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Fleeing with what possessions they can carry.
00:02 Piggybacking those too weak to walk.
00:05 At least 3,000 people have fled the Carrefour Feuille neighbourhood of the Haitian capital.
00:10 It's often the target of a gang led by Ronel Destina, who's known as Tilapli.
00:15 He's wanted by the FBI for kidnapping US citizens.
00:19 His and other gangs now control some 80% of Port-au-Prince.
00:22 Residents say the police and the state have lost control.
00:27 It wasn't Tilapli or Bouguay, gang leaders who chased me out of my home.
00:31 It was the Haitian state that chased me out.
00:33 It's the Haitian state that killed all the people you see, because it's the state that
00:36 has the so-called legitimacy of violence.
00:39 We lost our policemen who were helping us fight gangs.
00:42 They bled all night, and now the gangs are bathing in policemen's blood.
00:47 Last week, thousands took to the streets to protest government inaction towards gangs.
00:52 According to Human Rights Watch, 190,000 Haitians have been internally displaced by gang violence
00:58 in the past year.
00:59 The United Nations chief, Antonio Guterres, said that Haiti's current context is not conducive
01:05 to peacekeeping.
01:06 In a letter Tuesday to the Security Council, he laid out options for both political support
01:12 and a rapid action force to help Haiti's beleaguered police.
01:17 Addressing the security situation in Haiti requires a range of coercive law enforcement
01:23 measures, including active use of force in targeted police operations against heavily
01:28 armed gangs.
01:30 Foreign nations have been wary to send troops to Haiti because of past missions, the extent
01:35 of the violence, and also because of a lack of a stable elected government.
01:40 Kenya last month said it was considering sending a thousand troops to help Haiti's police force.
01:44 But its own force has recently come under scrutiny for human rights abuses in Kenya.