UNITED NATIONS, CMC -The International Organization for Migration (IOM) Wednesday said that more than 6,000 people have also been displaced as a result of last week’s violent attack in Pont-Sondé that left more than 70 people, including children, dead.
Farhan Haq, the Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, said that the IOM has noted that most of those displaced are seeking refuge with relatives or host families, with some having gathered in makeshift sites.
“We and our humanitarian partners are mobilized and supporting local authorities in the response. IOM is helping to set up temporary shelter sites and provide emergency assistance, including mattresses, kitchen, and shelter kits,” Haq told the daily UN briefing.
Last week, members of the Temporary Anti-Gang Unit (UTAG) were deployed to track down the members of the Gran Grif gang blamed for the massacre in Pont-Sondé in the central Artibonite region north-west of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Media reports describe Gran Grif as one of the most violent of Haiti’s gangs. In January last year, members were accused of attacking a police station near Port-Sondé and killing six officers. It is also blamed for forcing the closure of a hospital serving more than 700,000 people.
The gang has about 100 members and has been accused of crimes including murder, rape, robberies and kidnappings.
Haq said that the World Food Programme (WFP) distributes hot meals to people uprooted by the violence, while UN Women provides cash transfers.
Last weekend, the World Health Organization/Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) dispatched 1.3 tons of medical supplies to local health facilities to support 50 surgical interventions and treat 1,000 injured people.
“The UN Population Fund is also delivering more than 1,800 dignity kits and essential medicine to St-Nicolas Hospital in Saint-Marc. This includes maternal and reproductive health supplies such as delivery kits, cesarean kits, and post-violence care kits,” Haq told reporters.
Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has told the 57th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva of the distressing situation in Haiti.
“Only last week, in the latest symptomatic horror, gang members entered a neighborhood of Pont- Sondé in the dead of night, setting fire to houses and gunning down residents as they fled. At least 70 people were killed, including three small babies,” he told the Council, which is meeting until Friday.
He said the magnitude of the chaotic violence inflicted on the population between the end of February and the beginning of July this year is outlined in the report before the Council and that the designated expert of his Office, Bill O’Neill, visited Haiti last month, and his observations confirm the continued gravity of the situation.
”I am convinced that the security crisis, the rule of law crisis, and the governance crisis that Haitians are enduring can be resolved,” Turk said, noting that crucial to that effort must be full implementation of the United Nations Security Council’s arms embargo to prevent the supply of firearms and ammunition to non-state actors in Haiti.
He said the assets of those engaged in the situation need to be frozen, and a travel ban should also be imposed.
“The embargo is mandatory, and it was adopted unanimously, most recently in October 2023. It is due to be renewed on 18 October. I strongly encourage passage of this important set of measures and urge all states, including all Security Council member states, to enforce every aspect in full.”
Turk said weapons and ammunition are not manufactured in Haiti, telling the Council, “They flow in from businesses elsewhere.
“States must do more to fully enforce the Security Council’s embargo on weapons exporters operating in or from their territory. This is leading to thousands of killings, massive displacement, the destruction of the economy, and horrific suffering.”
He said his Office has documented targeted killings and random shootings, including of children, by members of increasingly powerful criminal gangs; mass kidnappings; the forced recruitment, exploitation, and trafficking of children; as well as the burning and looting of residences and businesses.
Turk said gender-based violence, including sexual violence, has reached new peaks of brutality and scale, with his Office documenting collective rapes, among other horrors. He said the number of internally displaced people in the country had risen 95 percent since March to 703,000, almost six percent of the population.
”Attacks against hospitals; banks; police stations; schools; the principal seaport and airport in the capital; and gangs’ control of roads have further disrupted the provision of essential services, with lethal humanitarian impact.
“Over 4.9 million people are experiencing acute food insecurity; in other words, well over one-third of the population are suffering severe undernourishment, reflected in wasting and starvation. Three million Haitian children need humanitarian aid,” Turk added.
He welcomed last week’s renewal by the Security Council of the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to Haiti, saying, “It is also absolutely crucial to ensure that the MSS mission…is given adequate resources and support.
“All security operations, including those conducted jointly by the MSS mission and the Haitian police, need to comply fully with international law, including international human rights law, and they need to be accountable.
Turk said that Haiti is a small country of immense importance to the world, noting that in terms of human rights, “we can never forget its revolution against slavery and colonial oppression, surely one of the most inspiring chapters in human history.
”The extraordinary creativity of Haitian culture and the ingenuity and determination of so many Haitian individuals have driven outsized contributions to the economies and societies of many states.
”It pains me to see the deportations, mistreatment, and hateful and racist smears that target Haitians in some countries of the region. Haitians have the same rights to live free from violence, fear, and misery as every person of every other nationality.”
Turk said that in a country of less than 28,000 square kilometers, less than 65 percent of the size of Switzerland, addressing the current crisis is a manageable challenge in both strategy and cost.
“On the contrary, each facet of Haiti’s current crisis can be addressed and can be resolved,” Turk told the Council.
and then  Wednesday said that more than 6,000 people have also been displaced){kind=link}