Port-au-Prince: Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières – MSF) announced on Tuesday the suspension of its operations across Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, and its surrounding metropolitan area. This decision follows an escalation in violence and direct threats to MSF staff, including repeated threats from members of the Haitian police.
The suspension will remain in effect starting Wednesday “until further notice”, MSF stated. The organization explained that since an attack on one of its ambulances last week, its vehicles had been routinely stopped by police, with staff receiving explicit threats, including death and rape threats.
Christophe Garnier, MSF’s Haiti mission chief, emphasized, “We are used to working in conditions of extreme insecurity in Haiti and elsewhere, but when even law enforcement becomes a direct threat, we have no choice but to suspend our projects.”
A spokesperson for Haiti’s national police declined to comment on the situation.
MSF, which significantly expanded its presence in Haiti following the catastrophic 2010 earthquake, is a major provider of free healthcare in the country. The organization operates vital services such as a trauma center and burn clinic, serving the most vulnerable populations.
According to a recent United Nations report, only 24% of health facilities in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area remain operational, and those in rural areas are overwhelmed by an influx of displaced people. This has severely hindered the provision of essential healthcare services.
MSF detailed four separate incidents in which police issued threats or acted aggressively towards its staff, including one incident where an armed, plain-clothed officer allegedly threatened to execute and burn staff, patients, and ambulances in the coming week.
The group provides critical medical care, treating an average of 1,100 outpatients, 54 emergency children, and over 80 survivors of sexual and gender-based violence each week, in addition to many burn victims.
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Garnier further stated that MSF remains committed to the Haitian population but can only resume its services once it receives guarantees of security and respect from armed groups, self-defense groups, and law enforcement.
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Earlier on Tuesday, police reported the deaths of over two dozen suspected gang members after a violent clash with residents who joined forces with police to repel an overnight gang attack. This resurgence of the “bwa kale” vigilante movement is part of ongoing efforts to combat armed gangs that control much of Port-au-Prince and are exacerbating the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
