Haiti asks displaced people not to return to their neighborhoods so as not to serve as a shield for gangs

Port-au-Prince.- The Haitian National Police (PNH) warned this Sunday the displaced civilian population to disregard the exhortation of armed gangs to return to their neighborhoods of origin, while reminding them that only the Government and the police institution can do this.

“Don’t fall into the trap. It’s these same criminals who need to hide among the population so that law enforcement can’t reach them,” the institution said in a video posted on its social media.

The institution recalled that the displaced lived in neighborhoods of the capital where gangs set fires, killed, raped girls and women, looted and stole everything.

In that sense, the National Police said that “today, those same criminals are asking the population to return to their homes”, and reiterated that the gangs “need” to commit massacres when they suffer attacks from the Police “determined to restore order and security”.

“Do not listen to the bloodthirsty criminals who deceive you. When you have to return to your homes, the Police and the Government will accompany you so that you can do so in safe conditions and live in peace. And that day is not far away,” he continues.

The PNH also recalled that these criminals are wanted by the US Justice Department and that there are arrest warrants against them.

“If the Police and the Government don’t ask them to return, don’t go back to their homes. Forewarned is forearmed,” the video concludes.

Last Monday, former police officer turned gang leader Jimmy Cherisier, alias Barbecue, asked in a video posted on social media for the population living in Delmas 30, Christ-roi and Nazon, in Port-au-Prince, to return to their abandoned neighborhoods after the armed attacks.

Throughout the week, thousands of people answered the call of the powerful gang leader and returned to their homes. When they did, they found a landscape reminiscent of the passage of a war or even a large-scale earthquake, due to the extreme level of destruction observed.

According to UN data, Haiti recorded a 24% increase in intentional homicides in the first six months of the year, reaching a total of 4,026 murders. In addition, gang violence, which controls 90% of the capital, has caused the internal displacement of around 1.3 million people.

In Haiti, the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) operates, composed of about 1,000 troops and led by Kenya, aimed at strengthening the fight against gangs by the Haitian National Police (HNP), although so far with few favorable results.