PORT-AU-PRINCE, March 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Residents in a neighborhood of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, protested to demand protection against gangs.
Armed with machetes and stones, the protesters attempted to reach the Prime Minister’s office but were held back by police using tear gas.
Residents of Canape Vert reported that they had been hearing threats of a gang invasion in their neighborhood for days and made several appeals for police protection.
On Wednesday, they took matters into their own hands. They armed themselves with knives and machetes, blocking roads leading to Canape Vert with trees and burning tires.
A protester wrapped in the Haitian flag blamed the government for the unchecked power that gangs have gained in the city. “This is our flag! They (gangs) will not drive us out,” shouted the protester, who wished to remain anonymous.
Another unnamed protester stated that the population was tired of running. “We have nowhere to go. We say no – that is enough!”
It is unclear why the police did not respond to repeated appeals made by residents through phone calls to the local radio station.
The gang threatening the neighborhood is part of the Viv Ansamm coalition, which has already taken control of many other areas capital.
Viv Ansanm is also responsible for a series of coordinated attacks that began in late February 2024 targeting key government infrastructure. Gunmen attacked police stations, opened fire on the main international airport, forcing it to close for nearly three months, and raided Haiti’s two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.
Gangs control 85% of the capital and continuously target previously peaceful communities to try and gain control of even more territory.
Meanwhile, dozens of U.S. deportees from the United States were aboard a flight that landed in Haiti from Miami on Tuesday. The plane arrived in Cap-Haïtien, in the north of the country, with 46 passengers, 25 of whom were convicted felons, according to a Haitian government source.
The Trump administration discarded protections that shielded roughly half a million Haitians from deportation, meaning they would lose their work permits and could be subject to removal from the country. Many of the Haitians deported Tuesday had crossed into the United States illegally or were waiting for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) — which grants individuals legal authority to remain in the country but does not offer a long-term pathway to citizenship — for Haitians.
Makenson Estilice had been in Brazil since 2013 but decided to go to the U.S. in hopes of obtaining Temporary Protection Status under President Biden. “I traveled to Mexico and then entered the United States.” he said. The decision to terminate the TPS was announced in February and is part of a sweeping effort by the Trump administration to fulfill campaign promises regarding mass deportations and specifically to reduce the use of the Temporary Protected Status designation, which was significantly expanded under the Biden administration to cover about one million immigrants.
As the security situation in Haiti continues to deteriorate, human rights and migrant advocacy groups urged a halt to deportation flights to Haiti, stating that the U.S. was “knowingly condemning the most vulnerable, who came to us in their time of need, to imminent danger.” — NNN-AGENCIES