Haiti : Flooding leaves at least 42 people dead and thousands displaced
The town of Leogane, 40 kilometers southwest of the capital Port-au-Prince, was particularly badly hit by the heavy rains over the weekend.
At least 42 people were dead and 11 missing in Haiti after heavy rains at the weekend triggered flooding and landslides, civil protection officials said Monday, June 5. The bad weather hit seven of the 10 departments in the country which is already plunged into a protracted humanitarian crisis fueled by gang violence, political collapse and economic stagnation. According to the UN, the severe rains affected 37,000 people and displaced 13,400.
The town of Leogane, located 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of the capital Port-au-Prince, was particularly badly hit, with damage caused by three flooded rivers. At least 20 people died there, according to Haitian officials.
"The residents are desperate. They have lost everything. The waters have ravaged their fields, washed away their livestock," Leogane Mayor Ernson Henry told AFP. Thousands of families were affected in the town, he said, stressing that the population urgently needed food, drinking water and medicine.
The floods caused extensive material damage across the country, destroying hundreds of homes and damaging several roads. "Although it is not a hurricane or a tropical storm, the damage observed in the affected areas is considerable," said Jean-Martin Bauer, UN coordinator of humanitarian action in Haiti.
Prime Minister Ariel Henry activated the National Emergency Operation Center in response. The heavy toll highlights the country's vulnerability to natural disasters and its failure to mitigate storm risk just as the hurricane season is about to begin.
Even before the floods, nearly half of Haiti's population was in need of humanitarian assistance, a figure that has doubled in just five years, according to the UN.
Read more UN calls for international troop deployment in Haiti
Le Monde with AFP
Regional stakeholders begin talks on bringing stability to Haiti
Over the next three days, Jamaica will host a high-level meeting of specially invited leaders and stakeholders, as the Caribbean region seeks to find solutions to the ongoing crisis in Haiti.
Jamaica’s role in the process has been welcomed by former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, who has been a long-standing supporter of that country’s efforts towards attaining peace, stability and good governance.
“I hope it will begin to pave the way to address the gang crisis; and put in place arrangements for the people to choose, within an acceptable period, a government with the legitimacy and authority to rebuild the most populous Caribbean and oldest sovereign nation,” Patterson told The Sunday Gleaner.
“The eminent team deserves our fullest support in the task of providing human resource capacity and the entire field of institution creation.”
Prime Minister Andrew Holness had signalled to the nation earlier this year that Jamaica was willing to lend support to any effort to bring stability to the country that has been ravaged by years of political, economic and social unrest, with gang violence now overrunning the streets.
Today’s Haitian stakeholder consultations follows Thursday’s meeting with Caribbean Community (CARICOM) heads of government and United States Vice President Kamala Harris in The Bahamas, where discussions were held on a number of issues impacting the region. The US has pledged US$100 million towards various efforts in the region.
From June 11-13, Jamaica will provide the venue for the consultations, as well as arrangements to facilitate the attendees, who were invited by Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis, chair of CARICOM.
These include representatives from Haiti; the Eminent Persons Group, which was established by CARICOM to oversee the community’s provision of Good Offices to the Government of Haiti and Haitian stakeholders; the prime ministers of The Bahamas and Haiti; the CARICOM Secretary General and representatives from international partners and donor support.
The talks will be led by the Eminent Persons Group, which consists of former Prime Minister of The Bahamas Perry Christie; former Prime Minister of Jamaica Bruce Golding; and former Prime Minister of St Lucia Dr Kenny D. Anthony.
“Prime Minister Davis and I will officially hand over the process to the Eminent Persons Group at the opening event. However, I must underscore and emphasise that notwithstanding any representation from states regionally, the consultations themselves will only involve the Haitian stakeholders, supported by the Eminent Persons Group with their requisite technical personnel,” Holness said.
The group will update CARICOM.
Opposition Leader Mark Golding has been outspoken about the crisis in Haiti, disheartened that is has come to this, given the country’s proud heritage.
In response to Holness’ announcement, Golding welcomed the meeting, noting that the solutions should be fashioned by Haitians. He said any attempts to impose extra-territorial solutions from within or external to the region would be the wrong approach. Haitians should be the ones charting the course for their future, he said.
He also noted that “given the proximity of Jamaica to the shores of Haiti … it is clearly in Jamaica’s interest for Haiti to be restored to a functional democratic system of government, and that security within Haiti and of its borders be put on a footing where criminal elements – organised and disorganised – do not hold sway.”
NEED FOR CONFIDENTIALITY
Prime Minister Holness has stressed the need for confidentiality during the consultation process.
“It is important that the need for confidence, confidentiality and patience be respected as this necessary but delicate process of consultation is engaged. I urge, therefore, that we allow this to be the basis on which the consultations are held and trust that the relevant information will be made available at the appropriate time,” Holness said.
He said while Jamaica and others in the region have a keen interest, it was incumbent on all to adopt a posture of non-interference in the process, while being active in support and allowing the space for the dialogue to be held.
“These consultations are intended to build consensus and allow for inclusive participation in a neutral environment. Most importantly, a majority of Haitian stakeholders have agreed to this approach in support of finding peace and stability in their country,” he said.
Over the years, Jamaica has come to Haiti’s aid during several crises. During Patterson’s tenure as prime minister, Jamaica was home to Haiti’s former president Jean Bertrand Aristide, who was eventually deposed in a coup d’étatand carted off to the Central African Republic by the United States, who was part of a peacekeeping mission there. Years before, Aristide had fled to Jamaica after an attempted coup.
CARICOM MEETING ON HAITI /
June 11-13
Mr. Philip Brave DAVIS
President
Conference of Heads of Government
CARICOM
Mr. President of the Conference,
5- CARICOM MEETING FROM JUNE 11 TO 13 ON HAITI : WHAT AGENDA ?
Is this summit going towards supporting Haitian-led solutions? A few days before the summit, this agenda of discussion is not yet finalized and made public. What can we expect ?
Honorable organizers,
In our opinion, if you want to show respect for the Haitian people in general and for the stakeholders concerned in particular; and if you want to organize a serious summit on the current Haitian crisis and bring a definite contribution towards a Haitian solution to the Haitian crisis, you should revise your strategy, you should revise the usual ineffective and wasteful methodology used at previous summits.
We keep hoping that CARICOM will not become an accomplice of the former colonial powers, slaveholders and racists which are today imperialist powers who cynically maintain the current crisis, oppress the Haitian people; and we hope that CARICOM will not be their sounding board. Otherwise, all inter-Caribbean summits on Haiti risk becoming a kind of special sessions of the Core Group, or their CARICOM versions.
We wish, in fact, the organization by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) of a summit which will be the opportunity to pose the real problems that are making this crisis last and to find together expected solutions with the effective participation of Haitian stakeholders. We propose, in this sense, that the following points be included on the agenda of the summit:
1) Haiti: Recovery of national sovereignty to put an end to the interference of the imperialist powers;
2) Need to put an end to indecent international support, particularly from the USA, Canada and France, to the criminal PHTK government of Ariel Henry and the establishment of a credible transitional government;
3) Urgency of solidarity support from CARICOM vis-à-vis Haiti for the effective application of the Resolution 2653 (2022) adopted by the Security Council on October 21, 2022;
4) Establishment of an Independent Commission of Inquiry to assess these eighteen years of the United Nations presence to update its responsibilities and its direct link with the causes that have led to the current chaotic situation;
5) Support from the Caribbean Court of Justice to obtain compensation and reparations for Haiti and in particular the families of the thirty thousand dead and the eight hundred thousand (800,000.00) infected with cholera brought by MINUSTAH soldiers;
6) CARICOM position statement for concrete support to Haiti with a view to non-military international intervention;
7) In the perspective of credible elections, the CARICOM recommendations for the suspension by the United States of armed gang supply, parallel to the rapid recovery of weapons already introduced ;
8) Warning against the ten (10) year development plan for Haiti of the United States Department of State;
9) Solidarity with Haiti for the recovery of the Haitian island of La Navase and the claim of compensation;
10) Need for strong CARICOM support for restitution and redress for wrongs and the grave injustices suffered by Haiti throughout history, including the historic debt of slavery, theft of its resources, the scandalous ransom of independence, the sequestration of its gold reserves by the United States of America;
11) Commitment of CARICOM in the process of total decolonization of the Caribbean space;
12) Vote on a CARICOM resolution requesting the granting of another decade of Afro-descendants - 2024-2033, on behalf of Haiti. It is worthy to note that Haiti, the first to break the chains of slavery and, for this, considered by the poet Victor Hugo and many others as being a light[1], was relegated to the last rank within the framework of the celebration of this International Decade for People of African Descent when the UN should have given to it a place of honor.
Mr. President of the Conference of Heads of Government,
Any summit on the Haitian crisis that ignores these major concerns of the Haitian people will pass by. That is why if you want to stay away from foreseeable failure and if as a Caribbean community of brother countries, CARICOM really wants to offer a certain contribution to the resolution of this multidimensional and complex crisis, it will be necessary to build, in collaboration with Haitian stakeholders, the agenda for discussion. This is an agenda integrating the fundamental concerns of the Haitian people. It also matters to encourage all the Haitian stakeholders concerned to agree in advance on the format of the meeting, and to establish together with them the list of possible international stakeholders to be invited and postpone for at least two weeks this summit scheduled for June 11 to 13 of this year, in order to ensure its full success.
Condemned to support each other in the fight for a united and totally decolonized Caribbean, we ask you to receive, Mr. President of the Conference, our Caribbean and brotherly greetings.
Josué MERILIEN
General Coordinator of Union Nationale des Normaliens/nes d’Haïti (UNNOH) and
Member of the Executive Board of KONBIT des Organisations SyndicalesUS Vice President
[1] https://revue.alarmer.org/tenebres-de-lesclavage-lumieres-de-la-revolte-une-lettre-de-victor-hugo-a-exilien-heurtelou-1860/