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People walk along this busy main street as vendors sell fruit and household goods from small stalls.
The city’s sights might be unremarkable, if not for the fear of gang violence among residents that often terrifies people on the streets of the capital.
It is estimated that at least 26 gangs, sometimes heavily armed, control about 90 percent of Port-au-Prince and its environs, fomenting terror among Haitians through violence, summary executions, extortion and kidnapping for ransom and preventing trade by blocking the free flow of goods.
Since the start of this year, gang violence has left more than 2,300 people dead and more than 1,100 injured.
What’s different now is the new UN’s increased patrols Security Council-backed force was called the Gang Suppression Force, or GSF, whose headquarters were located just a few blocks from the Boulevard du 15 Octobre.
On Tuesday, the U.N Secretary General Antonio Guterres visited the base during a visit to Port-au-Prince.
“Their deployment offers a real opportunity to curb violence and restore state authority,” he told reporters after the visit. “We have no right to waste this opportunity.”
He added that “gangs must be disarmed and dismantled and their members must be reintegrated – in a Haitian-led process,” and reiterated that security alone is not enough, “it must be accompanied by political progress.”
The GSF received logistical, operational and technical support, including ration supplies, medical care and transportation from the newly created United Nations Support Office in Haiti (UNSOH).
This plays a critical role in enabling forces to operate effectively, in their core tasks of neutralizing gangs, protecting vulnerable populations and supporting humanitarian access.
“The goal is clear: to reduce the gang’s operational capacity to a level that can be sustainably managed by Haitian institutions,” the GSF chief Jack Christofides told the Security Council in April.
The base, known as Camp Vertières, is in the process of being equipped to receive approximately 5,550 personnel, as mandated by the Security Council. Troops deployed from various countries are currently living on bases and offices are being set up in shipping containers.
The Gang Suppression Squad is headquartered at Camp Vertières east of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.
Instability over the years
Haiti has experienced instability for years. Gang violence has caused some 1.5 million Haitians to flee their homes.
Millions of Haitians need humanitarian assistance as poverty deepens, while the country has not had an elected president since the last incumbent, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated in July 2021.
During his visit to Haiti, the UN Secretary General also spoke with people forced to flee their homes due to gang violence.
“I met families who had lost everything and yet persevered, together, with admirable courage and dignity,” Guterres said. “These families are not asking for my sympathy. They are waiting for action.”
Renewed hope
Despite the challenges facing Haiti, there is renewed hope that as the GSF strives to reach its mandated operational capacity, it will be able to make a positive difference to the daily lives of Haitians, by working alongside Haitian security forces.
The start of foot patrols and the establishment of operating bases throughout Port-au-Prince and outside the capital, will provide Haitians with a greater sense of security and help return their daily lives to normal.
However, GSF is expected to have a deeper and longer-lasting impact.
Working with countries in the region to disrupt arms and ammunition supplies, with greater focus on border crossings and maritime smuggling routes, as well as disrupting financial flows to armed groups, aims to ensure that gangs can no longer fight.
People fleeing the violence live in camps in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.
The world’s indifference to Haiti’s plight
“For the first time in many years, there is finally light at the end of the tunnel,” Guterres said at the end of his visit. “Haiti has a chance to turn things around – but only if the international community takes responsibility. Let’s be clear: gangs have terrorized Haiti. Institutions have weakened,” he added.
“But the greatest disgrace is the indifference, the indifference of the world that ignores him.”
If the partnership between the Haitian government, the GSF and the UN to address the unprecedented security situation in Haiti is successful, then more people will return with confidence to the Boulevard du 15 Octobre and other parts of the capital.
