Gangs that spread horror, terror and are behind kidnappings in Haiti are wreaking havoc in large parts of the country. On the phone with varying coverage from Haiti, Tony Boursiquot talks about the drama taking place on the island. Boursiquot is a field worker and works for Star of Hope, a Norwegian-supported organization that runs seven schools in Haiti. – Bandits have taken control of the entire local community in the neighborhood of Rigaud, he says. The gang members threaten torture and murder to scare everyone away. People run for cover after a clash between police and a gang in Port-au-Prince on 1 March. Photo: RALPH TEDY EROL / Reuters Those who do not want to surrender to the bandits in Port-au-Prince have no other choice but to flee to the countryside, says Boursiquot. Haiti has been marked by unrest and gang violence for a number of years, and on the night of Sunday many escaped from a prison in the capital. The authorities in Haiti have declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew. Fleeing head and neck from Norwegian-supported schools Many parents do not take the chance of sending their children to school. The school road is dangerous. Some schools are closed because teachers do not dare to go to work. For some schools, the situation is even more serious. This is what Star of Hope’s school looked like before it was looted by the bandits. Photo: Star of Hope – Now our school in Rigaud outside Port-au-Prince is looted and people have been forced to flee from everything they own. This is what Star of Hope Norway leader Ragnar Løsnesløkken tells news daily. Daily leader of Star of Hope Norway, Ragnar Løsnesløkken. They run seven schools in Haiti. Photo: Star of Hope Norway. / private – Children at our school have experienced gangs tying up the men so that they could rape their wives and daughters, says Løsnesløkken. He says that field manager Tony Boursiquot is fighting on even though he has seen a price on his head. If you don’t cooperate, they will kill you. Boursiquot is on his way further south in the country when news gets in touch with him. He and his wife Myrtha have fled further south, as many of the inhabitants of Port-au-Prince have done to escape the violence in the capital. Now they run their work from there. Tony Boursiquot had to flee together with the students from the school in Haiti. He works for Star of Hope, which runs seven schools in Haiti. Photo: Star of Hope Norway / private – If you stay in the city, you must cooperate with the bandits, otherwise they will kill you, he says. In the countryside, many struggle to get hold of goods from the city. Boursiquot fears there will be a food shortage. Before, the Star of Hope schools served five meals a week, now the children at some of the schools only get three meals, he says. He is worried about the children. Pupils at the Star of Hope school in Rigaud in Port-au-Prince before it was looted. Photo: Tony Boursiquot / Star of Hope – It’s catastrophic right now, and it’s only getting worse and worse. It is very sad. We suffered a lot, and live in constant fear, he says. The daily leader of Star of Hope in Norway, Løsnesløkken, tells news that criminal gangs are looking to kidnap their field managers because they think they can get a lot of ransom money. Serious situation On the phone from Guatemala, Johan Hindahl of the Church’s Aid told that 80 percent of the capital Port-au-Prince and the area around the capital is controlled by criminal gangs. – The police are not able to protect the population, says Hindahl, who is the national adviser for Haiti in the Church’s Aid. He is often in Haiti. Johan Hindahl in the Church’s Emergency Aid. Photo was taken in Haiti in November 2023. Photo: Privat – The gang has both more weapons and heavier weapons than the police, says the experienced aid worker on the phone to news. Jørgen Sørli Yri at Oslo Met says that the criminal gangs also have more members than there are police officers in Haiti. – This is probably the most serious situation for Haiti ever, says Jørgen Sørlie Yri. He knows the country well, has lived in the region on several occasions and works daily as an associate professor at Oslo Met. Haiti expert and associate professor at Oslo Met, Jørgen Yri. Photo: Roy Krøvel / private Not only schools, but also several hospitals are closed, contacts tell Yri. He says that health workers do not dare to go to work. In addition, the hospitals lack fuel to keep the generators that provide electricity running. Gang leader “Barbeque” The leader of the biggest gang that is raging in Haiti is Jimmy Cherizier with the nickname “Barbeque”. Gang boss Jimmy “Barbeque” Cherizier. Photo: CLARENS SIFFROY / AFP The gang leader threatens to fight until the Prime Minister of the country, Ariel Henry, resigns. – We will fight against Ariel Henry “until the last drop of blood”. We will fight until he leaves, says the gang leader to the Associated Press news agency. The gang leader, dressed in khaki trousers, a black T-shirt and a bullet-proof khaki vest, smiles confidently as he talks to the news agency on the phone. The former policeman Jimmy “Barbeque” Cherizier is now the boss of the G9 alliance. Here he is during a press conference on 5 March. Photo: Ralph Tedy Erol / Reuters He holds the mobile phone in his left hand, in his right hand he holds a powerful machine gun. Anyone can be an enemy – Anyone can be an enemy. This creates great uncertainty. Most people try to stay at home, but many have to go to work and go out to do necessary errands, says Jørgen Sørli Yri at Oslo Met. He tells about a friend in the capital Port-au-Prince who works there as a journalist. – He says that you have to pay for security everywhere. This applies, for example, on the bus or if you are moving in the city streets. Residents flee from gang violence in the capital Port-au-Prince on 6 March. Photo: Ralph Tedy / Reuters – If you drive a car, you will be stopped at roadblocks. You have to pay to pass. You risk that they take your car or that they kidnap you, says Yri. On the phone, field workers tell Boursiquot that staying in Port-au-Prince is the same as submitting to the gangs. – If you stay, you must cooperate, and then you are one of them. State of emergency The Haitian government introduced a state of emergency and a night-time curfew earlier this week. – A state of emergency only works on paper. The police are not able to keep the streets safe, says aid worker Johan Hindahl. A soldier checks the bag of a passerby. Photo: Ralph Tedy Erol / Reuters People that Yri at Oslo Met has contact with in Haiti say they are trying to stay at home as much as possible. But some have to go to work and leave their homes for other reasons. On Monday evening, heavily armed gangs tried to take control of the international airport Toussaint Louverture near the capital Port-au-Prince, writes NTB. The airport authorities report heavy shooting. The airport was closed when the attack took place, and no aircraft were in operation. There were also no passengers present. Who is the prime minister? Many have wondered who Prime Minister Ariel Henry has been while the gang has been wreaking havoc. Doubts were raised about where the Prime Minister was staying after he had first traveled to Kenya to conclude an agreement that the country would hire an international force to fight against the increasingly powerful gangs in Haiti. Who is Prime Minister Ariel Henry? Photo: SIMON MAINA / AFP A spokesperson for the US State Department says they believe Henry is going home to Haiti. – We think it is important that he does it and that he is allowed to do it, says the spokesperson. He has now landed in Puerto Rico and wants to try to get home. At the same time, the US has urged its citizens in Haiti to leave the country “as soon as possible”. The UN estimated earlier this year that around 300,000 Haitians have left their homes to avoid murder, sexual violence, abductions and looting, as well as fighting between rival gangs. The world is watching The International Organization for Migration (IOM) states that around 15,000 people fled the capital during a three-day period last week. People run for cover after a clash between police and a gang in Port-au-Prince on 1 March. Photo: RALPH TEDY EROL / Reuters Many of them were already refugees who were accommodated in school buildings, hospitals and public squares in the city. Tony Boursiquot in Star of Hope hopes international forces intervene and help with the situation as soon as possible. – The government has no power against the armed bandits, he says. The Organization of American States (OAS) has asked that the world community must react more quickly, in cooperation with the UN. In October, the UN ratified a plan to send an international force to Haiti, based on voluntary contributions from UN members. It happened one year after Henry asked for it. But no date for the deployment of the force has yet been announced. So far, five countries have said they will contribute to the force.
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Dangerous school road – bandits threaten Norwegian-supported school in Haiti – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
