BY SIMONE J. SMITH
The escalating conflict in this country has plunged the nation into a deepening abyss of suffering. Gangs hold entire neighborhoods hostage, terrorizing residents, and cutting off access to essential supplies like food, water, and medical care. Desperate families are forced to flee their homes, embarking on perilous journeys across the treacherous Caribbean Sea, only to face the uncertain fate of overcrowded, unsanitary, and often dangerous migrant camps.
The government has collapsed and there is chaos. “More than 5,600 killed in gang violence in 2024. These figures alone cannot capture the absolute horrors being perpetrated, but they show the unremitting violence to which people are being subjected,” said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.
Each morning, we rise in the comfort of our homes. We send our children to schools where safety is usually a given, not a distant hope. We share meals with loved ones, our stomachs full and our minds at ease. We retire to beds, our bodies and minds secure from imminent threats of violence.
For millions of Haitian citizens, these basic human rights are a cruel, unattainable dream. More than a million people have been displaced. Those fleeing to find sanctuary in the neighbouring Dominican Republic have been rounded up and forcibly deported.
There is a substantial Haitian diaspora in Canada, mostly residing in the greater Montreal area, but communities can also be found in most regions across our country. As a leading community newspaper, we are reaching out to various Haitian organizations in an effort to urge the international community for a more robust response.
United Against Hate Canada has been advocating for Haiti for over a year. The situation there has grown progressively worse. In the past years armed criminal gangs have taken control of 85% of Port Au Prince, the capital and much of the countryside.
Haiti’s liberation had one fatal condition: Haiti reportedly owed France reparations of 150 million francs (approximately $21 billion in today’s currency). Haiti was forced to take loans from: Germany, France, and the United States – a debt they only finished paying in 1947, more than a century later. This financial burden was crippling, it comprised 80% of Haiti’s yearly budget and 10 times its yearly revenue. The political state in Haiti since 1803 has been unstable due to: coup d’etat, dictatorships, internal conflicts, and regime changes.
It doesn’t help that the country’s location on an island near the equator has made it vulnerable to a variety of natural disasters. In January 2010, an earthquake killed 300,000 Haitian citizens, and a more recent one in August 2021 destroyed over 60,000 homes and killed over 2,000 people.
The United Nations has authorized a small Multinational Security Support Mission. It is led by Kenya and is unfortunately outgunned by the gangs and is ineffective. Reportedly, efforts to upgrade that mission to a full-blown United Nations Peacekeeping Mission has been blocked at the Security Council by Russia and China.
Yet, amidst this unfolding humanitarian catastrophe, the world remains largely indifferent. The global response to Haiti’s crisis is a stark illustration of the devastating “bystander effect” – a phenomenon where individuals fail to intervene in a crisis, because of the presence of others. Despite Haiti’s proximity to the United States and other powerful nations, the international community has largely turned a blind eye to the escalating suffering.
This indifference is not accidental; it’s a carefully cultivated product of our modern media landscape. News outlets, driven by the pursuit of ratings and clicks, prioritize sensational stories – political scandals, celebrity gossip, and manufactured controversies – over the sobering realities of human suffering. The plight of the Haitian people, like countless other crises in the developing world, is relegated to the back pages, if it’s covered at all.
Marvin Rotrand, Director General United Against Hate Canada reached out to the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper and shared with me his frustration with the current “bystander effect” that is being experienced by the people of Haiti.
“We have been disappointed by how little attention Haiti has received in the media and how it seems entirely absent from debate in our political instances. We are however pleased to alert you that Ensemble Montreal, the opposition party at Montreal City Hall, tabled a motion for debate on Tuesday, January 21st, 2025. I note that our earlier efforts to have Mayor Valerie Plante take leadership to prod the higher levels of government were rebuffed. I commend the opposition for acting.”
“We have also written to the Government of Canada and to Bob Rae, Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations. We have asked that a new effort be made at the Security Council to transform the current Multinational Security Support Mission into a United Nations Peacekeeping Mission. That would allow the force led by Kenya to be better armed and have broader rules of engagement. This request is also the position of Leslie Voltaire, President of the Transitional Presidential Council.”
Director Rotrand also attached an excerpt from a letter written by Bob Rae, Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations. “Canada has encouraged the Security Council to urgently support Haiti’s request to transition the Multinational Security Support Mission into a UN peace operation, while continuing to support robust coordination between the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and the MSS mission.”
United Against Hate Canada will be urging Canada to use its influence to build a coalition to overcome the opposition of Russia and China, which has to date prevented the Multinational Security Mission from being upgraded. In their view, this would be one of the most important steps to restore peace and order and overcome the on-going crisis that has led to so many deaths and the displacement of over a million people.
The Haitian crisis is a stark reminder that true compassion cannot be confined by borders or dictated by profit margins. It demands our: attention, our empathy, and our collective action. The time for silence is over. The time for action is now.
REFERENCE:
https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/01/1158781
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