Haiti: Doctors Without Borders halts work in Port-au-Prince
November 20, 2024
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Tuesday said that it was suspending operations in the Haitian capital amid "violence and threats" towards its staff from members of the police force.
In a statement, MSF said that the police had repeatedly stopped its vehicles and directly threatened staff with death and rape threats.
"We are used to working in conditions of extreme insecurity in Haiti and elsewhere, but when even law enforcement becomes a direct threat, we have no choice but to suspend our projects," MSF's Haiti mission chief Christophe Garnier said.
MSF said that operations in Port-au-Prince and the adjoining metropolitan area will be suspended starting Wednesday and "until further notice."
Haitian police attack MSF ambulance
This comes after a deadly attack on one of its ambulances last week in which two patients were shot and killed by Haitian police.
In one of the recent incidents, the NGO said an armed plain-clothes officer threatened to start executing and burning staff, patients and ambulances as of next week.
"Every day that we cannot resume activities is a tragedy, as we are one of the few providers of a wide range of medical services that have remained open during this extremely difficult year," the NGO said in a post online.
"However, we can no longer continue operating in an environment where our staff is at risk of being attacked, raped, or even killed!"
Meanwhile, police and civilian self-defense groups killed 28 alleged gang members in Port-au-Prince in an overnight operation on Tuesday, burning their bodies in the streets with tires piled on them.
Three-quarters of medical facilities in capital closed
Haiti's capital city has been in a state of emergency since March 2024 after gangs took control of large parts of it through violence.
MSF, which has been present in the country for three decades now, is one of the key suppliers of free healthcare in the violence-struck city. It operates several centers for trauma injuries and a burns clinic.
Just last month, the UN estimated that only 24% of the city's healthcare facilities remained open.
MSF said the suspension excludes five patients already hospitalized under its care. It will also run its mobile clinics and maternal health activities in the south in Port-a-Piment, it said.
mk/msh (Reuters, AFP)