Haitian Death Toll Mounts as U.S., International Forces Refuse to Intervene

The country of Haiti is rapidly collapsing under the weight of gang violence and a rising death toll. After the United Nations Security Force (MINUSTAH) left Haiti in October of 2017, the country began a slide into chaos. Parliament was dissolved in January of 2020, President Moise was assassinated in July of 2021 and the present extraconstitutional leader is ruling by decree.

Violent gangs have filled the void left by a lack of proper governance. In this sordid environment, human rights violations are flourishing. Murder and rape rates are rapidly climbing and the victims and families are left without recourse because of a vitiated police force. Vulnerable populations such as pregnant women, children and the elderly are prevented access to adequate nutrition and healthcare because of the violence. In the ten month period from August 2021 until May 2022, 1500 people were murdered by the ruling gangs and 1000 people were kidnapped for ransom.

Since the gangs took control of the primary fuel depot in Port-au-Prince, shortages of fuel have paralyzed hospitals, schools and commerce. The lack of fuel further destabilizes the fragile Haitian economy which is in danger of complete collapse. Because Haiti imports 60% of its food, gang control of the ports has also created unprecedented food shortages. The World Food Programme estimates that 4.5 million people in Haiti are facing acute food insecurity. Fifty percent of children under age five will perish within two weeks if they don’t receive regular, sustained nutrition.

In addition, the fuel shortages compounded by gang control of the main fuel depots have contributed to a scarcity of clean water, which has caused the present cholera crisis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that cholera is still a major problem in Haiti, with an estimated 100,000 cases reported in 2022. Many of these will die because of the lack of Haitian governmental infrastructure.

While there is currently no reporting organization able to observe and record these numbers, humanitarian experts estimate that each week, as many as 1,500 individuals are dying due to the combined food shortages, disease and violence — all innocents at the hands of savage gang members reveling in the current lawlessness.

This is more than died each day in Afghanistan during the height of the war in the Middle East — and this is an hour and a half from our U.S. border! Without intervention, the death toll will surpass that of the 300,000 killed in the 2010 earthquake, which was one of the worst natural disasters in recorded history.

In a country with already extremely high maternal and child mortality rates, this assault on Haitian human rights is unconscionable. The precarity of human life in Haiti is driving many to leave, often by dangerous means.

In addition to impacting Haiti, the spreading gang violence undermines the stability of neighboring Caribbean countries. Violence along the border with the Dominican Republic is escalating and threatens to spill over the border. Other island neighbors are already overwhelmed with Haitian refugees fleeing the violence and are facing increasing economic pressure to sustain the influx.

Some voices are against foreign armed intervention and only recommend humanitarian assistance. If the international community had acted in 2019 when the violence was just beginning, this might have been sensible. However, the gangs have gained tremendous power since then and will only be controlled by force.

Calls for civil discourse and internal Haitian solutions are naive and show a lack of first-hand knowledge of the depth of the crisis. Similarly, forestalling a military solution because it doesn’t provide long term impact is myopic, since further delay will only serve to increase the body count and weaken the government. Strengthening the police force is noble but won’t reverse the gang sponsored terror that is ubiquitous because the police are outmanned, outgunned and vulnerable to gang threats against their families.

The solutions for Haiti have always been fraught. In this case, first and foremost, security needs to be quickly established to stop the bloodshed and ongoing human rights violations. Only after peace is achieved throughout the country, can democratic principles be rebuilt and free and fair elections held. For long term success to be realized in Haiti, corruption must be controlled and infrastructure should be built.

The United Nations is chartered to intervene in these situations but they show little interest in returning to Haiti. This it falls to the United States to provide security to its most vulnerable neighbor. In fact, our government has already enacted the Global Fragility Act to put funding toward such action, with Haiti listed as a priority among the most fragile nations. We must expedite this process — Haiti’s children can’t wait. I call on Americans to reach out to their elected representatives, especially those serving on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and let’s call for immediate U.S. military intervention in Haiti, before any more precious souls are lost to us forever.