Should the United States focus on aiding Haiti through humanitarian support or military intervention?
For decades, Haiti has faced many significant challenges. This includes natural disasters and political and civil unrest. Over the past few years, dangerous gangs have taken over Haiti, making it an inhabitable place. This has caused internal panic and turmoil among Haitian
citizens. Throughout all this, the United States has become one of Haiti’s biggest and most influential supporters, helping them through humanitarian support and military intervention. However, humanitarian aid and intervention have caused a significant backlash among Haiti and
its citizens. Should the United States focus on aiding Haiti through humanitarian support or military intervention?
To understand the concept of humanitarianism, you must be able to distinguish between humanitarian aid and intervention. Humanitarian aid is used to help people affected by a crisis and is often done in cooperation with national governments. Humanitarian interventions are military actions that stop human rights violations and are often done against the wishes of a country, violating the state’s sovereignty. The first claim would be that military intervention harms Haiti rather than helps them. Haiti’s government has called for military intervention to stop the presence and spread of gangs that torment Haitian citizens. However, Haitians strongly
oppose the idea of any intervention that correlates with violence. Many citizens are afraid that if the United States intervenes in this way, it will further weaken the country’s institutions and undermine Haitian political autonomy, which further asserts that Haiti is incapable of managing
its affairs because of its history of government corruption and ineffectiveness. Throughout the history of Haiti and military intervention, we can conclude that it primarily causes disaster and conflict while also harming innocent civilians caught in the crossfire. Many citizens of Haiti hold the belief that even with military intervention, Haiti will still be left with the problems they have faced for many years. They believe this because, often, interventions bring only temporary relief and stability. If military interventions in Haiti are not fully developed, they will bring more harm to innocent Haitian citizens.
The second claim is that the United States should focus its attention and funding on humanitarian aid. Many citizens believe that humanitarian aid is not as harmful as military intervention primarily because of the lives it threatens. Food insecurity in Haiti has been a growing problem since the earthquake in August of 2021. Haiti’s biggest fuel terminal is being
blocked off by gangs which is one of the reasons why the U.S. should focus on getting resources to Haitians rather than bringing more violence into their country. The increased gang violence in Haiti has caused many humanitarian aid organizations to find other ways to help Haiti. Gangs
control the area where the main port and fuel shipments arrive, and foreign aid groups find it difficult to assist those in need. These dangers the aid groups face have become increasingly apparent and have caused Haiti not to receive proper help. This is one of the reasons why it would be beneficial for the United States and other foreign countries to focus on humanitarian aid rather than military intervention. Another reason this would benefit Haitians is that they would feel less afraid to lose control of their country to another country and never gain independence.
The final claim is that the United States should in fact continue to aid Haiti through military interference. This final claim shows a different perspective from the other two claims in order to look at differing opinions on the issue. One of the main issues in Haiti are the gangs that have been tormenting the country and its citizens. They have blocked off the main ways to enter Haiti. By doing this, aid groups are unable to reach Haitians and give them the proper care they need. The United States and other foreign countries see the solution to this problem being military intervention as that is the only way to defeat the gangs and lessen their impact. The financial and economic state of Haiti has decreased because of the gangs blocking their ports. This is why the Haitian government has requested military intervention, in order to avoid the economy from becoming completely destroyed. If done correctly and in cooperation with
Haitians, military intervention can be very beneficial.
There are many different perspectives and opinions on the crisis in Haiti. Some people believe military intervention would be more beneficial than humanitarian aid, while others think the opposite. Gangs, the violence they bring, and the way they block resources from entering Haiti are one of the biggest problems next to government corruption and ineffectiveness. The
Haitian government has asked the United States to intervene through military intervention, but a majority of the citizens are opposed to that. This case has shown us that military intervention and violence may not always be the way to approach things, especially when the citizens of that country are opposed to it. This case has also shown us that problems like these are very complex and can be approached from different perspectives but all of them must be well thought out in order to not harm innocent civilians.
References
The Christian Science Monitor. (2022, October 18). Intervention in Haiti: Can the world respond
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Duncan. (2022, October 13). Humanitarian aid vs humanitarian intervention: The differences.
Humanitarian Careers. Retrieved November 12, 2022, from
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Guardian News and Media. (2022, October 19). US-backed foreign intervention has led to the
disaster in Haiti | pooja Bhatia. The Guardian. Retrieved November 12, 2022, from
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/19/us-backed-foreign-intervention-disaste
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Haiti Assistance Overview — USAID.GOV. (n.d.). Retrieved November 12, 2022, from
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Obert, J. D. P., & Dupraz-Dobias, P. (2022, November 8). How Haiti’s gang violence strains aid
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