Director’s Notebook #34
Haiti Abandoned and the Price of Indifference
by Peter J. Hoffman, GPIA Director
There have been times in history when Haiti commanded the world’s attention and Haitians received support for challenging power and illuminating a just alternative—the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) that overthrew French rule and liberated its enslaved peoples, the end of the Duvalier dynasty that had ruled the country during much of the Cold War (1957-1986), the saga of priest, politician, and voice of the poor Jean-Bertrand Aristide who governed intermittently after being repeatedly ousted in military coups (1991, 1993-1994, 1994-1996, and 2001-2004). In recent years, however, as Haiti has once again been plagued by violence, there have been few voices from abroad, let alone resources, dedicated to upholding justice for Haitians. A review of the past couple of years is a sad commentary not only Haiti’s descent into chaos but on the stunning lack of international engagement to protect the rights Haitians have fought so hard to achieve.
Haiti has always faced considerable challenges, starting with the massive debt inflicted upon it by France as part of the terms of independence, and then later in its proximity to the United States, which saw it as a territory that needed to be controlled and prevented from hosting a revolutionary threat to American power. The contemporary period of decline began with the devastating earthquake of 2010 that killed around 220,000 people. It was followed by years of feeble efforts at reconstruction that were afflicted with significant corruption and worsened by a cholera epidemic that had ironically been triggered by United Nations personnel sent to provide assistance in the wake of the earthquake. Poverty and underdevelopment remained the predominant influence in the country, and a stratified society with elites competing for political power undermined prospects for progress.
On July 7, 2021, President Jovenal Moïse was assassinated, signaling a deep fracture in politics, and continuing a tailspin in governance. Shortly thereafter, on August 14, 2021, another powerful earthquake jolted the country—while many fewer died and were injured as compared to in 2010, it plunged millions of vulnerable people into crisis. As of the end of 2022, Haiti continues to suffer: Out of a population of just over 11 million, over 5.2 million need humanitarian aid (and food prices are up 63% since 2021). Sixty percent of all Haitians live on less than $2 a day. Two-thirds lack formal jobs. Half the population is under age 24.
Moreover, Haiti is at the mercy of criminals and gangs, who have been fighting for control, especially in the capital, Port-au-Prince. Two main gangs—the G9 coalition and G-Pep—violent struggle has been most pronounced over Cite Soleil (the capital’s larges slum). It is estimated that overall, there are 162 gangs active in Haiti, with a total of at least 3,000 gang members, and they control about 60% of Port-au-Prince. The violence impedes the delivery of humanitarian aid; for instance a clinic run by Medicins San Frontieres in the Martissant neighborhood has been closed since June. The violence also prevents children from going to school; according to UNICEF, at least seven schools in Port-au-Prince have been forced to pay gangs in exchange for security. Additionally, gangs have been blocking fuel tankers from distribution terminals in capital causing the price of gasoline to soar to as high as $30 a gallon in informal markets. Without fuel that is needed to operate city’s 20 pumping stations, access to potable drinking water for nearly 3 million is imperiled. The toll of violent criminals in 2022 was shocking: there were 1,359 kidnappings (four a day and double rate of 2021) and 2,183 murders (up over 33% since 2021)—and the numbers could be much higher as many do not report kidnappings and murders out of fear of retaliation from gangs. Furthermore, aside from questions of day-to-day security and survival for most Haitians, democracy is also clearly in trouble. Elections and formal democratic political activity have ground to a halt. As of January 9, 2023, the terms of last ten democratically elected senators expired—there is no longer a single elected official left in the country.
In October 2022, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres supported a request from the Haitian government for a “rapid action force” to be sent to the country to address insecurity and the humanitarian disaster. Subsequently, the United States and Canada sent some equipment, but no troops. An independent survey conducted in January 2023 showed that nearly 70% of Haitians back a proposal for an international force to work with the national police to fight the gangs. On February 5, Canada announced it will be dispatching military forces: a single long-range patrol aircraft to provide intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance “for a number of days.”
Haiti is revered for standing up against colonial and imperial powers, but this feeling is held essentially by only other powerless populations. Powerful states tend to have viewed Haiti as fundamentally a source of refugees, a haven of criminals, or a drain on foreign aid budgets. And this has framed a tragic pattern: Countries that have fought for freedom are left with development obstacles they inherited from times when they were dominated by great powers. When disasters erupt, such as humanitarian or security crises, global governance manages the symptoms of structural problems with containment policies. But how long can this be maintained before what was abandoned overflows? Right now, it is Haitians who are paying the price of global indifference, but history shows that those costs rarely remain sedentary—for instance, people flee insecurity, they become refugees. Responsible behavior is more than just acting when you have created a danger, it is also in protecting the vulnerable in our shared world. Otherwise, our disregard is not only inhumane, it metastasizes. Thus, when we abandon Haiti, we do so at our own moral as well as political and economic peril.
From the “What You Don’t Know About International Affairs Could Kill You” files:
- COVID-19 Vaccine Inequality: “Humanitarian Buffer” Fizzled
While much of the wealthy world received vaccinations, many poorer people did not, and to address the inequality of “vaccine nationalism,” the COVAX program (a global initiative of the WHO, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, Gavi, and others) was established. It aimed initially to provide doses for at least 20% of the population in 92 low- and middle-income countries. Furthermore, it created a “Humanitarian Buffer” program to target 100 million people living in disaster afflicted areas that would protect those vulnerable as well as limit these groups as transmission vectors. However, the Buffer has been beset but several obstacles, including too few resources and doses, access to strife torn emergencies, and even legal liability issues. In the end, COVAX only received applications from nine countries for Buffer doses, of which only six were approved, and only two ultimately were delivered and distributed: 1.6 million for Afghan refugees, 840,000 for refugees in Uganda.
- Human Trafficking: Another COVID-19 Disaster
The data on human trafficking is grim, especially how it targets marginalized groups—children are trafficked at rates almost twice as high as adults; violence against trafficked women is three times higher than that of male victims—and it is also representative of worldwide trends. The COVID pandemic led to closure of public spaces, making it harder to track traffickers and locate and identify victims. In comparing 2019 to 2020, for instance, there was a worldwide decline of 11% in detecting victims, and convictions decreased 27% (across certain regions there were more dramatic declines, in South Asia it was 56%, Central America and the Caribbean 54%, South America 46%). Moreover, there appears to be more “self-rescue”—escape and report by victims themselves—which accounted for 41% of those trafficked, while only 28% were located by law enforcement and 11% by community members and civil society.
- Journalists Killed: Violence and Impunity Surge
In 2022, 67 journalists and media workers were killed—up 50% from 2021, and the highest since 2018. Over half of those killed were in three countries: Ukraine (15), Mexico (13), and Haiti (7). Aside from these cases, other instances were in Colombia, Chad, the Philippines, Kenya, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Turkey, and the US.
- Food Insecurity: The Impact of the “5F” Crisis
United Nations agencies are documenting a “5F” crisis: not enough food, feed, fertilizer, fuel, and financing. The Food and Agriculture Organization’s Food Price Index hit a record in March 2022, and though it has since come down some as commodity priced dropped in the second half of the year, it is still 28% higher than in 2020. Those experiencing food insecurity increased to 29% in 2021, up from 21% in 2014. Nearly 500 million people worldwide experience food insecurity, more than 80% of them are in South Asia. Nearly 2 billion—45% of people living in Asia—cannot afford healthy diets, which contributes to not only hunger but problems such as obesity and anemia. Several countries face extreme challenges, such as Afghanistan where 70% experience food insecurity or Cambodia where 50% do.
- Climate Change: Sooner than You Think
Since the start of the Industrial Revolution in the middle of the 19th century, the Earth has already warmed around 1.2 degrees Celsius. Efforts to address climate change have often focused on averting a level of emissions that will push temperatures to rise more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, which was believed likely to occur in two to three decades. However, a recent estimate suggests that we are now on pace for this to happen between 2033 and 2035. Furthermore, a 2 degrees Celsius increase was projected not to take place until 2100 but is now estimated by 2050.
Cover Photo by Heather Suggitt on Unsplash