UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has warned that unremitting armed violence has precipitated Haiti’s descent into the worst human rights and humanitarian situation in decades.
He stressed that urgent solutions to this “protracted, multifaceted crisis” must be found.
“People are being killed by firearms, they are dying because they do not have access to safe drinking water, food, healthcare, women are being gang raped with impunity. The levels of insecurity and the dire humanitarian situation have been devastating for the people of Haiti,” Türk said.
For the last two months, heavily armed gangs have been blockading access to the country’s main fuel terminal and seaports, severely hampering access to drinking water, food and medicine.
Food insecurity is on the rise, with a record 4.7 million – nearly half of the population – facing acute hunger.
Poor sanitation and a lack of safe water supplies have led to a cholera outbreak. To date, 2,600 suspected cases of cholera have been reported, half of them children, and claimed dozens of lives.
