PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Radio stations across Haiti were jammed with calls hours after a Kenyan court blocked the deployment of a United Nations-backed police force to help fight gangs in the restive Caribbean nation.
Many callers are surprised and demand: what next?
Few know.
Uncertainty and fear have spread since Friday's ruling, with violence reaching new records as gangs tighten their grip on Haiti's capital and beyond.
"Absent a strong external mission that will be deployed very soon, we are facing a very sad situation in Haiti," warned Diego da Rin with the International Crisis Group.
Gangs, which control an estimated 80% of Haiti's capital, have attacked and seized power in the formerly peaceful community in recent weeks, killing and wounding dozens, prompting widespread concern that they will soon control all of Port-au-Prince.
The death toll in Haiti more than doubled last year to nearly 4,500, and the number of reported kidnappings rose more than 80% to nearly 2,500 cases, according to the latest UN figures.
Meanwhile, Haiti's national police are losing officers "at an alarming rate," while those on the job are still being overrun by gangs, according to a UN report released this week. More than 1,600 officers left the department last year and another 48 were reported killed.
Additionally, equipment sent by the international community to bolster an underfunded police department has crumbled under heavy fighting with gangs. Only 21 of the 47 armored vehicles remained operational as of mid-November, with 19 "severely damaged or broken during anti-gang operations," the UN report said. The remaining seven vehicles are "permanently disabled," it said.
"The situation is over. Enough is enough," said a man who identified himself as pastor Mallory Laurent when contacted by Radio Caribbean regarding Friday's ruling. "Every day, you think there is no hope."
The Kenyan government said it would appeal the ruling. Still, it's unclear how long that might take and whether other countries that have pledged to send small forces to augment the multinational mission will consider going it alone.
Among those planning to send troops were the Bahamas, Jamaica, Belize, Burundi, Chad and Senegal.
"What I will say at this point is that this is a big blow to the people of Haiti who want to have a stable country to live in," said Roosevelt Scarritt, Dominica's prime minister and former head of a Caribbean trade bloc known as CARICOM. It sent a recent delegation to Haiti to help resolve the unrest. "The Kenyan court decision allows for an emergency meeting of Friends of Haiti to determine Plan B with the people of Haiti."
Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis did not return messages for comment, nor did the office of Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness.
Guyana's Foreign Minister, Hugh Todd, told The Associated Press that the trade bloc would likely meet soon to discuss the implications of the ruling as it awaited word from Jamaica.
"We have to see if there is any legal space to operate," he said, noting whether there are other legal options that could allow Kenya and other countries to proceed.
UN officials have not commented since the court ruling.
Edwin Parison, a former Haitian diplomat and executive director of a foundation that seeks to strengthen ties between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, said he would be surprised if international leaders don't have a Plan B.
He said the ruling will allow Haiti to implement its own solutions to gang violence, and he believes it has enough resources to do so.
"One entity that has never been mentioned, and we don't understand why it has never been mentioned, is the Haitian military, even if it is in an embryonic stage," he said.
Parison noted that more than 600 soldiers who recently received training in Mexico could work alongside the police.
He said, we have to look at the resources we have at the local level to deal with this situation.
But such resources may not be enough, said Andre Joseph, 50, who owns a small convenience store in Port-au-Prince, one of the capital's most dangerous areas.
The people who live and work around his store are very protective of him and his business, he said.
"I hope someone can fight for them as well," Joseph said. "Having the international force here would be the best thing for these people and for me as well."
But in the absence of one, he wants to see that money set aside for the multinational mission goes to Haiti so it can rebuild its own forces and fight gangs.
Many Haitians grumbled about Friday's verdict, including Marjorie Lamour, a 39-year-old mother of two who sells women's underwear in a small container she carries with her. He is forced to keep his load light if he has to escape the gang.
"Some days I'm here all day, and then there's a shooting and I'm running, and I come home without a cent," said Lamore, who called the ruling a "huge crime" against Haitians.
He noted that he and his family have already been forced to flee two different homes due to gang violence, which has left more than 310,000 Haitians homeless.
"I don't want to run a third time," she said, adding that she doesn't make enough money to properly care for her children. "It's hard enough to feed my kids once a day. I hope God can do something for us because nobody is doing anything."
Da Rin, with the International Crisis Group, noted that a silver lining was how the UN Security Council-backed mission did not specify that Kenya would lead it. That leaves open the possibility that another country could take the reins without additional council meetings and approval, he said.
As Haiti waits for the possibility of a Plan B, Da Rin said he worries the situation could only get worse, especially given the recent arrival of former Haitian rebel leader Guy Philippe, who has not supported the Kenyan-led mission.
"With this news, the desperation of Haitians to see a way out of the security crisis increases," he said. "They may make some slightly radical decisions."
Source: NRP News
