Haiti, Nothing left to Bare

By : Marsha Michel

Recently, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution to sanction reputable gang members in Haiti, such as one of the most well known like Jimmy Cherizier  – aka “Barbecue” –  with some of his financial and organizational supporters. In addition, the U.S. and the Mexican Governments have been garnering support for a multinational military and police force to quell the violence that has forced the country to a standstill. By doing so, the hope is, according to Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian A. Nichols, to bring relief and help Haitians come together to restore democracy. But Haitians are doubtful of the international community, especially the United States’ intentions with this latest request to send troops to “protect” Haitians, when the U.S. has so often picked winners and losers and has had a hand in the fate of Haiti. To be successful in its policies, the U.S. must acknowledge its own history and rebuild trust among the people it is trying to help and to truly listen to Haitian civil society. 

As an American, I had the privilege to grow up between Haiti and New Jersey. I spent my summers mostly in the States and was able to leave Haiti at any time, especially when successive military coups seemed never-ending. I was too young to understand when the end of the Baby Doc regime happened, lived through countless military coups and witnessed the rise of the Zengledos in the early 90s. 

Haiti has experienced Tonton Macoutes, the Forces Armées d'Haïti, Zenglendos, and Chimères and now there are more than 200 gangs operating in Haiti that have taken total control of the country, destabilizing it economically and politically.  For the habitué of Haitian history, this is nothing new; internal and external destabilization actors have been hard at work for decades destroying Haiti. What I find heartbreaking and unprecedented are the Haitians who are breaking Haiti into tiny parts by whatever means possible. As a Haitian-American, I am often asked to explain what is happening now in Haiti. I try to respond with a resigned sigh and shrugged shoulders because I can no longer make sense of it all. I have lost count of the growing number of gangs, political assassinations, the rampant killing and violence that spares no one, and is exacerbated by repeat cholera outbreaks.

I also find it hard to explain because my own government is, in many ways, complicit in creating the tragic circumstances in Haiti today. It is well known that USG policies destroyed Haiti’s ability to feed its own people. During the 80s under Baby Doc, it destroyed the country’s entire pig population which was the most common way for some of the poorest to make and save money. During the 90s, the Clinton Administration destroyed Haiti's agricultural sector, and thus ending its ability to feed its own people. 

Haitians are also doubtful of the U.S. for many reasons especially with regards to the treatment of Haitian asylum seekers. Since the seventies and eighties, countless numbers of them, often degradingly called “boat people”, sought safety and freedom from political coups and gang violence by resorting to inhumane and unsafe conditions making it to Florida by boat. Those who made it alive to Florida or where apprehended by sea, were met by the U.S. Coast, who sent Haitian asylum seekers to detention centers to be later put on planes and deported back to their homeland despite knowledge of atrocities by various military juntas often backed by the U.S. This is in stark contrast to the boat-lift of Mariel Cubans, who were granted asylum and treated as political refugees. Prior to the 1980s, any Haitian asylum seeker was treated as an economic migrant despite claims that many were in fact persecuted by the Duvalier regime. They were deported back to Haiti, even at their own peril, that the Congressional Black Caucus accused the U.S. Administration at the time of discriminatory practices against Haitian asylum seekers. 

Haitians continue their perilous journey through the infamous Darien Gap, one of the most dangerous migration paths because of the remoteness of the area between Colombia and Panama to reach the U.S by crossing through Mexico. Some arrived only to be brutalized and discriminated against by U.S. border agents on horses, which made front pages. However, nothing really changed since. According to Forbes, from September 2021 to June 2022, more than 21,000 Haitians from the U.S. and Mexico border were deported to Haiti without any opportunity to make their asylum claims. 

Ahead of this latest UN resolution, there are some practical steps that the Biden Administration could take to demonstrate its willingness to protect Haitians. It should immediately extend and expand the pool of eligible Haitians fleeing the violence in Haiti and those already in the U.S. for the next three years. Protect and treat Haitians with the humanity and dignity that was displayed for Ukrainian refugees. 

The UN Security Council Resolution must also ensure the protection of innocent civilians especially those living in gang-held areas, and include peace and reconciliation components to avoid more loss of life. The sanctions on the gangs, including former high level political officials, is a step in the right direction, but I can't help thinking that these sanctions could have come so much earlier when the US knew from the beginning about the instability caused by the gangs.  It should make public the entities financially supporting the gangs in Haiti and stop the unprecedented flow of weapons going into Haiti by seizing their assets and arresting those sending illegal weapons to fuel the conflict, evidenced by a July 28 Reuters report of  seized shipping containers from the U.S. containing weapons of war and ammunition. The international community, like the U.S., should increase life-saving humanitarian assistance for the coming years considering the fragility and the uncertainty of the situation until a stable government can operate on its own. According to WFP, Haiti has reached a disastrous and unprecedented level of food insecurity with an estimated 19,000 people in phase 5 in Cite Soleil (the highest level for hunger). Increase humanitarian funding for the World Food Programme which is currently funded at 30 percent which would make an enormous difference in the number of people reached and ability to reduce the number of vulnerable Haitians especially malnourished children. 

While an international intervention might put a temporary stop to the gang violence, the question is for how long? We cannot forget that previous UN peacekeeping forces in Haiti brought cholera and sexual abuse and rape of women, including minors. Haitians are the only solution and are the keys to changing the narrative of Haiti - not the U.S. or any other multinational force can do it, but Haitians have to be given a change to change their own narrative. The voice of Haitian civil society must be acknowledged and heard.  

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Written by: Marsha Michel - Marsha Michel is a global humanitarian aid leader and philanthropic advisor with 15 years’ experience building and implementing over $100 million programs designed to reduce food insecurity for the world’s most vulnerable populations in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.