Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has announced that they are suspending operations in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince due to an increase in violence and threats to their staff by members of the Haitian police. This decision comes after a deadly attack on one of their ambulances last week and repeated threats to their staff including death and rape threats.
MSF has been providing quality free healthcare in Haiti since the 2010 earthquake and operates important services such as a trauma center and a burn clinic. However, with only 24% of health facilities in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area currently open and increasing insecurity, MSF has decided to suspend its projects until further notice.
The medical aid group cited multiple incidents of threats and aggression from the police, including from an armed plain clothed officer who threatened to execute and burn staff, patients, and ambulances. MSF treats over 1,100 outpatients, 54 children in emergency situations, and more than 80 sexual and gender-based violence survivors each week, as well as many burn victims.
MSF’s Haiti mission chief, Christophe Garnier, stated that they are committed to the population but can only resume services if they receive guarantees of security and respect from armed groups, self-defense groups, and law enforcement. Meanwhile, police in Haiti reported that over two dozen suspected gang members were killed in overnight attacks by residents and police, signaling a resurgence of a civilian vigilante movement fighting against armed gangs in the capital.
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