Port-au-Prince. At least five Haitian children have been killed or injured each week so far in 2024, the charity Save the Children said Tuesday, urging the United Nations and security forces to do more to protect children from crossfire and gang violence.
Haiti requested a security mission in 2022 to help its police fight violent gangs that have taken over much of the capital, leading to indiscriminate killings, gang rapes, extortion and the recruitment of minors into their ranks.
But progress has been slow, with only 400 Kenyan police officers to lead a UN-sanctioned mission deployed to Haiti so far, while countries have dragged their feet on pledges of funding, personnel and armoured vehicles.
Citing UN data, Save the Children said at least 131 children were killed or injured in the first six months of 2024, often due to stray bullets or reprisals for supporting rival gangs or police, and said the real numbers were likely much higher.
“Behind these chilling figures are real children who have been seriously injured or killed,” said Chantal Sylvie Imbeault, the charity’s director in Haiti.
“Entire neighborhoods have been burned down, kidnappings and sexual assaults are rampant, and children are either targeted directly or caught in the crossfire.”
Save the Children called on the UN Security Council to “end impunity” for those who abuse children and recruit them into gangs, and called on “all parties in Haiti to allow the immediate, sustained and unhindered passage of humanitarian aid.”
Schools are due to reopen on 1 October, but many in the capital have been turned into makeshift refugee camps as the number of people internally displaced by the conflict approaches 600,000.
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– 2024-08-19 12:48:14
