February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
“We closed our main office and reduced our international staff from nine to three,” said Kieron Crawley, Concern’s country director for the Haiti relief work, speaking by phone from Port-au-Prince. “Roads are still closed, and it’s difficult to get around.”
White House officials made it clear at the weekend that the U.S. would not support Aristide staying in power. He has fled to the Central African Republic, claiming that American agents forced him into exile.
Until the situation settles, Concern’s three — Crawley and an Irish and a British colleague — said they will stay put in their house, and try to gauge how bad the situation has become during the unrest for ordinary Haitians. United Nations delegations and peacekeepers are expected to follow the U.S. contingent within days.
Haiti’s chief justice, Alexandre Boniface, has taken over as interim leader in a process laid out in the Haitian constitution, but people are fearful of the political vacuum. On Tuesday, gunfire and looting was commonplace in the city
Crawley and colleagues said that as soon as the situation stabilizes they expect to scale up their relief operations rapidly.
More than 400 people have been killed so far in the unrest as several armed groups, with no clear aims other than to oust Aristide, took over towns and villages in the North of Haiti and gradually marched on the capital. The foremost rebel leader, Guy Philippe, took part in a victory march in Port-Au-Prince on Monday.
“He actually says he is ready to cooperate with the military [peacekeeping troops],” said Crawley, who gave a fairly upbeat assessment of the situation in Haiti. “[But] this unfortunate ouster of the president is the 32nd in Haiti’s short 200-year history.”
Haiti, which shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Last Thursday, as uncertainty gripped Port-au-Prince, another Concern worker, New York-based Dominic MacSorley left Haiti on the last American Airlines flight.
“The big problem was getting around. In the morning things were fairly clear,” he said. “But by afternoon we heard reports of barricades going up. One national staff member had his car hijacked and stolen at gunpoint.”
The violence continued through the weekend, but with Aristide’s departure, the rebel groups appeared prepared to call a halt and see how the post-Aristide political climate develops.
Saturday and Sunday saw substantial looting in the capital and armed gangs roamed the streets, but with the arrival of foreign peacekeeping forces, including the Marines, these groups are melting away.
A UN assessment team is expected to leave New York for Haiti within days, charged with preparing the way for UN peacekeepers.
Even though the period of unrest has been relatively brief, MacSorley said damage has been done to humanitarian relief work. Villages have been cut off from regular supplies of food and medicine, for example.
“It’s hard to quantify the need, but the health clinics are running out of medicines. If mothers suffer complications at birth then there will definitely be fatalities,” MacSorley said. “We give out small loans as well and market prices have shot way up as a result of the unrest.”
Crawley said Aristide’s end came because of a mix of incompetence and circumstances.
“The situation in Haiti is very complex, and even with the best intentions and the most talented of leaders, it’s very tough to bring change to the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere,” he said.