Haitians need support. The poorest country in the western hemisphere, immiserated by France and the US, has spiralled into rampant violence and despair in the last year and a half. Gangs control about 80% of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, and tens of thousands have fled their homes to escape the kidnappings, robberies, rapes and murders. Police are vastly outnumbered and underfunded, leading to vigilantism. The security emergency is matched by a humanitarian crisis: in some areas, 97% of the population suffer severe hunger.
Not one elected official remains. Ariel Henry, acting leader since the still murky assassination of president Jovenel Moïse in 2021, has presided over the collapse into chaos. Unelected, unpopular and incompetent, he has called for outside help. Haitians are understandably suspicious of foreign intervention. Peacekeepers with the 2004-17 UN mission brought cholera, which killed at least 10,000 people, and carried out sexual exploitation and violence. It is a testament to how dire the situation is that a majority say they would back a multinational force.
