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Haiti - Insecurity : MSF activities in serious difficulty 25/02/2023 09:40:25
On the night of February 23, 2023, hooded armed men tried to break into the MSF hospital in Tabarre. "Unidentified individuals pointed their weapons at staff and banged on the door before attempting to scale the wall to enter the hospital compound", explains Mahaman Bachard Iro, coordinator of the MSF mission in Haiti, which indicates that the individuals then left the scene. "We ask all parties to respect the medical mission we have, even as MSF remains one of the last international organizations still delivering care in the Haitian capital." Earlier in the day on Feb. 22, entrances and exits to the MSF emergency center in Turgeau were blocked and an ambulance was searched. Refusing to lay down their arms, police then entered the facility to check the identity of all registered patients. A few weeks earlier, on Feb. 7, another incident occurred clearly marked MSF ambulance was stopped and searched. Weapons were pointed at the vehicle's passengers to check their identities, stopping the ambulance for more than 45 minutes before it was allowed to resume its journey. In addition, two violent clashes between armed groups have occurred since the beginning of the year just meters from the MSF hospital in Cité Soleil, resulting in the temporary closure of consultations and the temporary evacuation of some staff. In the face of these repeated and disturbing clashes, and the fact that the front line between armed groups is getting closer to the hospital, MSF fears that it will no longer be able to work safely and continue providing medical care to the population. "It is becoming increasingly difficult to work in these conditions, and the recurrence of these incidents is endangering the safety of our medical staff and patients", reports Mahaman Bachard Iro. "These repeated obstacles to our teams moving around Port-au-Prince to transfer patients from one hospital to another, these violent intrusions into our medical facilities, and the crossfire at the gates of our health care facilities, seriously threaten the continuity of our activities." As a reminder, MSF temporarily closed the hospital in Drouillard in April 2022, and permanently closed the doors of its emergency center in Martissant in June 2022, alongside suspending support for the Raoul Pierre Louis hospital in Carrefour in January 2023 for security reasons. MSF has been in Haiti for 30 years, treating all patients in need of care in an impartial manner. We urge all parties to respect our medical mission, including patients, caregivers, hospitals and the ambulances that transport them. In this difficult context, the entire Haitian health system is on the verge of collapse, as many health structures can no longer function properly. MSF would also like to reiterate its commitment to the Haitian population, the first victims of the violence that has torn the country apart for years. HL/ HaitiLibre
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