Alo tout moun! Welcome to the latest edition of Woy Magazine’s weekly newsletter, providing you with must-know news and commentary on Haiti and our Diaspora.
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Voices of Matisan
(Trigger Warning: rape, sexual assault, violence)
In a new, eye-opening piece, Le Nouvelliste’s Robenson Geffrard ventured to the Kafou Sports Center to talk to several survivors of the Matisan gang wars to get their stories. The result is a highly traumatic and devastating read filled with accounts of rape and violence:
« J'ai entendu beaucoup de bruits chez moi ce soir-là. J'ai vu ma mère courir dans tous les sens. Je ne savais pas pourquoi. Elle a pris ma sœur et moi et nous avons marché toute la nuit dans la rue avec d'autres gens. J'ai quand même pu voir des maisons en feu et des gens par terre. Ma maman ne voulait pas que je regarde. Nous avons été d'abord dans un endroit où il n'y a pas de maison (NDLR : la place de Fontamara) avant de venir ici », a rapporté le gamin.
Even after fleeing Matisan, women and girls continue to face great risks and acts of sexual violence with some having reported sexual violence and rape from members of the host families who’ve taken them in, while others are being accosted with offers of “sex for shelter.” (Source: Agence-France Presse)
Malnutrition
A new report from UNICEF finds that more than 8,000 women and children have been forced from their homes because of the escalating violence from the past two weeks. Overall, 14,000 people have been displaced in the capitol over the past nine months because of mounting insecurity and violence. (Source: The Guardian)
The unholy marriage between the deteriorating security situation and COVID-19 has also increased the rates of child hunger in the country, UNICEF reports:
COVID-19, an economy already in free fall, droughts and intense tropical storms, gang violence and chronic instability are not only raising levels of hunger in Haiti but leading to increased levels of severe child malnutrition, the head of the United Nations’ leading child advocacy group in the Caribbean nation has warned.
The number of children suffering from “severe acute” childhood malnutrition has more than doubled, increasing from 41,000 last year to an estimated 86,000 children this year, said Bruno Maes, UNICEF’s representative in Haiti. (Source: Miami Herald)
Paused. Not cancelled.
Despite this new level of crisis, both the Jovenel Moïse regime and members of the CORE Group are pushing harder than ever for the referendum and parliamentary elections.
According to news reports on Wednesday, Moïse has given the Comité consultatif indépendant 45 days to draw up a new constitution for final approval from the executive branch:
Il est fait obligation au CCI de poursuivre son travail pour l’élaboration du Projet de la nouvelle Constitution aux fins de soumettre au Président de la République le projet final de Constitution accompagné du rapport des travaux préparatoires.(Source: Juno 7)
One day later, Prime Minister Claude Joseph announced to the U.N. Security Council that Haiti would be pressing forward with both the constitutional referendum and parliamentary elections:
“The electoral machinery has been set in motion. The Provisional Electoral Council has the resources needed and the electoral process is following its normal course,” Acting Haiti Prime Minister Claude Joseph told the U.N. Security Council. Source: Miami Herald)
On the same day, Joseph also asked the Security Council member nations for $17 million dollars as contributions towards an election fund.
Despite their admonishment of the regime and what they deem to be an “insufficient focus” on elections, the U.S. pledged $3 million to the Consortium for Elections and Political Processes Strengthening, as well as “$5 million to strengthen the Haiti National Police capacity to work with communities to resist gangs.” (Source: Miami Herald)
Ghost from the 90s
Meanwhile, the Washington Post editorial board wrote and published a new piece this week calling for elections in Haiti. In it they argued that the Haitian Catholic Church’s warning of the country’s “descent into hell” may come to fruition if elections are not held to give Haiti a chance at good governance and democracy.
Their fear of what may happen if these elections do not take place? Boat people.
There is now a real prospect of full-blown anarchy, and resulting waves of boat people fleeing to safer shores.
However, what the ed board fails to mention is that none of the current pandemonium taking place would be happening without the U.S. government’s continuing support of the Moise government which continues to fail the Haitian people at every turn. Nor do they mention that the long-existing boat people narrative is a failure of not just U.S. foreign policy but also U.S. immigration policy that has always placed Haitians at the very bottom of the rung:
Washington’s concern about boat people persisted through the aftermath of the 1991 military coup overthrowing democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. During the 1990s, thousands of Haitian migrants were intercepted at sea and detained at the U.S. facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The vast majority were not granted asylum and were instead returned to Haiti. (Source: Migration Policy Institute)
Kidnapping by the Numbers
In a new article for Forbes Magazine, Control Risks, a global risk and strategic consulting firm, paints a grim picture of the magnitude and reach of Haiti’s ongoing kidnapping crisis. Here are some quick stats from the article, which you can read and listen to here:
Our records show that during the first quarter of 2021, kidnaps-for-ransom increased by over 150% compared to the same period in 2020.
The crisis is further evidenced by the fact that during the first three months of 2021, approximately 10% of all reported cases in the Americas occurred in Haiti, despite the island-nation having less than 1% of the region’s population.
The already feeble economy contracted by 1.7% during 2019 and by a further 3.8% in 2020. Meanwhile, the country has experienced double-digit inflation for most of the past five years. This has led to an erosion in the already meager purchasing power of most Haitians and has pushed the country’s poverty rate to almost 60% of the population, according to figures by the World Bank published in May.
But Why, Though?
The Forbes article also makes an interesting argument that any possibility of fixing the insecurity problem remains rather slim as Jovenel may be using his referendum to possibly secure another term. This isn’t necessarily a new point, as many political analysts both in Haiti and abroad have made similar observations.
Another scenario was recently presented by human rights attorney Andre Michel earlier this week during an episode of “Haiti d’Abord.” During his segment, Michel claimed Jovenel remains hellbent on seeing the referendum through as a way for PHTK to usher in another presidential term for former president Michel Martelly:
Me. Michel a rappelé que l’apprenti dictateur avait pour mission première d’organiser 7 élections, mais pour l’instant, a-t-il expliqué, une seule lui tient réellement à cœur, c’est le retour de Michel Martelly pou kontinye vinn desann kanson’l nan figi moun ak jouwe fanm » – [se déshabiller sans gêne en public et injurier la femme haïtienne]. (Source: Rezo Nòdwes)
COVID Update Part 1
It looks like Haiti may finally be receiving its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines as early as next week under the COVAX program. Renowned doctor and director of the GHESKIO Center, Dr. William Pape spoke with Le Nouvelliste last week to discuss the country’s distribution plan:
S'agissant de la distribution, il précise que le ministère de la Santé publique et de la Population est en train de finaliser un registre dans lequel toutes les institutions publiques et privées pourront enregistrer leurs membres. Ce sera une distribution ordonnée, a-t-il promis.
«Cependant, a-t-il ajouté, la priorité sera donnée aux personnels médicaux, aux personnes âgées et aux patients avec comorbidités. Nous espérons pouvoir vacciner une bonne partie de la population, c'est pourquoi nous avons besoin également de la liste des personnes qui ont déjà pris le vaccin dans un autre pays pour mieux orienter le processus.
Despite the promise of vaccines, there remains a major public education component to be tackled. Results from a new survey conducted by Saftek Research finds that a whopping 76 percent of respondents in Haiti said they would not take the vaccine, compared to a measly nine percent who responded that they would.
Broken down further, the data finds that 80 percent of women compared to 72 percent of men said they would not take it. Among the 16 percent of women who said they would agree to be vaccinated, half of the respondents said their willingness would come with conditions. (Source: Le Nouvelliste)
COVID Update Part 2
The hesitancy among the population isn’t shocking at all considering the laissez-faire approach the government has taken with addressing the pandemic. You may remember that Haiti was one of the few Caribbean nations to host in-person carnival festivities this year.
Additionally, there is the issue of having trustworthy statistics to go off of to educate the country on how widespread the current coronavirus spike truly is. For a recent op-ed for Newsweek, William Fleeson spoke to Dr. Pape who believes Haiti has not had accurate reporting on its number of COVID cases:
"The data on the number of persons infected are underestimated. We should multiply the number of reported infections by at least 10," said Jean William Pape, the head of the Haitian Global Health Alliance, also known by the acronym GHESKIO, based in the country's capital, Port-au-Prince.
However, Dr. Pape does believe the country’s death count remains a more accurate figure:
Pape noted that, in contrast to the low infection figures, the number of reported deaths from COVID-19 is "rather reliable." This is true, he said, even for populations where keeping count is difficult—especially in Haiti's urban shantytowns, which are also known by the French term bidonville. These impoverished neighborhoods suffer from overcrowding and lack of running water, which make simple measures like social-distancing and washing one's hands all but impossible.
To help with this information gap, public health scientist Dr. Joanne Pérodin has created and released a new data tableau, the Haiti COVID-1 Dashboard, to provide better figures on the pandemic based off of government data:
New Book Club Alert
There’s a new official book club in town. The Haitians Book Club is welcoming all those who’d like to participate in monthly meetings, starting in August, discussing Jean Casimir’s “The Haitians: A Decolonial History.” You can learn more about the club here, including their schedule. And be sure to join their email list here.
Also, stay tuned for Woy Magazine’s upcoming summer reading list!
Can’t Miss Content
Before we let you go, we have to recommend two must-watch items. The first one is the third episode of season 2 of Lòk Mondial. This short, “Referandòm Matisan,” examines the violent climate in which the unconstitutional ballot initiative continues to be forced on the people:
Secondly, be sure to sign up and mark your calendars for a free virtual screening of “Nou La,” on June 23. The film is part of a “three-part cinematic experience celebrating the vibrant legacy of Haitian Americans in the city of Brotherly Love.” You can check out the trailer below:
Be safe everyone! See you next week!
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