Haiti is a country in the Caribbean that has recently been dealt with a tragic event that can potentially lead to a horrible future for the country. Armed gangs have recently stormed a main prison in Port-au-Prince and Croix des Bouquets, causing around 3,597 prisoners to escape. Before the prisoners were attacked, there was a before-attack on February 29th, 2024 from Airports and Police Stations. Gangs have been one of the very serious issues in Haiti, it has caused many citizens to move out of the country. The gangs within the country have caused killing, kidnapping, arson, and rape among the innocent people.
Now the gangs have struck and have released thousands of prisoners, which has only caused more and more problems ever since the release. Dozens have recently died ever since the escape, we can guarantee that more will die in the future. After the escape, the government declares an emergency, making the citizens aware of the disaster. The police couldn’t stop the prisoners from escaping, due to the amount of trying to escape. Some citizens are currently experiencing two states, either to survive or die. People are attempting to flee the state, but also have issues with deportation since they need the right to go to another state, but for once, that might not matter.
A gang leader Jimmy Cherizer would continue terrorizing the country for his very own purpose. Jimmy Cherizer’s sole purpose is to make an effort to oust the Prime Minister known as Ariel Henry. He formed the police stating that the public is not the enemy but the government is and he wants Henry arrested. Ariel Henry’s hatred possibly began when his inability to curb the unrest boiled over after he failed to step down last month. Under a previous agreement, he had committed to hold elections and transfer power by February 7. Then most likely this is an act of revenge towards the government to get what they want, but this was most likely the worst way to express the people.
The remaining prisoners that either chose or couldn’t escape the prisons will all be sent to another prison for low people purposes or for safety reasons. The prisons are currently empty and are now surrounded by police vehicles. The police officers have now gained all access to their cars and weapons to maintain control of the prisoners. There are currently 9,000 officers on duty around 11 million citizens. Even before the attack, two police stations were attacked on Friday the day before the prison was attacked. We can guarantee that police officers are dying in the line of duty to protect and serve their country as the search still goes on.
DatraxMada, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The gangs at the moment have possibly killed multiple people ever since the escape, so far though we know that 12 people have died after almost 20 days of the escape. The 12 people are just a small estimate of the overall crimes that have been caused by gangs in the past few years. Around 1,100 people were killed, injured, or kidnapped in January alone, and people have called it the most violent month ever. It has also made 300,000 flee their homes, due to the number of crimes caused by gangs. As the prisoners run wild, even The French Embassy is suspending visas and administration from the number of people leaving their homes
Haiti’s future is in danger with this event, because if nothing gets stopped then people die and chaos will rise, along with the crime rate. If the crime rate continues to go up it would be more and more of a hassle to try and pick up the pieces. The gangs and chaos can also potentially overthrow the government causing the government to collapse and the country as well. At the current moment, the most recent event after the prisoners’ escape was 12 people were killed. We’re hoping to hear good news later in the next few weeks and hope that more lives don’t get lost in this event.
