Security World News » Haiti

Rape Cases are on a High in Haiti Relief Camps

Ralph Winn — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:44:53 +0000

One thing that has remained quite unmentioned in the past few days in Haiti is the insecurity that the women and girls are facing. The women and the girls that are staying in the relief camps are not safe and this can be clearly seen from the increase that has happened in the rape, molestation and sexual assault cases. There are numerous reports that are coming out that the young girls are being raped and assaulted by their rescuers only, which adds more to the worry.

Now coming to efforts that are being made to secure the females, one main thing that has been done is the establishment of an all women health center. It is not that the women in Haiti were safe before this calamity hit; it is just that their condition has become more vulnerable now. There are many NGOs that are providing the food packages to the women who are very much scared to go out and get these. The patrolling in the relief camps has been strengthened and now it is being seen that the attackers are not provided with any chance to attack the young girls and women.

What would be more pathetic, the young girls in Haiti have started wearing jeans below their skirts as this makes them feel safe. Most of the women are not in the favor of going out in the dark and the ones that have young daughters have stopped going out to get food and water also. It seems that the gender based violence in the country is all its all time high now and immediate attention needs to be paid to counter this situation properly. There are many criminal gangs that are targeting the women and efforts are to be made that these are trapped.

As most of the people are sleeping on the streets and surrounded by the strangers from all around, the mental condition of women in Haiti is not good as they are living in scary conditions. As not all the women have males to protect many of them have started leaving the relief camps as they feel that they are not safe there. There are many women who have faced tragic health issues as the health care system has shattered badly, there are no antibiotics, contraceptives and retrieval drugs making the condition really worth worrying.

There are many women who are so much shattered and in deep fear that they get frightened whenever they see a new male member in their camp and many of them start crying if they feel that any one are approaching them. There are many women who have lost their husbands, sons and brothers in the earthquake and are requesting the authorities to protect them so that they do not get raped. It can be said that till the condition of women in insecure, Haiti cannot come out of the damage that the earthquake has done here as there is going to be a sense of panic there.

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Post tags: Haiti, insecurity, Rape Cases

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Military Forces Trying To Bring Haiti Back To Life with Relief Efforts

Ralph Winn — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:40:56 +0000

The entire international powers are now looking to make efforts with which the earthquake hit Haiti would be restructured and the security over there could be improved. U.N has also assured the big powers that it is going to see that the relief works carry on smoothly and that complete involvement from their side is used. The foreign powers have asked the Haitian government to take the lead as they feel that without their assistance the relief operations would not go in the right direction. Most of the nations want the Haitian government to take the major decisions as at the end of the day they are going to affect the Haitian people.

There is lot of insecurity and violence in the country and the relief forces are trying to take this matter into their consideration with utmost urgency. There are more than a dozen countries who want to provide aid to Haiti, but to assure that these reach the people the military forces and the U.N peacekeeping agents have to work in cooperation of each other. Both of these have to see that the humanitarian efforts made by them reach the ones who are in urgent need.

The very first goal towards which the military forces have been working is to ensure that the relief material reaches the people and that too in good shape. If this step is performed carefully, then there are less chances of food insecurity spreading in Haiti. The next crucial step for which the military forces and the relief forces have been working is to provide security to the people so that they do not feel insecure and unstable. Almost thirty five hundred military troops have been deployed at the relief camps to see that the women and kids are safe.

Another important area that needs to be strengthened is that of the professional requirement, Haiti is in an urgent need of doctors, site constructors, engineers and teachers. The agriculture sector of the country was not in a good shape before the earthquake also and after it the condition has become worse. One more concern that is mounting the various international powers is that there are chances that Haiti is going to be occupied by the ones who are helping it and the Haitian government needs to clear its stands as soon as possible.

Fear and insecurity are the two factors that are leading to violence and insecurity and the military forces working here have to see that the condition remains calm. Now the Haitian government has to make efforts so that its security forces become capable of dealing with the situation as with this the number of foreign troops in the country would also lessen down. Haiti cannot immediately come out of this, but still this does not mean that the efforts should not be made. The businesses are to be provided with a chance of reopening and the agriculture sector can be improved and military troops present here can do this perfectly.

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Post tags: Haiti, Military Forces, Relief Efforts

Haitian Streets Are Safer Now

Ralph Winn — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:12:54 +0000

With the security being beefed up in the country, now it seems that the streets in Haiti are very much safer than what they were a few days before. The number of peace keepers and the relief forces has almost multiplied in the past few days as the security in the country was becoming uncontrollable. The US troops are working hard to ensure that the aid reaches the ones who are in immediate need. The relief operations have proved to be completely meaningful in the past as the looters and the rioters were making the things tougher. Now that the forces have become strict towards the peace disrupters, now the scenes of violence and looting are rarely found.

The security condition has been calmed and now the relief operators are being able to focus their concentration on the relief work only. In the past few days the relief operations has became quite tough as the looters were making efforts to loot the food packages and the poor sufferers who have been sheltering in the relief camps. The law and order problem is also under control as the police personnel of Haiti have also involved themselves in this with their complete capability.

There were some major stopping factors that were not making it possible for the peace keepers to perform the relief operations. Some of the major problems faced by the military troops and the U.N forces included attack on food, transportation bottlenecks and in many situations bureaucratic confusion. Now the foreign powers providing aid to the country are sure that there efforts are going to lead in the right direction as there are no major obstacles. Looking at all these advances it seems that the condition of security in Haiti is improving day by day and will surely reach in its original place within a short time.

Now the supply of the relief cargos has been made speedy and within a short span of time supply of pure water and hygienic food is going to reach all the relief camps. Now the only thing that needs immediate attention is the medical supplies. The looters have already done much harm to the medical supply and now the doctors are without appropriate supplies that are making their condition desperate. There are not many hospitals that have survived the natural calamity properly and this is why the people of Haiti are entirely dependent on the foreign teams.

Once the chaos of the late arrivals is settled out, the country would start getting proper supply of medicines and other necessary supplies. Almost every one in the world is hoping that the security condition in Haiti remains stable, there is no food insecurity and the sufferers get appropriate medical attention. Now the military forces are also working in the direction of ensuring that the flights at the airports land and take off at a good speed and the food convoys reach safely to the ones who are in urgent need of these.

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Post tags: Haiti, Haitian, peace keepers, U.N forces

Escaping Of Prisoners After Earthquake to Pose More Security Related Problems

Ralph Winn — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:09:45 +0000

The earthquake was not enough for making Haiti prone to biggest insecurity that the prisoners also escaped from the prisons making the situation of security more vulnerable. Approximately four thousand jail inmates have alone escaped from the main prison of Haiti. The advantage that the prisoners have taken from the natural calamity has worsened the position security in the country. If one looks at the report that has been submitted by U.N it becomes clear that once the earthquake hit, the prisoners involved in riots with the guards and managed to escaped in the due course.

Now the criminals, assassins and bandits are open and thus the overall situation of the country is now becoming critical as far as the efforts of the escapers in terrorizing the general public are concerned. The country has been in the news these days and it is not that the earthquake is only being discussed; the lootings that are taking place are much of a tension. Now that the jail prisoners have escaped, they are looting people and making the situation worse for the security personnel to handle.

A glance at what exactly happened

At the time when the major earthquake hit the country, the Haitian National Penitentiary was accommodating about four thousand inmates. If one considers what the witness had to say at that time, the walls of the prison and the prison also was shattered to broken concrete and the prisoners who managed to survive this began to helter-shelter from the prison. The guards who were there at that time also fired at the prisoners who were escaping, but no one knows that how successful they were.

If one talks of the prisoners who were in the jail at that time, it is not that it was housing only the convicted criminals; there were many political prisoners who were also there. If the statistics are viewed, it can be known that approximately eighty percent of the prisoners have not been convicted of the crime also as the entire criminal system of the country is extremely slow.

Now that the country has completely lost its civil stricture and many prisoners are fleeing, it cannot be stated that the daily needs of the people are going to get met and the country would recover from this massive destruction soon. The crumbled buildings are more than enough and evidence to prove the destruction that the whole nation has faced. At this particular time, mountains of relief machineries are required by the country and some strict measures to deal with the robbers and the looters who are roaming on the roads freely.

One cannot forget that still there are more than thirty thousand inmates in the U.S jails and efforts to reaching to a decision for them is also a part of the entire nation rebuilding efforts that are being made. Now efforts have to be made to see that the hardened criminals are brought back to their place and the political prisoners are also provided justice.

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Post tags: Haiti, Haitian National Penitentiary, jail inmates

Child Trafficking Making Children in Haiti Unsafe

Ralph Winn — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:47:07 +0000

Adding more to the pain and misery of the Haitian people, now there has been an increase in child trafficking. It would come as news to many that the American forces and the Christian missionaries are among the two main suspects behind this. Although the Haitian Prime minister has given this a name of kidnapping in the case of the Americans are concerned, any one monitoring the condition of Haiti closely would know what is exactly happening. These American were trying to cross the border when they were arrested with the kids who were neither theirs not had any papers proving that they were helping them.

On the overall the condition of women and children in Haiti asks for a lot of attention as women are being raped and kids being trafficked. Now to another aspect of the news, ten Baptist missionaries mostly all of them from the Idaho church were also caught at the border when they were taking along with them 33 kids. When the missionaries were asked to justify their action they said that they were going to take these orphan kids to an orphanage across the border.

Now the government of Haiti is also in a confusion regarding whom to trust as there are many Americans and missionaries that have been genuinely helping the earthquake hit people. Orphanages in the country have been almost dismantled by the earthquake and the condition of the churches is also not that great that the children could be kept safe there. There have been many reports coming up that stated that all the children that were being taken by these missionaries for illicit purposes were not orphans as they were found screaming and shouting saying that they want to go to their parents.

Now coming to the measures that are being taken to secure the children who have either lost their parents or whose parents are missing. Now the aid groups are laying stress that the adoption decisions that are being taken in haste are monitored and the reality behind them is known. The church organizations that are wiling to take the children along with them have to also produce the required paper work so that the children do not end up in wrong hands. One more thing that is being checked is that the children that are being taken along are actually parentless or it is just that their parents have gone missing.

There are various different security measures that are being taken; the trucks and the other vehicles containing the kids are being checked to see that they are taking them with the right intent. One more rule that is being followed is no documentation means no approval for adoption. Now the government has to see that the adoptions and the other operations take place in a formal way so that the kids are not left in a vulnerable condition wherever they reach. Be it anyone who wants to take the children along needs to present paperwork for that.

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Post tags: Child Trafficking, children in Haiti, Haiti, Haitian Prime minister

Food Convoy Attacked By Armed Men in Haiti. Adding More to the Insecurity

Ralph Winn — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:11:29 +0000

The situation of food security in the country is already dismantled and adding more misery to this armed men have attacked a food convoy. The position of security in the country is desperate as both the forces and the peace makers are finding it tough to assure that no violence erupts on the roads which have been a common scene these days. The food convoy that was attacked was carrying the supplies from the Airport to the southwestern town called Jeremie. From this only, the condition of security in Haiti and that of the food security can be described as a shaky ones as now the looters do not seem to be in the mood of leaving the food and supply convoys also.

Looking at this, one can clearly know that how much frustration the people of Haiti are having in their hearts as after so many days after the earthquake still they do not have an access to the basic requisites. The earthquake victims are still homeless and most of them are living in tents and the reports from the officials also suggest that the food supply have not reached there. Mobs are looting, stealing and even snatching food from the UN peacemakers as for them this is the only way with which they can fill their families.

Looking at the looting incident that happened, it is known that there were 20 armed men who attacked the convoy. As per the comments coming from the U.N forces, they fired warning shots at the looters to warn them and as a result of what they flee away. Now the effort that has been made in this direction of securing the convoy is that the police forced have been asked to accompany the convoys to assure that no such incident happens again.

If one observes at all these kinds of developments, one can clearly say that the position of food security is not good and in fact the position of the overall security of the nation is also quite worrisome. If this kind of condition prevails for any time longer, then there are chances that the overall security conditions are going to become potentially hot-blooded. On the one hand where many of the Haitian nationals are still in the mourn and shock of loosing their loved ones, the looters and the escaped prisoners are on the hunt for the opportunities that could provide them with the chance to cash in the situation for their benefit.

There are many who were in jobs, but due to the office buildings being collapsed are finding it hard to earn and these are now demanding for salaries. Looking at this, it the foreign powers who are assuring to provide all kind of help to the country have to see that the aid that they are providing is being utilized or not. They have to see that the food reaches the hungry mouths and not remains in the warehouses of the government.

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Post tags: food security, Haiti, U.N forces, UN peacemakers

Providing Security in Haiti Is Becoming a Challenging Job

Ralph Winn — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:27:01 +0000

Haiti has been from many years prone to political, economical and social breakups and these all have lead to the consequences that are real alarming for the people. Violence and insecurity is on an all time high here and this has led to various problems indirectly such as power dispersion and prevalent poverty. All these problems are seen as a result of the interventions that the international community has made here in the last 15 years. Everyone knows that Haiti has faced 5 military interventions, which are more than enough to shatter down any system. The present day scenario is adding to the mental restlessness of the people as now there is no governability that could assure that the population is secure and safe.

As the legacy of non-governance prevails, the current condition of the people in any regard is that economic condition or overall peace is very much unstable. Adding more to these irregularities, Haiti has become one of the most corrupted countries in the world which has also fueled up the feelings of violence here. Now coming to the aftershocks that the earthquake has left in Haiti, with military, police and U.N troops all around the country are finding it tough to gather the energy and start restricting the economic and social structures.
The things that people managed to save and protect from the shocks are now with the looters as they are the once who judged this all apathy as a benefitting situation. The police have tried number of times to chase the looters, but most of the times the results that came out were completely unimpressive. The people of Haiti to all this had a word that this is not the fault of the looters as they are to do this, but the efforts that the police are making are encouraging them to multiply the loots.

To all this when the police personnel were asked, they gave a statement that they do not have the legal rights to shoot the ones who are found looting. The police said that the looters are not bad as they are hungry and they can only shoot the bad ones who dare to shoot at the police officers. Although now the control of security has gone to the military conditions, the scene is almost the same; it is just that one can feel the presence of the troops around easily.

Adding more, the pain and tension of the inhabitants is that during the earthquake, approximately thousands of prisoners managed to escape and this is adding to the burden on the police personnel also. Now the police of Haiti are exhausted as it is finding it tough to trace the escaped prisoners and is not being able to have hands on the looters also. All this is doing nothing good for the general public as the condition is a pitiable one as they cannot say that they have a security that could save their belongings, even if they have one.