Armed gangs have created a chaotic environment in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, for the past several weeks. This comes years after simmering tensions following the assassination of then-President Jovenel Moïse in 2021.
“We do hope some type of intervention at some level, a humanitarian assistance, will happen just to increase the security situation for Haitians on the ground,” said Marlene Duet, Professor of French and African Diaspora Studies at Yale University.
Haitians and Haitian-Americans across Connecticut are concerned for family members back on the island where Prime Minster Ariel Henry agreed to resign.
“The situation is pretty dire,” said Reine Boyer, a lawyer and Haitian native who moved to the U.S. as a child.
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“Some of them no longer have a home to return to,” said Ephesine Redvill, founder of Hartford’s Haitian Church Assembly of El Shaddai. “Their homes were burned down by gang violence,” he said.
Susan Wallace, who runs Outreach for Haiti based in Norwich, says her employees on the ground are scared.
“The staff, needless to say, is on edge,” she said over a video call. “They're very much aware that when they leave their homes, they are probably taking their lives into their own hands.”
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Despite the airport in Port-au-Prince being overtaken by the gangs, the United States has started evacuating American citizens from the Island. For natives, the situation is hard to escape.
“We know that our hearts belong in Haiti,” said Boyer. “There is going to be hope. There is hope for a brighter day, for a brighter Haiti.”
