Haitian-born New Brunswicker says his home country has become chaotic

A Saint John man who is originally from Haiti says life has become very dangerous and difficult for people there, including members of his family.

"It's totally chaotic," said Guy Verna, who left the country in 1976 but tries to check in daily with his sister, who lives on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, the capital. 

Recently, communications systems have been down about 25 per cent of the time, he said.

Violence exploded in Haiti after the assassination of President Jovenal Moise in 2021.

Since then, gangs have displaced about 700,000 people from the capital city, said Greg Beckett, an associate professor of anthropology at Western University, who has been studying political crises in Haiti for 20 years.

The last national government was kicked out by a gang coup in March, Beckett said.

About 500 police officers from Kenya have arrived since June as part of a UN security mission, he said.

However, violence worsened this month as a transitional prime minister was sworn in, and travel in and out of Port-au-Prince was blocked.

Doctors Without Borders suspended its medical care in Haiti on Nov. 19 because of threats and assaults against patients and staff.

Verna's family has an orphanage and school in Port-Au-Prince.

Verna said he spoke with his sister on Monday, and she told him gunfire could be heard that morning from the orphanage so everyone had to stay inside with the doors closed. Class is often cancelled because bullets are flying and teachers can't get to work.

Schools in Port-au-Prince only open on "odd days" when things are calm, Verna said.

Students can't wear their uniforms because it makes them a target and gangs are recruiting children, he said, and Port-au-Prince residents of any age are facing risk of death anytime they leave their home.

Before going anywhere, they call ahead to acquaintances using CB radios and walkie-talkies to find out where gangs are and which streets are blocked.

"When you wake up, you have to call someone and ask how are things on the corner outside their place," he said.

That person may say, "Don't come to that market because the gangs are there since midnight and they're not leaving."

It's a far cry from the way things were when Verna left Haiti almost 50 years ago.

Back then, conditions were safe enough in Port-au-Prince that you could sleep in the street all night and nothing would happen to you, he said, but these days you can't go out after 7 p.m.

Things are a little better in other parts of the country, such as in his hometown of Saint-Marc, he said, where some of his cousins still live, where they were able to get rid of the gangs.

In his opinion, it would take 10,000 to 20,000 soldiers to restore peace in the capital.

"Any force that comes to Haiti can't resolve it because they come underfunded. They never come with the quantity of soldiers or police that they say that they are sending," he said. 

After following developments in Haiti for two decades, Beckett described what he is seeing now as a lot of exhaustion, trauma and frustration.

The gangs are strong and entrenched and they have sophisticated, military-grade equipment and communication systems, he said.

The current Kenyan police mission in Haiti is suggesting a shift to a formal UN peacekeeping mission, Beckett said.

A peacekeeping mission would have military personnel and more funding, but no country has expressed willingness to lead such a mission, he said, adding that it would be long and complicated.