Caritas Warns of Violence in Haiti

On Monday, the humanitarian organization said that between September and October, four Caritas facilities were attacked and completely ransacked, leaving them unable to function.

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In a statement, the organization denounced the acts of vandalism stating that, as a result, its staff at the national office and the ransacked facilities, "remain at home, trying to work remotely despite serious connection problems with the two main communication networks."

According to Caritas, the difficulties have worsened in the last three months. "We will have to take into account the evolution of the situation to resume activities properly," said the organization, noting that the work is hampered in a context of fuel shortages and insecurity.

During September and October, units in the South department, Gonaïves (northwest of the Artibonite department), Port-de-Paix (northwest) and Jacmel (southeast) were sacked.

Four Caritas headquarters in Haiti were completely attacked and looted between September and October, the humanitarian organization reported on Monday, which has a negative impact on the work, paralyzed at a technical level on the ground. 

Significant damage to the looted facilities is reported. Food For The Poor warehouses storing food and non-food items for the cyclone season were also looted.

These acts of vandalism occurred in the midst of a socio-political and economic crisis in the country, which is also facing a resurgence of cholera. According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), 37 people have died from the disease.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has warned of the risk of a health catastrophe in Port-au-Prince in the face of a crisis marked by fuel shortages, violence and the resurgence of cholera.

Faced with the reduction of services in the vast majority of Haiti's hospitals due to the lack of fuel, MSF called for a prompt response. 

"We will not be able to run our medical structures for more than a few weeks if we do not have access to fuel" (...) "Without clean water and without treatment and good waste management, the risk of an increase in disease is very high."