PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) — Residents of Haiti’s capital s
crambled for safety Saturday following the latest spasm of gang violence, with a United Nations group warning of a “city under siege” after armed attackers targeted the presidential palace and police headquarters.

Criminal groups, which already controlled much of Port-au-Prince as well as roads leading to the rest of the country, have unleashed havoc in recent days as they try to oust Prime Minister Ariel Henry as leader of the western hemisphere’s poorest country.

On Saturday, dozens of residents were seeking safety in public buildings, with some successfully breaking into one facility, according to an AFP correspondent.

The unrest has seen 362,000 Haitians internally displaced — more than half of them children and some forced to move multiple times, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Saturday.

“Haitians are unable to lead a decent life. They are living in fear, and every day, every hour this situation carries on, the trauma gets worse,” Philippe Branchat, IOM’s chief in Haiti, said in a statement.

“People living in the capital are locked in, they have nowhere to go,” he said. “The capital is surrounded by armed groups and danger. It is a city under siege.”

On Saturday, the Jamaican Government said it will host a high-level meeting on Haiti on Monday to be convened under the aegis of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (Caricom). This follows on engagements which have been under way with Haitian stakeholders.

Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness affirmed the importance of welcoming his Caricom colleague heads and representatives of key international development partners who have been focused on supporting the people of Haiti through the multifaceted crises which are currently affecting this sister Caribbean country, the foreign affairs ministry said in a news release.

Holness confirmed that the meeting, under current chair of conference President Irfaan Ali of Guyana, will seek to advance discussions on support for Haiti as well as the way forward for Haitian governance pursuant to Haitian-led and Haitian-owned solutions which have been facilitated under the guidance of the Caricom Eminent Persons Group comprised of former prime ministers Bruce Golding of Jamaica, Perry Christie of The Bahamas, and Kenny Anthony of St Lucia.

Jamaica’s hosting of the meeting falls within the context of its ongoing key role in Caricom’s response to the situation in Haiti, including the community’s contribution to and advocacy for greater international support for the United Nations Security Council-sanctioned Multinational Security Support Mission to Haiti.

On Friday night police repelled gang attacks, including on the presidential palace, and several “bandits” were killed, Lionel Lazarre of the Haitian police union said. No police were among the victims.

The violence left burnt-out vehicles, still smouldering, outside the Interior Ministry and on nearby streets, an
AFP correspondent said.

Gunshots rang out late Friday throughout Port-au-Prince and witnesses recounted clashes “between police officers and bandits” as gangs apparently tried to commandeer police stations in the city centre.

Lazarre pleaded Saturday for “means and equipment” to protect police buildings and other key facilities.

The well-armed gangs have attacked key infrastructure in recent days, including two prisons, allowing the majority of their 3,800 inmates to escape.

Along with some ordinary Haitians, the gangs are seeking the resignation of Prime Minister Henry, who was due to leave office in February but instead agreed to a power-sharing deal with the Opposition until new elections are held.

The United States has asked Henry to enact urgent political reform to prevent further escalation. But he was in Kenya when the violence broke out and is now reportedly stranded in the US territory of Puerto Rico.

After months of delays, the UN Security Council finally gave its green light last October for a multinational policing mission led by Kenya, but that deployment has been stalled by a Kenyan court.

Port-au-Prince and western Haiti have been placed under a month-long state of emergency and a night-time curfew was in effect until Monday, though it was unlikely overstretched police could enforce it.