We remain hopeful that renewed energy will be placed in efforts by the Caribbean Community (Caricom) to assist our sister nation Haiti.

We got that much from last week’s Caricom heads of Government conference in Montego Bay.

Jamaica’s Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness, making his first address to the conference as the new chair of the regional bloc, insisted that Caricom must intensify efforts to get the necessary support for Haiti, especially given that assistance from the international community seems unhurried.

Mr Holness and his Caricom colleagues were not alone in this observation as last Friday the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti and the UN Human Rights Office issued an urgent appeal to the international community to do more to stop the bloodletting in the French-speaking nation.

The appeal by the UN accompanied a report it released detailing the evolution of violent gang incidents beyond the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, since October 2024 up to June 2025, and the resulting loss of life, as well as the mass displacement of people.

Ms Ravina Shamdasani, the UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman, told a biweekly press briefing in Geneva that, “Escalating gang violence outside Port-au-Prince — where the presence of the State is extremely limited — has claimed over 1,000 lives and forced hundreds of thousands to flee since October 2024.”

She pointed out that the mass killing in Pont Sondé, in the Lower Artibonite region, in October 2024 marked a major turning point in the cycle of violence between gangs and the so-called ‘self-defence’ groups.

Ms Shamdasani also said that several other mass killings followed the October 2024 massacre, causing mass displacement, including in the town of Mirebalais, which earlier this year saw all its 100,000 residents flee.

She said that between October 1, 2024 and June 30 this year, the total number of killings across Haiti was 4,864.

“Of these, at least 1,018 people have been killed in Artibonite and Centre areas, as well as in Ganthier and Fonds Parisien in the west of the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area,” Ms Shamdasani added.

The report shows how violence has increased sharply in recent months, especially in the Lower Artibonite and Centre departments, as gangs continue to extend their influence along key routes in the north and centre of the country, and towards the Dominican Republic.

Additionally, the report notes that Haitian authorities have deployed specialised police units, supported by the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, to some extent slowing the gangs’ advances. Ultimately, however, given their lack of resources, they have been unable to reassert control over the affected areas.

We are also told that human rights abuses by self-defence groups have increased, while executions involving Haitian security forces have been committed against individuals accused of supporting gangs.

Ms Shamdasani correctly described the situation as an “unending horror story” with the Haitian people existing at the mercy of violent gangsters.

Her comments came a week after Mr Miroslav Jenca, the UN assistant secretary general for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, told a UN Security Council meeting that the agency has continued to witness a sharp erosion of State authority and the rule of law.

“Brutal gang violence affects every aspect of public and private life,” he said, adding that the Haitian police and the Kenya-led MSS have, despite their best efforts, been unable to make headway in restoring State authority.

Both Mr Jenca and Ms Shamdasani share the conclusion reached by other individuals that without increased action by the international community, the total collapse of State presence in the Haitian capital could become a very real scenario.

Just over a week ago we repeated our appeal to the international community for urgent assistance to Haiti. We pointed out that action is needed to counter the savagery that the gangs have been inflicting on Haitian citizens. The decision to provide that type of assistance, we acknowledge, is tough, but at this point, with Haiti spiralling into deeper crisis, the action is necessary.

Caricom, we hold, has a vital role to play in this, for as Mr Holness correctly said, “We cannot leave our brothers and sisters in Haiti at the mercy of gangs.”