Haiti police face scrutiny after gang assault kills 47 and kidnaps over 50
A gang raid on the Kenscoff community near Port-au-Prince left 47 dead and more than 50 people abducted, prompting criticism of Haiti's National Police and raising concerns over ongoing deportations to the country.
Haiti's National Police came under heightened scrutiny on Thursday after a gang attack on the hillside farming community of Kenscoff resulted in 47 fatalities and the kidnapping of more than 50 residents. Police spokesperson Garry Desrosiers answered a limited set of questions from reporters, saying the force could not disclose any plans for the hostages and offering condolences to the victims.
Desrosiers noted that a gang leader has warned of executing the hostages if police kill any gang members, and that authorities are monitoring threats against the Tabarre district, which houses the U.S. embassy. He declined to provide details on intelligence gathered before the assault or on specific measures to assist the estimated 2,600 people displaced, according to the U.N. International Organization for Migration.
National Police chief Vladimir Paraison, who was absent from the briefing, previously defended security actions in Kenscoff and said an investigation is underway to determine whether the attack resulted from negligence or complicity. Data from the nonprofit Armed Conflict Location & Event Data indicate that security operations had reduced violence in Kenscoff by 66% earlier in the year.
On the same day, the United States deported more than 50 individuals, including two children, to northern Haiti's Cap-Haitien, citing safety concerns at Port-au-Prince's main airport. Among the deportees was Jay Dabelus, a former professional boxer who said he had lived in the United States for over two decades before being detained. Haitian Bridge Alliance executive director Guerline Jozef expressed worry about returning people to a country where the government cannot guarantee their protection. The flight marked the second deportation since the termination of Temporary Protected Status for roughly 350,000 Haitian migrants in the U.S.
U.N. statistics show that gang violence has displaced an estimated 1.5 million Haitians and resulted in more than 3,050 deaths from January to June, with armed groups controlling about 70% of Port-au-Prince and large swaths of central Haiti.