MSF scales up in Haiti as chaos grips capital

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced Wednesday it was boosting its presence in the Haitian capital following a surge in casualties linked to the worsening violence engulfing Port-au-Prince.

Armed groups have mounted a coordinated effort to oust Prime Minister Ariel Henry — who was supposed to step down last month — with Port-au-Prince’s airport, prisons, police stations and other strategic targets coming under attack.

MSF said the number of casualties requiring treatment by the medical charity’s teams had risen sharply.

“The 50 beds in our hospital in Tabarre have all been occupied since the beginning of February, but on February 28, the situation worsened, and we had to increase the bed capacity to 75,” said MSF head of mission Mumuza Muhindo Musubaho.

“We are receiving an average of five to 10 new cases a day, and we are working at the limits of our capacity.”

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting about the situation on Wednesday.

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Powerful gang leader Jimmy Cherizier warned Tuesday that the chaos would lead to civil war and “genocide” unless the prime minister, who was abroad when the gangs announced their campaign, stepped down.

MSF said it had reopened its emergency centre in the capital’s Turgeau district two weeks earlier than planned, and on Monday opened its new hospital for the injured in the Carrefour district, which has an operating theatre and 25 beds.

Insecurity and improvised roadblocks are preventing ambulances from transporting patients, the Geneva-based NGO said.

It said it had suspended its mobile clinics in several sites.

MSF fears the chaos will result in an increase in sexual violence. It provided care to more than 4,000 survivors of sexual assault last year.

In addition to the challenges of access for patients, there are also difficulties in replenishing stocks.

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“Our stock of medical supplies is extremely difficult to access, not only because of the situation at the port but also because it is impossible to continue with the administrative procedures for customs clearance,” Musubaho said.

“We fear we will run out of medicines and medical supplies, which are absolutely essential to meet the enormous needs we are facing.”

The Haitian government has declared a state of emergency and a night-time curfew, which has been extended through Wednesday.

The Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation has been in turmoil for years.

Between violence, the political crisis, and years of drought, some 5.5 million Haitians—about half the population—are in need of humanitarian assistance.

– By: © Agence France-Presse