Each day, we go to a safe school, eat three meals with our families, and go to sleep in comfortable beds. Haitian citizens are being denied even these barest of necessities – many of them are held hostage in their homes, or lacking food and water, or stranded in the Caribbean Ocean after attempting to flee. The conflict in Haiti has been worsening over the past few months, and Americans need to understand what is happening.
Haiti has experienced economic, political, and social turmoil since its first revolution in 1803, which liberated the country from French colonial oppression.
Haiti’s liberation had one fatal condition: Haiti owed France reparations of 150 million francs (approximately $21 billion in today’s currency). Haiti was forced to take loans from Germany, France, and the United States – a debt they only finished paying in 1947, more than a century later. This financial burden was crippling: it comprised 80% of Haiti’s yearly budget and 10 times its yearly revenue. The political state in Haiti since 1803 has been unstable due to coup d’etat, dictatorships, internal conflicts, and regime changes.
Furthermore, the country’s location on an island near the equator has made it vulnerable to a variety of natural disasters. In January 2010, an earthquake killed 300,000 Haitian citizens, and a more recent one in August 2021 destroyed over 60,000 homes and killed over 2,000 people.
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The instability in Haiti was exacerbated into a dire humanitarian crisis in 2021 following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise. Criminal gangs immediately rose to power and still dominate Haitian territory and control critical infrastructure such as airports, hotels, and government buildings. These gangs currently dominate 80% of Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, ruling the city using territorial violence; citizens cower in their homes, while gang leaders patrol the streets with weapons.
The two main gangs controlling the area are the G9 and Gpép alliances. The “G9 and Family” alliance is led by Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, a former Haitian police officer. The G9 alliance consists of many former soldiers and police officers, lending it easy access to weapons. The group portrays itself as a revolutionary organization with a goal of reinventing the Haitian government. The leader of the Gpép alliance is Gabriel Jean-Pierre, a long-time gang leader and criminal. The Gpép group was created in opposition to both the G9 group and the government, and aims to control as much Haitian territory as is possible. Both groups are accused of rights violations, as the United Nations reports that 30 to 50 percent of their ranks are minors.
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The groups have fought for control over the capital for years, with the conflict centering around the suburb of Cité Soleil, whose citizens are held hostage, unable to leave their homes, and without access to water, electricity, and clean toilets. Over the course of the gang battle for various neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince, both groups have been accused of mass killings, sexual abuse, and property destruction in districts under their control.
In September 2023, the UN High Commissioner called for a multinational security support mission to help the Haitian National Police combat the gang violence plaguing the capital. Shortly thereafter, in response to this threat, the G9 and Gpép alliances reached an agreement: there would be peace between the groups — dubbed “viv ansanm” in Haitian Creole — while they worked together to oust Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
The pact was in place from late 2023 to early 2024, as the gangs worked out their plan, and in February 2024, they began a coordinated group attack against the capital.
On February 28th, 2024, Henry attended a press conference, and the Haitian press announced that he would stay in power until the August 2025 elections.
The next morning, the city was ablaze, and 4,000 criminals had been freed from prison. The deep connections established by the 200 gangs that make up the alliances were crucial in executing a quick and deadly attack.
Within the first three months of this year, the city went under lockdown, 15,000 people were displaced, and over 2,500 were killed by gang violence.
Since February 2024, the UN and Haitian humanitarian assistance agencies have deployed missions to the capital in an effort to mitigate the conflict and assist the citizens who are still inhabiting the area, though to little avail. The UN reports that 5.5 million people in Haiti are still in need of humanitarian assistance.
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On April 24th, 2024, Prime Minister Henry resigned. Though the gangs had achieved their goal of removing Henry, the terrorism of Port-au-Prince continued. On Tuesday, May 28th, 2024, U.N. development specialist Garry Conille was named Haiti’s new prime minister. Conille was the Haitian Prime Minister in the past under President Michel Martelly and studied public health in Haiti. The decision was made after months of tired discussion within an unstable transitional government appointed by the U.N. Security Council. Although qualified and supported internationally, Conilles job will be incredibly difficult.
In response to the dire needs of the Haitian government and citizens, the U.S. has been anything but gracious. In 2023, immigrants fleeing Haiti were allowed to enter U.S. territory, per President Biden’s policy, but many Americans opposed this protocol. In fact, presidential candidate Donald Trump posted on TruthSocial “Hundreds of thousands of people are pouring into our Country from Haiti. They are headed to Florida. But don’t worry, Crooked Joe Biden has everything totally under control. MAGA!”
Starting in 2024, the U.S. closed its borders to Haitian immigrants. On one day in March, the U.S. Coast Guard stopped 65 Haitians who were trying to flee Haiti by boat and sent them back home. Although there are Coast Guard operations that claim to return refugees safely home, the truth is that Haitian citizens cannot survive in a country ravaged by violence, lack of resources, and terrorism.
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The global reaction to the conflict in Haiti is a potent example of the devastating modern phenomenon of the global bystander effect. Despite Haiti’s geographical proximity to the U.S. and other first-world countries, the humanitarian crisis continues to be ignored by every one of these powers. Thus, Haiti is a microcosm of the problem that has developed over the last century: governments, and therefore citizens, of powerful nations remain in willful ignorance of a horrendous situation in third-world countries.
According to an anonymous Bronx Science student, “Teachers at Bronx Science educate us pretty well. After we learn about a specific historical event or a specific historical group of people, then we learn about the implications now. In the past month, we’ve been learning about current events in Israel and Gaza, even though those topics aren’t on the curriculum.” Despite being in an environment that fosters thought and discussion, however, this student, when asked about Haiti, said, “I cannot say that I know anything at all about the current events there.”
Similarly, Georgie Barth ’26 reported that Bronx Science students, “in comparison to other high schools, I would say, are very highly educated on current events.” Though she feels like her classrooms are open to discussion about conflicts around the world, when asked about Haiti, Georgie said, “I know that there are frequent natural disasters. I also know that there has been gang violence and the government is not stable. That’s pretty much all I know.” Both students were shocked when informed about the U.S. response to this crisis and the more recent political developments, which have been glossed over by media networks.
This “bystander effect” is perpetuated by news outlets and social media alike. When choosing the most newsworthy or clickbait-able cover, many companies tend to select media about the presidential election, the newest weight-loss drug, or updates on a polarized, hot-and-cold conflict. The situation in Haiti, and crises like it, are published at the bottom of the list, if at all.
Although it can be uncomfortable, it is direly necessary for us to stay informed about crises in countries like Haiti. Americans cannot make a real change without being educated on the events of the world, and since that education is not easily available for conflicts like Haiti, we need to research and inform ourselves.
Haiti is a microcosm of the problem that has developed over the last century: governments, and therefore citizens, of powerful nations remain in willful ignorance of a horrendous situation in third-world countries.