“Haiti is hemorrhaging” – Bahamas Prime Minister says

Mar 01, 2024 News

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…as CARICOM sets deadline for elections in Haiti

Kaieteur News – “Haiti situation is truly a terrible situation. Haiti is hemorrhaging,” said the Prime Minister of Bahamas, Phillip Davis, at the closing press conference of the 46th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on Wednesday evening.

He cited the death toll in Haiti and noted that the Caribbean country recorded more deaths in January than what occurred from the Russia-Ukraine war. “That tells us of the depth of the suffering that is occurring amongst the people in Haiti,” Davis remarked.

Prime Minister Davis explained that during the three-day Caribbean Community (CARICOM) summit that was held in Guyana, CARICOM leaders spent most of their time addressing the Haitian crisis and looked for ways to bring resolution to the suffering.

The Bahamian Prime Minister said that discussions were held with Haiti Prime Minister Arielle Henry as well as several international partners including Canada, France, United States, United Kingdom and the United Nations.

Prime Minister Davis noted that discussions were also focused on the Security Council Resolution 2699, which is aimed at bolstering a multi-national security support system for Haiti.

“It was fitting for us to pay the kind of attention to the challenges that we did…We have a group of eminent persons that has been coordinating and facilitating talks between all the contending parties in Haiti and trying to seek a path to normalization,” he added.

To this end, the Prime Minister expressed CARICOM’s concern over the ongoing challenges facing Haiti. He highlighted the worsening security, humanitarian, and political situation in the country, noting the prolonged political stalemate hindering the possibility of free and fair elections.

The Prime Minister highlighted the longstanding efforts of CARICOM to restore stability to Haiti, dating back even before the assassination of President Moise.

Since the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise on July 7, 2021, the country spiraled into additional chaos.  In the land of more than 11 million people, no election has been held since November 20, 2016. Haiti’s elections has been delayed by Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, citing a devastating earthquake and the growing power of heavily armed criminal gangs, for which he has sought foreign aid.

According to a United Nations (UN) report released in February, gangs run rampant in large swaths of the country, now estimated to control most of the capital, and homicides more than doubled last year to nearly 4,800.

Last October, the United Nations Security Council approved the deployment of international forces led by Kenya to curb the escalating gang violence in Haiti.

Prime Minister Davis disclosed the significant strides made in advancing Haiti’s political landscape, particularly in restoring constitutional governance.

He said, “It’s important to note that in our deliberations, particularly with Prime Minister Arielle Henry, a number of major steps and concessions were made to move the political process forward, including, which we think is a significant step forward, holding of general elections to restore constitutional government and authority no later than the 31st of August 2025.”

To this end, the Haitian leader stated that CARICOM recognised the importance of infrastructure readiness and adherence to constitutional mandates for conducting elections. As such, he noted that there is a collective effort to address these requirements.

To facilitate this process, an Electoral Leads Gap Assessment Team, jointly spearheaded by CARICOM and the United Nations with the backing of partners like Canada, the United States, and the Organization of American States (OAS), will be formed.

“That committee will be put together and to report by the 31st of March, identify those gaps, that we can decide how to move the situation forward. That assessment team will be there to support the planning and efforts, relevant Haitian institutions and hopefully will be established for the purpose holding those elections in a period before August 31 2025,” Prime Minister Davis noted.

Moreover, he expressed the urgent need to convene a meeting involving all relevant stakeholders to address pressing issues in Haiti.  During the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM held in Guyana, Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Motley actively engaged in chairing aspects of these discussions. At some point, CARICOM is expected to find a suitable location and date for the gathering.

Davis explained that ‘stakeholders’ encompass a wide array of groups crucial for consensus-building including political entities, civil society representatives, private sector actors, religious organizations, and government officials.

“This has to be Haitian led…and we are calling upon all of them, including government to be able to sit down and to make the necessary concessions arrive at a resolution that could impasse. In that respect, we hope to settle what I call the critical path, that path which will be participatory and inclusive of those elections,” the Bahamian leader said.

Moreover, for his part, President Irfaan Ali, the new Chair of CARICOM, in his address began by highlighting the gravity of the situation in Haiti. He had promised that the CARICOM summit will focus heavily on bringing peace and normalcy to the people of Haiti.

In his address on Wednesday evening, Ali said, “As you know, this issue took a lot of agenda time. But it is time well worth spending, because how important Haiti is for the region and how critical it is for us to find a solution for the holistic advancement of the people of Haiti, not just security, but a lot of focus in these meetings, were on the political and governance.”

Reflecting on the extensive discussions, President Ali remarked, “The issue of Haiti was a very, very difficult task and just to give you an idea of the task of Haiti…in sidebar meetings and discussions was more than 15 hours of work and then at least about 10 hours of work in formal meeting on this issue.”

The CARICOM Chair described the discussions on Haiti as “frank” and stated that the discussions were difficult.

Moreover, President Ali urged all stakeholders to recognize the necessity of compromise and collaboration to meet Haiti’s needs. Specifically, Jamaica, Barbados, Dominica, and the Bahamas were tasked with driving forward discussions on Haiti with urgency and intensity.

Despite the challenges involved, President Ali noted the importance of regional leadership in addressing the issues facing Haiti, stressing the critical nature of the situation.

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• Bahamas, CARICOM, Haiti, Irfaan Ali, Phillip Davis

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