The UN Youngsters’s Fund, UNICEF, has denounced a lethal Christmas Day assault by an armed group on a household in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.
UNICEF mentioned 4 individuals, together with two women underneath the age of 10, have been killed within the assault, which occurred within the Croix de Bouquet district. It mentioned 4 different members of the family have been kidnapped.
Related assaults occurred in the identical neighbourhood every week in the past, in response to Bruno Maes, UNICEF Consultant in Haiti.
“Regrettably, such killings usually are not remoted,” Maes mentioned in an announcement, including “from July to September 2023 alone, Haiti has witnessed 88 grave violations of youngsters’s rights, with 37 of those ensuing within the tragic lack of lives or accidents throughout armed conflicts.”
UNICEF mentioned rampant gang violence, primarily affecting the capital metropolis, continues to plague the French-speaking Caribbean nation, the place almost half the inhabitants, roughly 5 million individuals, wants humanitarian assist.
Maes mentioned main crimes, together with homicides and kidnappings, are escalating at an unprecedented price, notably within the metropolitan space of Port-au-Prince and the Artibonite division.
Between July and September, the Haitian Nationwide Police recorded a staggering 1,239 homicides, in comparison with 577 in the identical interval in 2022, in response to UNICEF.
It mentioned abductions additionally surged to 701 victims, representing a stunning 244 per cent enhance.
Moreover, UNICEF mentioned, in areas managed by armed teams, locations equivalent to colleges, well being services and safety companies have additionally come underneath assault.
UNICEF mentioned it and companions have repeatedly known as for the safety of civilians, specifically kids and girls, and for the respect of worldwide humanitarian legislation.
“Killing kids is a grave violation of human rights,” mentioned Maes, including that the repeated assaults, and entry restrictions attributable to the violence and insecurity, are hampering the flexibility to succeed in individuals in want.
He underlined UNICEF’s dedication “to take all measures to make sure the protection of youngsters and their households, and to scale back the struggling of the victims”.
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