Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My original intent was to draw to the committee's attention the violation of children's rights due to systemic family separation and the exploitation of children in Haiti in for-profit institutions, yet due to the current crisis even the most basic of human rights are now inaccessible to most Haitians. Due to what we can only call a civil war, there are currently over 100,000 internally displaced persons in Haiti. Many families have remained homeless since the 2021 earthquake.
Schools are not operating. Multiple times over the past five years, all students nationwide have been deprived of access to education.
Hospitals and ambulances have become non-functional. Many medical procedures are available only in Port-au-Prince, which is currently inaccessible. Blood transfusions and oxygen are challenging to access, especially in regions outside of the capital.
Malnutrition is rampant. Amidst exponential inflation, most families have lost their source of income due to prolonged lockdowns and lack of circulation within the country. Shortages of critical supplies have caused even more crippling inflation in regions that have been cut off from the capital. Families who were considered middle class a few months ago are now struggling to feed themselves.
Prisoners are dying of famine. The penal code is actually not respected in Haiti, as many children in prisons are below the minimum age, and prisoners can spend over a year in prison without even having a trial. Child prisoners are often placed in adult cells as punishment and are sexually as well as physically abused within the prisons.
Haitian Social Services has identified a spike in separated and unaccompanied children due to the current crisis. Street children are being recruited and even trafficked by armed gangs and then forced to commit crimes.
As families struggle to survive, children are at a higher risk of being placed in institutions. Already over 700 orphanages in Haiti are currently operating illegally, and in them countless children's rights violations are occurring, including severe neglect, physical and emotional abuse, child trafficking and sexual exploitation. Foreign pedophiles often prey on children in orphanages and are difficult to reprimand despite formal reporting. Political connections and financial means allow several human rights offenders within Haiti to be seemingly untouchable.
While Haitian authorities attempt to close illegal orphanages and reunite separated children with their families, orphanage directors often bribe, threaten or dismiss local authorities due to an imbalance of resources. Foreign support for child protection or any other sector must be aligned with the initiatives and recommendations of Haitian experts in that domain. Otherwise, we may unintentionally be supporting the very systems that are exploiting children.
Many girls and boys in Haiti are resorting to prostitution as a means of survival. Sexual violence is also rampant, as high numbers of women and children are being raped. This is not isolated to the capital; insecurity has spread across Haiti. Murders and sexual assaults are often filmed and shared nationwide, yet seldom penalized. The toll this has taken on mental health is debilitating.
These issues are the results of continually soaring poverty levels, a lack of economic stability, a weak justice system and the abuse of power by corrupt politicians as well as a small group of elite influential families.
Immediate action is required to address access to basic supplies, affordable transportation, medical care and education to reduce the unrealistic costs of living, to curb child trafficking and to allow Haitian people to circulate safely in their own country.
However, longer-term action is also required to address the systemic separation and exploitation of children throughout institutions; to push for prioritization of child welfare; to ensure that international interventions provide sustainable support that actually builds the capacity of Haitian citizens and infrastructure to remain more autonomous in the future; and to hold Haiti's leadership accountable for the conditions and treatment of the Haitian people so that the current crisis is not repeated.
Thank you.