Good morning, members of the House of Commons.
The Protestant Federation of Haiti and the Haitian people thank you for this opportunity to examine the distressing situation that now endangers the lives of hundreds of thousands of Haitians.
For many years now, Haiti has existed at the centre of a maze in which efforts to preserve human dignity have yet to achieve their objective. The poverty in which Haiti's population of some 12 million inhabitants lives is infertile ground for progress in the human rights field.
According to the most recent Human Development Report, Haiti ranks 163rd out of 191 countries with a human development index of 0.535. According to data published by the World Bank, its infant mortality rate is 47 per 1,000 live births and its literacy rate is 62%. In addition, it is estimated that more than 6 million Haitians live below the poverty line and that more than 2.5 million have fallen below the extreme poverty threshold.
Despite the fact that Haiti ranks last in the Americas based on development indicators, it is in the midst of a political crisis that only exacerbates its situation.
As regards the right to justice, we have been witnessing the collapse of the country's legal system for more than 10 years. Most of Haiti's courts do not operate. Thugs have taken control of the courthouse premises in Port‑au‑Prince, contending that they paid for the release of their gang members, but that they are still being detained.
A document entitled, “N ap Mouri”, which means, “We are dying”, published by the human rights service of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti, has focused on the significant proportion of pre-trial detainees. No progress in this area has been made in the past 25 years. As of June 1, 2021, more than 82% of the overall prison population in Haiti had not been tried, and most were being unjustly detained.
As for the right to education, the state has access to only 15% of primary-level schools. Nearly 3,000 children live in the streets of the capital city, suffering all kinds of discrimination and humiliation. Some have had to leave their homes at a very young age.
With regard to the right to health, Haiti has an average of 5.9 physicians or nurses per 10,000 inhabitants. There is 0.7 hospital bed for every 1,000 inhabitants. Many Haitians living near the border seek health care in the Dominican Republic, which virtually hunts Haitians with persistence and hatred. In most rural areas, pregnant women give birth at home without the assistance of qualified medical personnel. No health or social programs are available to them.
As regards the right to life, the number of armed gangs is increasing across the country, particularly in the Département de l'Ouest. They are taking control of certain strategic areas, isolating the capital from the major provincial cities. According to an article published by AlterPresse on July 6, more than 550 murders were committed in the capital from January to June of this year. Freedom of movement is undermined by recurring acts of kidnapping and forcible confinement, which have consequences for all social classes.
Many families that have been dispossessed of their property are scattered around lawless zones. Church properties have been taken hostage. In Bel-Air, for example, two guards at one of the temples of the Nazarene Mission were shot dead in a cowardly incident by faithless and lawless thugs. In Bolosse, the premises of the UEBH Baptist mission, the Collège évangélique Maranatha and the Séminaire de théologie évangélique de Port‑au‑Prince have been abandoned to the gangs. The established authorities have made no attempt to put a stop to this situation, while the thugs happily post their fees on social media.
Hyperinflation is setting in, and the right of the vulnerable social classes to food and housing is being trampled. With growing concern in the midst of an unprecedented crisis in which the health system is failing, the Haitian population feels subjected to an inhumane form of oppression from which it has no means of escape.