One story that I think more people should talk about is the humanitarian crisis currently happening in Haiti. Coming from the Dominican Republic, a country that shares the island with Haiti, it is inevitable for me not to know about this. Daily, Dominican news cover the most important events happening in Haiti. However, international news outlets have barely covered the atrocities experienced by Haitian citizens.
Currently, Haiti is experiencing a humanitarian and violent crisis caused by different factors, such as political instability and social insecurity, after the assassination of its president in 2021. The country’s situation is aggravated by the thousands of criminal gangs that have taken over a few cities, including the capital, Port-au-Prince. This ongoing situation has affected thousands of families who have been deployed from their houses, schools have been taken as shelters, and hospitals are flooded with patients, causing sanitary products to be scarce.
A few weeks ago, Kenyan military troops arrived in the country intending to restore peace, and it has been showing positive results. Many gang members have been taken down by Kenyan armies and the Haitian police. However, there are still a lot of criminal battles going back and forth in the territory.
For years, Haiti has been experiencing political, economic, and social instability, which has increasingly allowed, in my opinion, international news outlets to ignore the country’s situation. However, I understand that certain factors, such as the safety of news reporters and journalists, play a huge role in these underreported stories. Nevertheless, we should be constantly keeping up with Haiti to ensure we make visible this human rights violation.
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