Brutal gangs opposing Haitian President Ariel Henry now ‘control the capital in all its peripheries.’
Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince has become a “city under siege” leaving terrified civilians terrified as gangs continue to cause chaos.
Many violent gangs have united under the lead of Jimmy Cherizier, a former police officer-turned-gang leader hoping to overthrow the current Prime Minister, Ariel Henry.
Experts have now warned that the situation has become more dangerous than has been seen for years.
Philippe Branchat, International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) chief in Haiti, said in a statement: “People living in the capital are locked in, they have nowhere to go.
“The capital is surrounded by armed groups and danger. It is a city under siege.”
Meanwhile, Dr Djems Olivier, of Vincennes-Saint-Denis University, said Port-au-Prince has become a “barricaded metropolis” controlled by the gangs, who have “the right of life and death over the entire population”.
He told The Sun Online: “The gang phenomenon has become a metastasized cancer where they control the capital in all its peripheries.”
Cherizier has warned that the gangs are “united” after he warned Prime Minister Henry that he must resign or the country will face a “civil war” and a “genocide.”
Henry has not returned to Haiti having visited Puerto Rico and Kenya.