As chaos caused by armed gangs in Haiti continues, the UN has reported that the killings of 2024 exceeded those of 2023 by about 20%. The number of people murdered in Haiti last year was over 5,600, while an additional 2,200 were injured and 1,500 were kidnapped. With no end to the anarchy in sight, many Christians who were excited for the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope feel that they have little to hope for.
In an interview with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Bishop Quesnel Alphonse of Fort-Liberté called it a “great shame” that the general outlook of the public is "despair," when his people have been “awaiting with hope” the Jubilee Year. He described the situation as “suffocating” or “drowning,” as daily life has become “increasingly difficult,” and the future is uncertain.
“The fact is that people feel very lost. People are beyond poor; they are living in misery. This affects the whole country. Despair is at a fever pitch, and when that is the case, anything can happen.” Bishop Alphonse added, “It’s about surviving.”
The problems Haiti faces are perhaps most exacerbated in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, where about one-quarter of the country’s 12 million population have migrated since the crisis began. Many who live in the rural countryside have been forced to migrate to the city due to a lack of economic opportunity, a collapsed healthcare system, and closed schools. This has led to overcrowding in a city normally only equipped to house 1.3 million.
Bishop Alphones explained that in overcrowded conditions such as these, it is easy to organize armed gangs among those who are desperate. These gangs prey upon the citizenry, stealing from merchants traveling to the city to sell their goods, showing up at people’s homes and taking everything, or just taking the home itself and casting out the family within. That’s to say nothing of the rampant murder; the bishop described one weekend in December in which 184 people were killed.
Pope Francis spoke of the Haiti situation on Thursday in his annual address to diplomats accredited to the Holy See:
I think of Haiti, where I trust that the necessary steps can be taken as soon as possible to re-establish democratic order and put an end to the violence.
Families split up to survive
In order to escape the dangers and hardships, many are seeking refuge outside of the country, but this has caused many families to be split up. The bishop noted that the separation of families, “the pillar of society,” has led to more social instability:
“The father might be in the Dominican Republic, the mother in the Bahamas, and the children in the United States. Many Haitians are risking their lives at sea in search of a better life. However, they are not always welcomed in these countries, and they face discrimination.”
He also lamented that some Muslims have been attracting young people to convert to Islam by offering them about $100. He expressed his sadness that these young people are converting “out of necessity, rather than conviction.” He also noted that the gangs recruit new members by similar means.
“Yesterday, I heard the witness of a young person who joined a gang. He said he was an orphan, that he didn’t have anybody, and because of that, his life was meaningless. The gangs give one a sense of belonging, and that is a danger. It’s not only a financial problem; it’s existential.”
The bishop acknowledged that when faced with an existential threat, people are willing to even kill for the sake of their own survival. This fact, however, has been exacerbated by the influence of drugs and addiction, which only makes those who are violent even more willing to take drastic measures.
“They lose their humanity, and they can go to extremes. The young people in the more troubled neighborhoods are completely lost.”
It will take a long time ...
Bishop Alphonse painted a dire picture of the state of Haiti, but he did express that he is hopeful of the future. He said that some of the internally displaced people have begun returning to their homes, but this is also a “traumatic experience,” as they return to homes that have been looted and left in disarray by those who were occupying them.
“It will take time, a long time, to be able to live again,” Bishop Alphonse said. “This shows how desperate the situation is. As I said, it is an existential crisis. It affects people totally.”
Read more from the interview with Bishop Quesnel Alphonse, at Aid to the Church in Need.
