Curb gang crime: Canada sends warships off Haiti's coast

The political and social situation in Haiti has been unstable for a long time, and gangs are up to mischief across the country.

Curb gang crime: Canada sends warships off Haiti's coast

The political and social situation in Haiti has been unstable for a long time, and gangs are up to mischief across the country. Canada's Prime Minister Trudeau uses an unusual method and sends two warships off the coast. This should at least stop the violence on the water.

In view of the increasing gang violence in Haiti, Canada is sending two warships off the coast of the Caribbean country. The ships would monitor the coastal area, "collect information and maintain a maritime presence off Haiti's coast in the coming weeks," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a meeting with representatives of Caribbean countries in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas.

At a press conference, Trudeau later said the two frigates would "assist Haiti's National Police in their efforts to bring gang activity under control." The mere presence of the ships in the bay of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince will deter the gangs from using the sea route for their criminal activities.

Trudeau told journalists "very concerned" about the situation in Haiti. Armed groups committed murders, rapes and kidnappings there and recruited children for their crimes. A large part of the responsibility for these abuses is borne by "a small number of powerful elite families who foment instability and finance violence for their own benefit and with terrible consequences for the Haitian people".

As long as these circles are not held accountable for their "role in this terrible crisis in Haiti", the situation will not improve, Trudeau warned. Canada is therefore trying to international sanctions against those responsible. Trudeau's government also added more Haitians to its sanctions list and at the same time announced further humanitarian aid for Haiti's people.

Haiti has been suffering from humanitarian, economic and political crises for years and is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. In many places across the country, criminal gangs have taken de facto control. Last week, UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk called for the stationing of an international force in Haiti to end this "nightmare come true".