Town hall on Haiti crisis highlights concerns among Haitian diasporas

Amidst the political turmoil in Haiti, students of the Haitian diaspora expressed concern over the safety of their relatives living in Haiti. // Gabriel Prevots / The Hofstra Chronicle

Members of the Haitian diaspora community met in the Monroe Lecture Center on Saturday, April 13, to discuss Haiti’s current security crisis and the diaspora’s role in standing against crime.

The town hall was organized by Mara Vilme, the chief executive of the nonprofit organization United for Restoration of Haiti Ministries. Over the three-hour event, attendants heard from three guest speakers and had the opportunity to ask them questions.

Haiti has been embroiled in internal conflict and political instability since its last prime minister, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated in 2021. However, the most recent escalation of violence began on Feb. 29 of this year when gangs in the capital city of Port-au-Prince coordinated attacks on police stations, prisons, airports and seaports to take power and force interim Prime Minister Ariel Henry to step down.

According to the Associated Press, more than 200 gangs currently control 80% of the capital, with scores of the population killed and at least 15,000 displaced in the recent attacks.

Although the power of gangs in Haiti have become more dominant and violent only in recent years, the conditions that led to their creation formed much earlier.

Kim Ives, a speaker at the event, is an editor of the weekly Haitian newspaper Haïti Liberté and has helped produce several documentaries about Haiti. “In many ways, the current instability is a result of the last two foreign military actions in the past 30 years,” Ives said.

In the last major foreign intervention in 1994, the U.S. sent 25,000 troops as part of a multinational operation to reinstate the democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to power after a military coup. Despite Aristide’s successful return to power, the operation ultimately failed to create a lasting democracy in Haiti.

When Aristide was overthrown a second time in 2004, the U.S. sent troops again to similar effect; from then until the U.N. peacekeeping mission was replaced in 2017 by a smaller one that ended in 2019, the country has remained in relative turmoil. “If they were to come with a third military intervention, it is just going to be pouring gasoline on the fire,” Ives said.

According to Ives, the widespread poverty and crime in Haiti is also a result of exploitation by the government and private companies of the U.S. “The U.S. has squeezed the economy, destroyed [Haiti’s] agriculture … and the result is now we’re paying consequences,” Ives said. “People can no longer survive because their agriculture and industry has been throttled by our ruling groups in this country.”

This troubled history is the reason why many Haitians regard another foreign intervention, which the U.N. is currently considering, with much skepticism.

The chaos in Haiti hits close to home for many in communities near Hofstra: roughly 22,000 people of Haitian descent live in Nassau County, according to a recent American Community Survey.

Although few Hofstra students were present at the town hall, many have personal connections to the country and are concerned about the unfolding crisis.

Rachel Lande, a Haitian-American junior majoring in criminology and sociology, has relatives who forego trips to the supermarket to avoid gangs roaming the streets. “It’s very upsetting to know that we’re unsure if our families [will make it] another day or not, because of how serious the situation is,” Lande said.

Keving Pierre, a junior international student from Haiti majoring in psychology and computer science, sees the crisis as a consequence of selfish and corrupt politicians. “Everyone who goes into power, they try to make their money … they don’t really care about the country, and they are easily manipulated,” Keving Pierre said.

Lande also expressed her dissatisfaction with the prevalent corruption and abuse of power by the Haitian government. “The government itself was stealing from its people, which is why Haiti suffers politically as well as economically,” Lande said.

Instead of a foreign-led intervention, many argue that foreign powers should act only in a supportive capacity to let Haitians themselves take charge of restoring peace and stability.

Raynand Pierre, a crime and labor law specialist and former member of the Haitian Journalist Association who spoke at the town hall, argues that Haitians should be the ones to make lasting change. “The most important thing [is that] we [Haitians] have to assume our responsibility in that crisis,” Raynand Pierre said. “We have to solve the problem, not waiting for Biden to solve it for us. That’s our problem.”

Lande believes that the gangs have to be dismantled before lasting peace can take place. “They may not be able to run Haiti politically, but they will be running Haiti socially,” Lande said. “Citizens will be afraid to speak up, they’re going to be afraid to vote.”

Despite the challenging situation in his home country, Keving Pierre is optimistic about the future. “I believe that in the future we’re going to have a new Haiti because I know that as a country, we are resilient,” he said. “We’re resilient people. We are powerful. We believe in ourselves and then we believe in a brighter future.”