Ordinary people leave their homes only rarely in Port-au-Prince

Haiti’s national police have battled back bravely, but with limited resources. They cannot be everywhere at once – and they themselves are often the targets, with several police stations attacked or burned down in the past two weeks.

Haiti’s current security crisis is the most crippling it has faced in years – a once unthinkable escalation for a country that has long suffered chronic violence, political crises and drought, leaving some 5.5 million Haitians – about half the population – in need of humanitarian assistance.

Henry came to power unelected in 2021 following the assassination of Haiti’s then-President Jovenel Moïse. His premiership has been marred by months of spiraling gang violence, which grew more intense after he failed to hold elections last month, saying the country’s insecurity would compromise the vote.

On Monday, amid enormous pressure to do something to staunch the violence in Port-au-Prince, Henry did announce his resignation. He would hand over power to a transitional council, he said. But by week’s end, the council had yet to be formed.

One last hope for Port-au-Prince may be the deployment of foreign troops to reinforce police and confront the gangs, in a mission requested by Henry, green-lighted by the UN Security Council and led by Kenya.

Restoring peace to the streets would be the first step in allowing Haiti to hold a vote and eventually elect a new government. In fact, when the worst of the violence erupted last week, Henry was in Kenya to sign an agreement to send 1,000 Kenyan police officers to Haiti.

But as chaos continues, hopes for the cavalry in Port-au-Prince are fading. Following Henry’s resignation announcement, Kenya said its forces’ deployment would be postponed, citing the Haitian government’s instability.