With the capital of Haiti on the cusp of falling to gangs, authorities in the crisis-racked Caribbean nation are turning to a new weapon in their fight against the armed groups: weaponized drones.
Some in Haiti hope that the unmanned aerial vehicles, which have shaped conflicts from Ukraine to Sudan, will free the country from its worst extremity in decades. One of its leading human rights groups backs the tactic, and a song shared widely on social media praises the drones for stirring fear among gang leaders.
But their emergence has also alarmed analysts, aid workers and other rights groups, who say their use in Haiti’s densely populated capital, Port-au-Prince, adds fuel to a combustible conflict, endangers civilians, complicates the delivery of aid and may violate international law.
“If the intention is to create the illusion that the situation is under control, this is quite the opposite,” said Romain Le Cour Grandmaison, a Haiti analyst at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. “This is a very, very dangerous escalation.”
A humanitarian worker in Port-au-Prince said aid groups are figuring out how to adapt.
“We work in places where thousands of people are present,” said the aid worker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. “This situation is clearly dangerous for civilians, especially if something were to detonate during a distribution.”
