The Global Initiative has been issuing reports giving insights into organized gangs in Haiti and the impact of the turmoil on the region.
The Global Initiative describes itself as an independent civil-society organization, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with a globally dispersed secretariat and a high-level advisory board.
Its network members include prominent law-enforcement, governance and development practitioners who are dedicated to seeking new and innovative strategies and responses to organized crime.
The Global Initiative contributes to the global conversation on organized crime by offering evidence-based analysis and a holistic perspective on transnational organized crime trends.
The Global Initiative report on gangs in Haiti states:
“In the last five years, gangs have grown rapidly in number, expanding their territories and tightening their control over Haiti’s political and economic infrastructure. They have established themselves as the mercenary partners of politicians and state administrators, as mafia-style armed groups profiting from the private sector and as the local coordinators of international criminal networks.
“There are now an estimated 200 gangs operating across Haiti, and around 95 in the capital, Port-au-Prince, alone. This has resulted in a major insecurity crisis, with large-scale attacks on communities, politicians and journalists, high levels of violence, mass kidnappings and large-scale forced displacements.”
In a more recent report, Global Initiative report on gang crisis and international responses highlights: “Over the past years, gangs have undergone a radical evolution, going from rather unstructured actors dependent on resources provided by public or private patronage to violent entrepreneurs who have been able to convert their territorial power into governance capabilities. This shift has been fueled by the gangs’ unprecedented access to firearms and the Haitian state’s inability to halt their expansion, professionalization, and propensity to impose their rule over ever-larger territories, as well as by ongoing collusion by elements of the country’s political and economic elites.”
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N Digital
El Dia
15 February 2024