Haiti: Children Trapped by Criminal Violence and Hunger
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SOUNDBITE:
The gang leaders often try to give me a gun. I always say no because that's not the life I want. If you carry a gun, you end up dead. And after that, there's no place left to go. I want freedom, so I don’t own a gun, but that’s not a good thing for me either.
WARNING:
This video contains descriptions of violence.
Interviewees have requested anonymity for their safety.
Viewer discretion advised.
NARRATION:
Criminal groups control around eighty percent of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince and its metropolitan area.
Two point seven million people, including around half a million children, live under their control, according to UNICEF.
NARRATION:
To survive, countless children join criminal groups, driven mainly by hunger and extreme poverty.
Many more have been recruited recently, seemingly in response to the operations of the Multinational Security Support mission and the Haitian National Police.
Once in the groups, they are forced into illegal activities and face abuses.
NARRATION:
Abandoned by the state, deprived of food, education and health care, these children find in criminal groups their only source of livelihood, shelter and income.
NARRATION:
The government should urgently address children’s needs, including adequate food, shelter, protection, and education.
Authorities should also ensure children have legal opportunities for rehabilitation and holding the criminal groups accountable.
SOUNDBITE:
My situation is pretty rough. I’d even say I live poorly, eat poorly, and drink poorly. I used to live with my dad, but he passed away. My mom had nine kids, so the family split up. Some of us ended up on the streets, and others got involved with gangs. Sometimes I get a little money from the gangs I work for, and they usually give me some cash to take to my mom.
NARRATION:
Criminal groups recruit children as young as ten. They start as informants or running errands, but soon, many of them are carrying weapons, looting, extorting, and kidnapping.
NARRATION:
Criminal groups recruit children as young as 10.
They start as informants or running errands, but soon, many of them are carrying weapons, looting, extorting, and kidnapping.
After a few months, they’re sent into clashes with the police or rival groups.
Children earn between one and fifteen dollars per month, plus food, which they often use to support their families.
This fourteen-year-old joined a criminal group after his father passed away.
SOUNDBITE:
My father died. I went to live with a gang. The guys taught me how to shoot and how to load a gun. They even had me commit a kidnapping.
NARRATION:
Tired of the violence, many children want to leave the groups and return to school.
But nearly one thousand schools remain closed in the most vulnerable areas, affecting over one hundred and fifty thousand children.
A few local organizations offer safe spaces where children can find some support, but much more help is needed.
Social Worker
SOUNDBITE:
We encounter all kinds of children every day. Among them are children who have been abandoned and are unaccompanied, and who have been separated from their family. Others have families that live in very precarious economic circumstances, very, very vulnerable families. They are forced to align themselves with the criminal groups to support their families. Every day the violence increases. Every day the violence increases. So, those children from the community have no other choice because it’s impossible for the majority of public and private schools to operate normally.
NARRATION:
There is a lack of planning and funding to ensure these children receive protection, including through access to education, to rehabilitation and reintegration programs, or accountability for abuses against them.
NARRATION:
Girls are especially vulnerable to abuse. Members and leaders of these groups sexually exploit them.
They are also exploited for labor such as cooking and cleaning.
This sixteen-year-old who is pregnant, was a member of a criminal group.
SOUNDBITE:
I left my parents' house because my mother couldn’t afford to support me, so I left.
I was involved with a gangster in Gressier.
I cooked for them, I bought clothes for them, even sandals. Whatever they needed, I bought it.
NARRATION:
A comprehensive strategy involving all relevant government entities and Haiti’s stakeholders is needed to coordinate a rights-based response for children associated with criminal groups.
That strategy should also include ensuring accountability for criminal groups that recruit children and use them in criminal activities.
NARRATION:
Haiti’s stakeholders should act urgently for the long-term rehabilitation of children, to strengthen communities, and to build peace.
SOUNDBITE:
I just want to go to school and get back on track to make my dreams come true so I can get off the streets.
In Haiti, hundreds, if not thousands, of children driven by rising hunger and severe poverty have joined criminal groups, where they are forced into illegal activities and face abuse, Human Rights Watch said today. A recent increase in criminal groups’ recruitment of children appears to be in response to the operations of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission and the Haitian National Police. As the school year begins, the new transitional government should prioritize an education-focused strategy that protects children, ensures that security measures do not violate their rights, addresses their urgent needs, provides them a legal exit from criminal groups, and holds perpetrators accountable.