Haiti gangs threaten 'civil war' as unrest spreads

The gang leader behind the violence blighting the Haitian capital has warned there will be a "civil war" if Haiti's prime minister, Ariel Henry, does not step down.

Jimmy "Barbecue" Chérizier made the threat as members of his gang tried to seize the capital's airport to stop Mr Henry from returning from abroad.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said the situation was "beyond untenable".

Thousands of Haitians have had to flee.

Aid groups say about 15,000 people, among them many young children, have been displaced from their homes in recent weeks.

Mr Türk said that since the beginning of the year, "a staggering 1,193 people have been killed, and 692 others injured by gang violence".

He urged the international community to "act swiftly and decisively to prevent Haiti's further descent into chaos".

According to the Miami Herald newspaper, the US state department is pressuring Prime Minister Henry to resign.

The paper reports that US officials conveyed their message to Mr Henry as he was in mid-air during his attempt to fly back to Haiti on Tuesday.

Mr Henry's whereabouts had been unknown for days until late on Tuesday, when he boarded a charter flight in New Jersey.

Reports said Mr Henry had planned to land in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, but with the airport closed due to the gangs' attempts to seize it, and neighbouring Dominican Republic turning the plane away, the pilot eventually landed in the US territory of Puerto Rico.

Haitian media report that Mr Henry is now seeking alternative routes back into the country while diplomatic pressure appears to be mounting on him to agree to a transitional government.

Asked about the Miami Herald's report, US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said: "What we have asked the Haitian PM to do is to move forward on a political process that will lead to the establishment of a Presidential Transitional Council that will lead to elections."

Meanwhile, tension remains high in Haiti, with Jimmy "Barbecue" Chérizier warning on Tuesday that "if Ariel Henry does not resign ... we'll be heading straight for a civil war that will lead to genocide".

The G9 alliance which he leads has unleashed a wave of violence, including attacks on police stations and the storming of the country's two main prisons. Thousands of inmates escaped in a mass jailbreak on Saturday.

Haiti has been blighted by gang violence for years. But while Prime Minister Henry was on a visit to Kenya last week, Barbecue escalated the violence.

Mr Henry was aiming to agree a deal for Kenya to lead a multinational police operation to quell the violence in Haiti.

Barbecue fears Mr Henry would use the forces to stay in power.

The gang leader has been opposed to the prime minister since he took over power shortly after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, without an election.

Critics of Mr Henry argue his rule is illegitimate. They also point to the fact that two and a half years after coming to power he has still not organised presidential elections, as he had originally promised.

The prime minister has not spoken publicly since the violence erupted. He has only retweeted the declaration of the state of emergency decreed by one of his ministers in his absence.

It is not clear what gang leader Barbecue's longer term aims are. On Tuesday he urged Haitians "to unite".

"Either Haiti becomes a paradise for all of us, or a hell for all of us," he told journalists, wearing a bullet-proof vest.

In the past he has suggested created a "council of elders", a group of civil society representatives from different regions, to replace the prime minister.

Haiti has no elected government officials. No elections have been held since 2016 in the country.

The vacuum created by the lack of elected officials has been filled by gangs, who are estimated to control around 80% of the capital.

Kidnappings for ransom are common and many schools and hospitals have had to close due to the lack of security.

Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said it had to temporarily suspend its mobile clinics in several sites.

"We fear we will run out of medicines and medical supplies, which are absolutely essential to meet the enormous needs we are facing at the moment," MSF head of mission Mumuza Muhindo Musubaho said.

Violence has so far been mainly concentrated in the capital and its environs. But there have also been reports of shootings in the town of Jeremie, in the south west, and of a prison riot in Jacmel in the south.

The United Nations Security Council said it would hold an emergency meeting later on Wednesday to discuss the violence.