Rioters attack UN peacekeepers in Haiti

Rioters attacked United Nations peacekeepers as civil unrest continued in Haiti on Tuesday, paralysing attempts by aid agencies to control a cholera epidemic that has now reached every province in the country.

Although many Haitians blame Nepalese troops with the UN for bringing cholera to the earthquake-ravaged country, with at least 1,000 killed by the disease so far, the UN says rioting may be politically motivated. Presidential elections are due on November 28.

“The way in which the events unfolded leads to the belief that the incidents had a political motivation, aimed at creating a climate of insecurity on the eve of the elections,” said a statement released on Tuesday by the UN mission in Haiti, known as Minustah.

“Minustah calls on the population to remain vigilant and not let itself be manipulated by the enemies of stability and democracy in the country,” it added.

There was turmoil on Monday in two cities in the north of Haiti, Cap-Haitien and Hinche, with protesters setting cars and a police station on fire, as well as throwing rocks and bottles at UN troops. One protester was shot to death by a UN soldier.

In Cap-Haitien, the country’s second city, the operations of Oxfam remain suspended on Tuesday because of the violence, according to Julie Schindall, spokesperson in Haiti for the UK-based aid agency.

She said there had been gunfire, and that the airport and roads were blocked.

“It’s very worrisome that we have not been able to do prevention work that urgently needs to be done [in Cap-Haitien]. There are hundreds of thousands of people in extremely insanitary slums that are ripe for the spread of cholera – it’s very dangerous,” she said.

The situation in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital where January’s earthquake left over a million living in squalid conditions, remains “chaotic and troubling”, according to Doctors Without Borders. Stefano Zannini, who is in charge of their Haiti mission, said hospitals in Port-au-Prince were overwhelmed by the rapid increase of new cases and were running out of space.

“Both the short-term and long-term forecasts indicate that this situation will get worse, possibly far worse, before it gets better,” said Mr Zannini on Tuesday. “Simply put, other actors need to get more involved because the needs are far too great to be covered solely by the organisations currently working to prevent and treat cholera.”

The UN has appealed to international donors for $164m in aid, and anticipates that as many as 200,000 people will contract cholera over the next six to 12 months.

Although cholera is relatively simple to prevent, this relies on the population being educated in how to respond and practising good hygiene. But Haitians are not used to dealing with cholera, not having seen an outbreak in decades.

While this has fuelled speculation that Nepalese troops may have spread the disease, political analysts say that with elections so close it is likely that political interests may have taken advantage of the situation to provoke unrest.

“It’s naïve to think the violence is just about cholera,” said a UN official. “Without question it’s orchestrated, we are just two weeks away from an election. If it was really about the Nepalese it would have happened weeks ago. Is it coincidence that it is flaring up now and everyone has guns?”