PRINCE PORT- At least 40 migrants died and several others were injured after the boat they were travelling on caught fire off the coast of Cap Haitien, in northern Haiti, The International Organization for Migration reported on Friday (OIM) it’s a statement.
The boat, carrying more than 80 people, left Labadee on Wednesday bound for the Turks and Caicos Islands, a British territory about 250 kilometres to the north.
The Haitian Coast Guard rescued 41 people from the boat, of whom 11 were hospitalized.
Survivors told local media that the fire started after a passenger lit a candle to perform a voodoo ceremony on the ship, despite the fact that there was gasoline on board.
Those who undertake these journeys sometimes perform these ceremonies in the belief that they will protect them and allow them to avoid the coast guard.
“This devastating event highlights the risks faced by children, women and men who migrate through irregular routes and shows the crucial need for legal and safe pathways for migration,” said Grégoire Goodstein, IOM’s chief of mission in Haiti, in the statement.
“Haiti’s socio-economic situation is dire. The extreme violence of recent months has only driven Haitians to take even more desperate measures,” he added.
Poverty, violence and despair
Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, has long suffered the scourge of criminal gangs that control 80% of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and the main national highways.
Several of these gangs, accused of murder, looting, rape and kidnapping, joined forces in February to challenge then-Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
In their offensive they attacked prisons, police stations, public buildings and the airport, as well as residential neighborhoods.
Following the resignation of the controversial leader, new authorities have assumed power with the difficult task of restoring security and curbing the country’s serious humanitarian crisis.
“The lack of economic opportunities, the collapse of the health system, the closure of schools and the absence of prospects push many to consider migration as the only way to survive,” warns the IOM statement.
According to the UN organisation, the Haitian Coast Guard has observed an increasing number of attempts to leave by boat to the north.
This year, more than 86,000 migrants have been forcibly returned to Haiti by neighbouring countries, says the IOM, which is concerned about their return in “this period of unrest and uncertainty”.
Haiti’s new government has announced the imminent launch of police operations against gangs.
The national forces will be supported by 400 Kenyan police officers who have arrived in Port-au-Prince as part of a multinational security mission supported by the UN.
Source: With information from AFP
