MSF cites police violence as operations suspended in Haitian capital
Al Jazeera
Move follows ambulance attack in which patients were executed and staff tear-gassed.
Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, announced it has halted services in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince due to “violence and threats from police”.
The international medical charity said in a statement overnight on Tuesday that police officers had repeatedly stopped its vehicles and threatened staff with death and rape over the past week.
Haiti has been plagued by violence and instability in recent years, with police and vigilantes now fighting a vicious war against gangs that took control of most of Port-au-Prince earlier this year.
The chaos has left MSF as one of the main providers of quality healthcare in Haiti. However, the NGO said patient admissions have been suspended in five medical facilities in the capital until further notice.
“We are used to working in conditions of extreme insecurity in Haiti and elsewhere, but when even law enforcement becomes a direct threat, we have no choice but to suspend our projects,” said Haiti mission chief Christophe Garnier.
