Dominican Republic and Suriname call for comprehensive solution as violence escalates.

On Wednesday, Dominican Republic Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez and Suriname Foreign Minister Melvin Bouva expressed concern over the prevailing insecurity in Haiti.

During a meeting held in the Dominican Republic, Alvarez and Bouva urged the international community to “double” its efforts to achieve a “comprehensive” and “sustainable” solution in this Caribbean country.

“We advocate for Haiti to achieve respect for human rights and for armed gangs that have spread insecurity in that country to be subdued,” they said in a joint statement.

Currently, Haiti is experiencing a state of political, social and economic destabilization, which has allowed urban armed gangs to dominate 90% of the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area and expand their operations into inland regions.

On Monday night, at least seven people were killed during an attack carried out by the Viv Ansanm coalition gangs in Seguin, in the municipality of Marigot, in the Southeast department.

At that location, the police station and two vehicles belonging to the Haitian National Police were set on fire during the attack.

“There is information suggesting that an associate of the gangs was being held at the Seguin police station, and the bandits responded by killing these individuals,” Marigot Mayor Rene Danneau explained.

The victims were local residents who were part of a community brigade that works alongside the National Police in combating gangs.

With this attack, a new department of the country risks falling into the hands of gangs, joining the West, Center and Artibonite departments, also located in the central part of the country.

At the end of March, at least 70 people were killed in the localities of Jean Denis and Pont Sonde, in the Artibonite department, at the hands of the armed group Gran Grif, which also injured dozens and set homes on fire.

On that occasion, NGOs and the embassies of the United States and France expressed their condemnation and rejection of the attack, which recalls other massacres that have taken place in Haiti.

According to the United Nations, gang-related violence caused the deaths of at least 5,500 people between March 2025 and mid-January 2026.

A first contingent of 50 troops from Chad arrived in Haiti on April 1, marking the start of operations of the U.N.-backed Gang Suppression Force, which is expected to reach a maximum of 5,500 personnel from Chad and other countries.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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