Due to an increase in violence and threats against its employees from Haitian authorities, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced on Tuesday that it is ceasing operations in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, and the surrounding metropolitan area.
According to MSF, the suspension would begin on Wednesday and last until further notice.
Since a fatal attack on one of its ambulances last week, police have stopped MSF’s cars numerous times and directly harassed its employees, some with threats of rape and death, the organization said in a statement.
“We have no choice but to suspend our projects when even law enforcement becomes a direct threat,” said Christophe Garnier, the head of MSF’s Haiti mission. “We are accustomed to working in conditions of extreme insecurity in Haiti and elsewhere.”
A national police spokeswoman for Haiti chose not to comment.
One of the primary suppliers of high-quality, free healthcare in the Caribbean country, MSF expanded its presence in Haiti following the terrible 2010 earthquake and now runs important services like a burn clinic and a trauma center.
Only 24% of the health facilities in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area are still operational, according to a U.N. estimate last month, while those outside the capital are facing a surge of displaced persons that could compromise their capacity to deliver necessary care.
Four distinct instances of police threats and aggression were reported by MSF, including one in which an armed plainclothes officer threatened to begin executing and burning employees, patients, and ambulances starting the following week.
According to MSF, the medical assistance organization handles 1,100 outpatients, 54 children in emergency circumstances, over 80 survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, and several burn victims every week on average.
Garnier went on to say that although MSF was still dedicated to helping the people, it could only start up again if armed groups, self-defense group members, and law enforcement provided assurances of security and respect.
In a resurgence of bwa kale, a civilian vigilante movement that aims to combat armed gangs that control most of the capital and are exacerbating the humanitarian crisis, police earlier on Tuesday reported that more than two dozen suspected gang members were killed after locals joined police to repel attempted overnight attacks.
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