40 people killed in migrant boat fire off Haiti’s coast

 

At a minimum of 40 individuals have perished following a vessel they were on engulfed in flames off the Haitian coast earlier this week, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) disclosed on Friday, referencing information from local officials.

The ship departed Haiti on Wednesday, transporting more than 80 individuals, with plans to reach Turks and Caicos, according to the IOM. The organization also reported that Haiti's Coast Guard had saved 41 people from the sea.

In a press release, Grégoire Goodstein, the head of the IOM's operation in Haiti, attributed the incident to the country's worsening security situation and the absence of "secure and lawful routes for migration."

"The dire economic and social conditions in Haiti are unbearable. The severe violence that has occurred over the last few months has forced Haitians to take increasingly desperate actions," he said .

Haiti is facing a triple threat of gang violence, a failing healthcare system, and a shortage of basic necessities, prompting many Haitians to undertake perilous journeys abroad.

The crisis in the Caribbean country intensified earlier this year with a surge in gang violence, which led to the ouster of the previous government. Since then, the number of people trying to migrate by sea from Haiti has increased, as reported by the IOM.

However, the turmoil within Haiti has not deterred the governments of its neighbors from bringing back Haitian migrants in large numbers.

"This year, more than 86,000 migrants have been forcibly returned to Haiti by its neighbors. In March, despite a rise in violence and the shutdown of airports across the nation, the number of forced returns spiked by 46%, reaching 13,000 in just one month," the agency stated.

Lately, the nomination of new Prime Minister Garry Conille and the deployment of hundreds of foreign troops to strengthen Haiti’s National Police have brought a glimmer of hope for tackling the crisis. The United Nations Security Council-endorsed Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, under the leadership of Kenya, has commenced its operations in the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince.