Haiti PORT-AU-PRINCE (AP) — Thousands of doctors, nurses and other health professionals across Haiti hit a strike to protest the increase in gang-related kidnappings.People supported the strike by burning tires and cutting roads on Tuesday.
The three-day strike, which began on Monday, closed public and private medical centers in the capital Port-au-Prince and elsewhere. Only the emergency department wing admitted patients.
“We are in a critical situation where no one is protected,” said Dr. Louis Gerald Gilles, who closed private practices in the Delmas area on Tuesday to protest the recent kidnapping of two doctors. “No professional is protected. Today I can become a doctor, and tomorrow I can enter the office of a lawyer or architect.”
According to a report published by the UN Security Council in mid-February, the kidnapping of Haiti increased by 180% last year, and 655 cases were reported to the police. The authorities believe that the number is even higher because many kidnappings are not reported.
The report said, “The social group was spared. Among the victims were daytime workers, merchants, religious leaders, teachers, doctors, journalists, human rights advocates and foreigners.”
They recently kidnapped two doctors and feared employees of the General Hospital of Port-au-Prince, who said that on Tuesday, union members met and that the situation was increasingly dysfunctional after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on July 7.
They added that the government of Prime Minister Ariel Henry was concerned about the lack of security, accusing the Ministry of Health for not disclosing the necessary funds for basic services.
Guerline Jean-Louis, a 44-year-old hospital director who joined the strike, said: “You can go in here and take anyone and leave without worries.” “That's why we support the movement.”
It was not immediately possible to ask officials from the Haitian Ministry of Health for their opinion.
Some patients, such as Mario Fleurimon, a 39-year-old elementary school teacher, did not know about the strike.
On Tuesday, he went to a medical facility that was vacant except for one security guard. He expressed his support for the strike, although he was frustrated by not being able to see a doctor for a consultation related to diabetes.
“There must be a general uprising to combat anxiety,” he said.
In a recent statement, the Haitian Medical Association called for the government to impose unconditional release of doctors and take action “to stop a wave of anxiety that deprives us of fundamental freedoms to live our lives freely.”
One of the doctors arrested was released on Tuesday, but at first the terms of the release were unknown.
The prime minister promised to pursue the pinnacle of kidnapping and gang violence, while the United States and other countries provided resources and training to help police with a shortage of manpower and funds.
The strike of medical professionals was due to end on Wednesday.There was another strike by the Haitian Association of Owners and Drivers, scheduled to protest against the theft of vehicles in the town of Martissant on Thursday, which was severely affected by gang clashes that kidnapped or killed several civilians, many of them on public buses.