At least 40 migrants died and several were injured after a boat caught fire off Haiti‘s northern coast on Friday.
According to the UN‘s International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Haitian Coast Guard managed to rescue 41 survivors, with 11 requiring hospitalization, some due to burns. The boat, carrying over 80 people, had embarked from Labadee on Wednesday, aiming for the Turks and Caicos Islands, approximately 150 miles (240 kilometers) away.
The cause of the fire remains unknown.”Haiti’s socioeconomic situation is in agony,” remarked Gregoire Goodstein, IOM’s chief of mission in Haiti. “The extreme violence over the past months has only brought Haitians to resort to desperate measures even more.”
The capital city, Port-au-Prince, is particularly affected, with gangs controlling 80 percent of the area. Residents endure daily threats of murder, rape, theft, and kidnapping. In response, hundreds of police officers from Kenya have been deployed to the capital as part of an international effort to stabilize the country.
Since late February, the Haitian Coast Guard has noted a surge in boat departures. Neighboring countries, including the United States, the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and Jamaica, report intercepting increasing numbers of boats originating from Haiti. This year alone, over 86,000 migrants have been forcibly returned to Haiti, according to the IOM.
According to the UN‘s International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Haitian Coast Guard managed to rescue 41 survivors, with 11 requiring hospitalization, some due to burns. The boat, carrying over 80 people, had embarked from Labadee on Wednesday, aiming for the Turks and Caicos Islands, approximately 150 miles (240 kilometers) away.
The cause of the fire remains unknown.”Haiti’s socioeconomic situation is in agony,” remarked Gregoire Goodstein, IOM’s chief of mission in Haiti. “The extreme violence over the past months has only brought Haitians to resort to desperate measures even more.”
The capital city, Port-au-Prince, is particularly affected, with gangs controlling 80 percent of the area. Residents endure daily threats of murder, rape, theft, and kidnapping. In response, hundreds of police officers from Kenya have been deployed to the capital as part of an international effort to stabilize the country.
Since late February, the Haitian Coast Guard has noted a surge in boat departures. Neighboring countries, including the United States, the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and Jamaica, report intercepting increasing numbers of boats originating from Haiti. This year alone, over 86,000 migrants have been forcibly returned to Haiti, according to the IOM.