More U.S. missionaries and other Americans who got stranded in Haiti after criminal gangs overran the country in late February have been rescued after weeks of waiting. Meanwhile, a new report from the United Nations described the troubled Caribbean nation’s condition as “cataclysmic.”
A UN report identifies corruption, impunity, and poor governance, compounded by increasing levels of gang violence, for eroding the rule of law. The result is State institutions are close to collapse.
The report comes as some U.S. missionaries who had been pleading for help and prayers after they got trapped in the government collapse reported that they were safe.
In a post last week on Facebook Jill Dolan of Love A Neighbor ministry reported that she had been rescued but had to leave behind several children she was in the process of adopting.
”The situation of the violence on children is particularly worrying. Not only children are being killed during gang attacks and caught in crossfire, but they are also increasingly used by gangs to carry out armed attacks.”
Hunger is also a significant threat. according to the U.N.’s World Food Programme 1.4 million people are “a step away from famine.”
“The violence has displaced nearly 17,000 people and has impeded the delivery of humanitarian aid.”