Haiti Gang Wars: Over 300 Children Take Refuge at School Over Violence

Over 300 children are taking refuge at a school in Cite Soleil, Haiti amid the gang wars that are ongoing in the country.

According to Associated Press, there are 315 people in a school known as Saint-Louis de Gonzague. The said school is located in the Delmas District, which is neighboring the violence-plagues neighborhood of Cite Soleil in Port-au-Prince.

According to reports, classes in the school are out due to summer vacation. The classrooms are converted into dormitories.

Francisco Seriphin, the general coordinator for the religious community group Kizito, said many of the children taking refuge at the school came without parents.

The group of children is composed of teenagers, children, and toddlers that sleep on the floor without mattresses, and some are sleeping on small mattresses provided by the nonprofit group. Some of the children were also asked to wait in line to give information about their parents, whom some are missing due to the gang wars in the country.

Haiti 'Kids Need a Lot of Help' - Sister

Sister Rosemiline from the nonprofit group Kizito Family previously told BBC that the children in the said school "need a lot of help" amid the gang wars in Haiti.

"The situation is really bad where they are from. We are waiting for food but what we get is not satisfactory to the kids," Sister Rosemiline said.

Jean Michelet, a 16-year-old who takes refuge in the said school, shared that he experienced the violence of gang wars in his home.

"I was home on the day the war started. It was a lot of shooting. A bullet went through the roof and it hit me in the head," he said, adding that a nun took him to the hospital to have his injury treated.

A community organizer also told Reuters previously that the children in Haiti need to wear school uniforms to convince the gang leaders that they are on their way to class to escape the violence brought by the gang wars.

Haiti Gang Wars

The violence started to erupt in Haiti on July 7, after gang wars occurred between G9 and G-Pep. The said gangs are reportedly fighting over the control of the Cite Soleil in Port-au-Prince.

The violence reportedly started when members of G9 stormed the territory of G-Pep to unseat its leader, Ti Gabriel.

Both groups reportedly formed alliances with local gangs that increased their strength in terms of weaponry, manpower, and resources.

According to Human Rights Watch, around 300 people have reportedly been killed in the aftermath of the gang wars.

The organization emphasized that 21 of those numbers were burned. Furthermore, 16 people have also been reported missing.

Human Rights Watch also noted that gangs also burned homes in Haiti and used heavy machinery to demolish them. The organization said that 125 homes were destroyed last week.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written By: Joshua Summers

WATCH: Hundreds Shelter at School to Escape Haiti Gang War - From Associated Press