Growing gang violence is devastating Haitians, with major crime at a new high, UN envoy says_我的网站
A | Hundreds of Eritrean government supporters and opponents clashed with each other and with Israeli police Saturday, leaving dozens injured in one of the most violent street confrontations among African asylum seekers and migrants in Tel Aviv in recent memory. Among those hurt were 30 police officers and three protesters hit by police fire.Eritreans from both sides faced off with construction lumber, pieces of metal, rocks and at least one axe, tearing through a neighborhood of south Tel Aviv where many asylum seekers live. Protesters smashed shop windows and police cars, and blood spatter was seen on sidewalks. One government supporter was lying in a puddle of blood in a children's playground. Israeli police in riot gear shot tear gas, stun grenades and live rounds while officers on horseback tried to control the protesters, who broke through barricades and hurled chunks rocks at the police. Police said officers resorted to live fire when they felt their lives were in danger.The clashes came as Eritrean government supporters marked the 30th anniversary of the current ruler's rise to power. The event was held near the Eritrean embassy in south Tel Aviv. Eritrea has one of the world's worst human rights records. Asylum seekers in Israel and elsewhere say they fear death if they were to return.Eritrean protesters clash with Israeli riot police in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023. Ohad Zwigenberg / AP Police said Eritrean government supporters and opponents had received permission for separate events Saturday, and had promised to stay away from each other.
At some point, the promises were broken, said Chaim Bublil, a Tel Aviv police commander. "A decision was made by the government opponents to break through the barriers, to clash with the police, to throw stones, to hit police officers," Bublil told reporters at the scene.He said the police had arrested 39 people and confiscated tasers, knives and clubs.The Magen David Adom rescue service said at least 114 people were hurt, including eight who were in serious condition. The others had moderate or mild injuries. Of those hurt, 30 were police officers, said Bublil.
A spokesperson for Tel Aviv's Ichilov Hospital said it was treating 11 patients for gunshot wounds. Police said three protesters were wounded by police fire.By late Saturday afternoon, the clashes had stopped. Police were still rounding up protesters, putting them on buses.A supporter of the Eritrean government lies injured and covered in blood after he was hurt by an Anti-Eritrean government activist, during a protest against an event organized by the Eritrea Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023. Ohad Zwigenberg / AP Many of the anti-government protesters wore sky blue shirts designed after Eritrea's 1952 flag, a symbol of opposition to the government of the east African country, while government supporters wore purple shirts with a map of Eritrea.Eritreans make up the majority of the more than 30,000 African asylum seekers in Israel. They say they fled danger and persecution from a country known as the "North Korea of Africa" with forced lifetime military conscription in slavery-like conditions. Eritrea's government has denounced anti-government protesters as " asylum scum " who have marched against similar events in Europe and North America.President Isaias Afwerki, 77, has led Eritrea since 1993, taking power after the country won independence from Ethiopia after a long guerrilla war. There have been no elections and there's no free media. Exit visas are required for Eritreans to leave the country. Many young people are forced into military service with no end date, human rights groups and United Nations experts say.Eritrean protesters clash with Israeli riot police in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023. Ohad Zwigenberg / AP In Israel, they face an uncertain future as the state has attempted to deport them. But despite the struggle to stay, in often squalid conditions, many say they enjoy some freedoms they never would have at home — like the right to protest.Eritrean asylum seekers are often "hunted and harassed" by the Eritrean government and its supporters inside Israel, said Sigal Rozen, from the Tel Aviv-based human rights organization Hotline for Refugees and Migrants.
Events like the one held in Tel Aviv on Saturday are controversial because they raise money for the heavily sanctioned government and are used to pressure Eritreans far from home, said Elizabeth Chyrum, director of the London-based Human Rights Concern — Eritrea.
。 UNITED NATIONS -- Growing gang violence in Haiti is devastating the lives of its people, with major crimes rising to a new high, the U.N. special envoy for the conflict-wracked Caribbean nations said Monday.Maria Isabel Salvador told the U.N. Security Council that every day sees gangs engaging in killings, sexual violence including collective rapes and mutilation, and kidnapping. She pointed to last week's incident in which gang members dressed as police officers kidnapped the secretary general of the High Transitional Council, which is responsible for ensuring that long-delayed elections are held.Salvador said the security crisis is even more complex because vigilante groups that have taken to fighting the gangs are still active. Between April 24 and Sept. 30, she said, the U.N. political mission “registered the lynching of at least 395 alleged gang members across all 10 departments of Haiti by the so called `Bwa Kale’ vigilante movement.”Catherine Russell, head of the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF, echoed Salvador, telling the council: “The crisis in Haiti grows worse by the day.”An estimated 2 million people, including 1.6 million women and children, live in areas under gang control, she said, and children are getting killed and injured in crossfire, some on the way to school. “Others are being forcibly recruited or they are joining armed groups out of sheer desperation,” Russell said.She said half of Haiti’s population, including 3 million children, need aid — and half of those in need aren’t getting it because of insecurity and a lack of funding. So far, this year, she said, the U.N. has received barely 25% of the $720 million it needs for humanitarian needs in the country.Since 2022, Russell said, UNICEF has seen “an unprecedented 30% increase in the number of Haitian children suffering from severe wasting” — to more than 115,000. Severe wasting is the most lethal type of malnutrition, in which food is so lacking that a child’s immune system is compromised, according to UNICEF.“The malnutrition crisis coincides with an ongoing cholera outbreak — in which nearly half of the more than suspected cases are children under 14,” Russell added. Salvador stressed “the enormous significance” of the Security Council’s Oct. 2 approval of a resolution authorizing a multinational force led by Kenya to deploy in Haiti to help combat gangs. Kenya’s Cabinet gave its approval Oct. 13, but its Parliament still must sign off.U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a report to the council circulated Monday welcomed Kenya’s offer and thanked Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas and Jamaica for publicly committing to contributing personnel to the mission.The council’s approval came nearly a year after Haiti’s prime minister called for the immediate deployment of an armed force, in hopes it could quell gang violence and restore security so Haiti can hold elections. Haiti lost its last democratically elected institution in January, when the terms of 10 remaining senators expired, leaving not a single lawmaker in the House or Senate. Since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, Prime Minister Ariel Henry has been governing with the backing of the international community.Salvador told the council she continues to engage with a wide range of Haitians, “encouraging their full commitment to national dialogue efforts to get onto a path to elections to fully re-establish democratic institutions and the rule of law.”But, she said, “significant differences persist, all of which are critical to placing Haiti on a clear path to elections,” adding that “the efforts towards elections are not moving at a desired pace.”。
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