The top UN envoy in Haiti has called for an end to protests against UN peacekeepers whom Haitians blame for importing a cholera epidemic that has now claimed nearly 1,200 lives.
The plea came as preparations for the Nov. 28 national poll to choose Haitian President Rene Preval’s successor pressed ahead, despite violent clashes with the peacekeepers.
“Every second that passes can save or break thousands of lives,” Edmond Mulet, head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti, said in a statement.
Demonstrators must stop blocking roads, bridges and airports so that vital humanitarian assistance can reach the thousands of people affected by the epidemic, which has killed at least 1,186 people, he said.
Humanitarian workers said the protests eased a little on Friday, but that aid agencies were still not working in the northern city of Cap Haitien, where the major violence erupted this week.
Stone-throwing youths on Thursday raced through the rubble-strewn streets of fetid camps built for earthquake survivors, as peacekeepers in armored trucks fired tear gas on the crowds in running clashes that lasted several hours.
Sporadic gunfire echoed through the capital as demonstrators blocked roads with burning tires and dumpsters overflowing with rotting garbage.
On Friday afternoon, youths threw rocks at military trucks in downtown Port-au-Prince, while soldiers responded with volleys of tear gas. UN officials have said that the demonstrations are being “orchestrated” ahead of the elections.
“If this situation continues, more and more patients in desperate need of care are likely to die and more and more Haitians -awaiting access to preventive care may be overtaken by the epidemic,” said Mulet, who is also the UN secretary-general’s special representative in Haiti.
UN agencies have made several pleas for an end to the violence, which they have said is threatening lives as the epidemic spreads.
Rumors have swirled for weeks that the cholera emanated from septic tanks at a base for Nepalese UN peacekeepers in central Haiti, leaking into the Artibonite River where locals drink, wash clothes and bathe.
The UN says it tested some of the Nepalese and found no trace of cholera, while health officials say it is impossible to know and the focus must be on containing the epidemic and not divining its source.
The unrest is especially worrying as the UN peacekeepers are scheduled to help organize and preside over the elections.
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