Since this past weekend, the extent of the damage in neighborhoods of lower Delmas and Port-au-Prince, which have been under gang control for months, has begun to emerge. While drone images had already given an idea of the devastation in these neighborhoods, visits to the sites earlier this week by members of the population confirmed that everything must be rebuilt. According to images circulating online, in most cases only the walls of the buildings remain standing. Residents of Nazon, Delmas 30, Solino, Delmas 24… were able to access the areas after the leader of the gang coalition Viv Ansanm, Barbecue, called on displaced persons to return home. The gangs occupying these zones were pulled back, according to viral footage shared on social media.

Upon returning to the ruins of their homes, members of the population expressed their determination to go back. They said it plainly. It is common knowledge that life in the camps is harsh, even inhumane. For months and months, they waited in vain for law enforcement to retake the neighborhoods. From Garry Conille to Didier Fils-Aimé, from Edgard Leblanc to Lesly Voltaire and Fritz Jean to Laurent Saint-Cyr, they have heard only slogans and promises. In the meantime, there have been changes in leadership at the head of the PNH and the Armed Forces of Haiti, as well as the arrival of the multinational force. None of this has ever troubled the gangs.