Haiti Gang Neighborhoods Under Military Scrutiny as Armed Soldiers Confront Civilians

Haiti Gang Neighborhoods Under Military Scrutiny as Armed Soldiers Confront Civilians

Armed soldiers wielding AK-47s confront civilians in some of Haiti's roughest gang-controlled neighborhoods, ordering people out of cars and threatening arrest. The report captures tense encounters on streets claimed by gang members, including a stop at a petrol station where police and military activity unfolds amid the struggle over resources and control.

Inside Haiti’s Gang Neighborhoods (interrogated by military). | Transcript:

soldiers run out with AK-47 tell us to get out of the car now and they just came out and print guns on us and they said they're going to arrest you these are some of the roughest streets I've ever seen what is this place yes here we are here have been claimed by gang members we just stopped at a petrol station it's absolutely I'm trying to see where he's putting together police are over here with massive machine guns what they did they bought all the gallons but they feel their own gallons and left the police come and sabotage other people getting petrol but they take it for themselves exactly all these books and the posters are all Publications that you've been featured

in uh-huh everywhere I am and the guy walking down the street with no pants no underwear and just a shirt kids I stood it and then still go to the school and then after that someone is coming with the shotgun give the kids really is this area is already claimed by a gang member we are right in a woman that you knew warned you and said just be careful because there's a lot of kidnapping around here yeah it's like a tank bulldozer right yep that will demolish your house where do those people find the money in a poor country like that to build those massive housing and where would you say that they find the money Corruptions and drugs this is actually the war zone area so we're in war zone right now yeah

we're in the war zone everyone that is working in this area they're gonna quickly pass they're shooting from up down there to up there because that is going through that way as well can't get shot so we're not going forward we are Haiti the poorest country in all of the Americas a country that has faced constant struggle from earthquakes 7.3 magnitude earthquake 220 000 people killed to gang wars gang war rages on in the capital city of Port-au-Prince kidnappings and killings getting even worse throughout the country armed violence has reached unimaginable and intolerable level countless kidnappings country's most powerful gangs is believed to be behind the kidnapping of 17 missionaries this has become daily life tires burning on

city streets protesters furious at the government's inability to confront kidnappers corruption foreign these are amongst the poorest people in the world with an average salary of less than 3.50 a day the situation has become so desperate that there is currently a mass Exodus from the country 200 migrants stopped at sea deep in the jungle in Panama parents clinging to their children bracing for the hundreds of miles ahead more than a dozen Haitian migrants who are dead after the boat they were on capsized millions of people fleeing risking their lives for the chance of a better one so what is this notoriously dangerous country like on the ground well I guess we'll just have

to jump on a plane if we want the answer to that one gunshots and Terror echoing in the streets of Haiti what is this place this is actually a Wars on these guys with guns everywhere these are some of the roughest streets I've ever seen and they said they're gonna arrest you well I guess I'm going to a Haitian prison right now this country is so extreme the assassination the furthest I've ever been pushed on any of my trips so basically now we have to just get out of here because we don't want to be caught in crossfire the bus will protect from stray bullets is that right yeah

welcome back to Porto Prince capital city of Haiti here behind me a beautiful city geographically but underneath that very dark things happen here if you saw the last video you would have seen it on the way back from what's known as sit to Soleil Sun City which is rated as the most dangerous place in the world I witnessed something that I never thought I would see in my lifetime we did witness a kidnapping today we're going into another part of the city we're going to see the downtown area which I've been told by my guy on the ground here that it's like a war zone basically many people have fled from that region because of gang rival fightings we're gonna go in there today and see what it's like we could get

caught up in some fire and things but you know we're gonna go with our heads down the guy I'm with Sean he really knows what he's doing in this city let's go for another day in Haiti here and never ceases to amaze this place okay so Sean's just picked me up we're heading downtown but he was a bit delayed because this morning a bunch of motorbike taxi guys went around in protest of the fuel situation here so basically fuel is instantly sold to the black market and doesn't go to the petrol station so people are struggling to get fuel so what this taxi motorbike drivers were doing they were going around and people that are selling the petrol on the side of the road they were going around and stabbing it with knives

so it leaks out in protest of saying stop selling Petrol in the black market and sell it in the petrol stations at a reasonable price pretty crazy hey Sean oh it is that's basically what's happening and I like the movement what they do in the protestation because what happened they will sell the cars at the gas stations those gas stations will sell it to those guys and then they will sell it on the streets for three times a month the actual price so those motorcycles decided to go around and just stop stabbing those gallons that we find on the streets anywhere that they can't find them even if they are behind a big pickup truck they will stop it we'll just stopped to the petrol station

it's absolute Mayhem have a look this is insane people are fighting shouting at each other people are just shouting at each other it's chaos here people throwing around big containers trying to get petrol these are all the motorbike taxi guys we were just talking about yes that is them but still some of them still have gallons in the back okay so the containers on the back they're trying to come fill up yep wow so this protest just erupted this morning Sean lives close to my hotel probably five minutes Drive took him 40 minutes to get there the reason why he bought his gallon is because uh the gas station is only providing in the garden they're not giving the

motorcycles actually so they won't put it in their motorbike directly only in the containers okay so this is what we call the black market that's why it's actually working they're throwing containers look there's petrol flying around this is nuts if you can't make out what's happening they've got the petrol pump dangling down and people are fighting to grab the petrol pump how do they pay for this is this free no it's not for me at all they have to pay for it but they have girls who are getting at a better dad and have to be a little bit extra so they pay more who are they paying because it's absolute chaos here well the guy who's holding that too and he's just getting money yeah he's no one getting money I'm

trying to see where he's putting together this is like an accident waiting to happen right it's an accident waiting to happen it heads were going everywhere he's the Prime Minister that put the country in the situation that it is right now they believe that the Prime Minister who is now in place was an approach to assassinate the president who died recently last year and he's the one who put the country in the situation that it is today do you have a message you want to say to him right now taxi driver so that he can find money that he can continue supporting his family and ask him well you guys are in a position where you stabbing all the gallons but you still have your guns as a motorcycle guys right he said well

that's the only way I can find the girl right so he doesn't like how it is but he has to do it yeah exactly okay let's see all right so the guy taking the money just has a massive bag on the front full of cash and change and he's in charge of taking and receiving the money and giving change I do not even be that guy's job he's just getting shout outs grabbed the police are over here with massive machine guns so what are the police doing here they're getting uh they didn't travel even getting uh all the balance as well so the police are buying petrol they're all buying petrol and Garland just like everyone is doing so you can look at that it's like everyone is so the police get to go to the front of the line exactly okay and then now the

left is gonna be a chaos because there is no police officers around so the police don't even want to be any part of this they go and get out of it they just left okay this is the total corruption that is happening in this country it's messed up here the country is not functioning and that all those authorities that are in power right now I need to leave the country and leave power because they life is becoming more money and he wants them to leave because uh departments have been in power for about a year and then nothing is functioning in this country that's what they say so they've just shut off the petrol now the shot of the petrol once the police left said the poll is what they did they passed all the gallons but they filled

their own garlands and left but the police come and sabotage other people getting petrol but they take it for themselves exactly everybody's leaving now because they've shut off the pumps the police show up apparently what we've been told the police stab the other guy's petrol and they take the petrol for themselves and then the pumps are shut down cannot believe it because the police are supposed to be here to protect and help you exactly this should be here to protect and look at security too the gas station people but they're not doing it they took their own guys and then left and that is just this chaos that like any like there could be a huge Riot right now exactly there's

nobody here to like help there's no police officer there's a guy standing over there with a shotgun and he's just kind of watching this guy is a security guard for the gas station what's the guy he said he can't do anything really they're raving their engine isn't this going to blow up or something you know it's insane something they're raving their exhaust next to all this petrol that's been spilled all right anything can happen at any time on this gas station right now we should probably leave if it's going to explode no so people just kept coming up to me and wanting to shout at the camera and get to tell basically how much of a state the country is in wow where are we heading now Sean we are going downtown area

around uh ballet one of the um another slum area we'll see if we can get through there's a full-blown war going on there and it's been going on for a month and so they're not picking up their phone right yes okay yeah that's what's happening so I will go down there I know where to find them and we'll see uh what we can find hey Sean so these are some of the roughest streets I've ever seen what is this place this area here have been claimed by gang members uh this is actually a war zone and up there we're gonna take a quick look man this does this feels really bad here man oh yeah this is the catheter which was damaged by the earthquake in 2010. in this area right here this is where this is

actually the war zone area here so we're in a war zone right now yeah we're in the war zone see there is no one this street right here this long Street right now you have a group down there that's called G9 that's controlling the area and then up there is gpip so as you can see everyone that is working in this area they're gonna quickly pass like look at him he's gonna quickly try to pass so because anyway he's looking down see look at that he's looking up and look it down and trying to give it away as fast as possible that you can go because they're shooting from up down there to up there right so any person that is going that attack is a threat they will shoot at you because that is going through that way as well can't get shot

so we're not going forward we are no you're joking yeah we are you serious oh my God in there as well that's another part and you're not worried here you have contacts in this neighborhood yes I tried to call them they've been in War for the last this month right and now I can't even reach them on the phone yeah Drive quickly across that road got shot at oh man this is a lot that's crazy I recently saw a clip right at this park here where there was a shooting and people were just running everywhere footage now showing the moment crowds Run for Cover

fleeing as heavy gunfire rings out near a park suspected rival gang members setting a cathedral on fire as they fight to take control of more territory this is a supreme court right here Supreme Court yeah the Supreme Court is right in the middle of this battle Zone here yes and this whole called administrative City so most of the government buildings will be building here it's they started here already the palace used to be right up front but it was damaged by the earthquake in 2010 they haven't revealed it yet this Tower is called Tower of 2004 which was built to commemorate 200 years of freedom from the French what is that massive bulldozer this here is Haitian army that's an armored bulldozer yep

it's like a tank bulldozer right yep that will demolish your house I think they made that themselves this is local yeah I can say that's a homemade job yeah something insane just happened we're filming that big like tank bulldozer thing soldiers run out with AK-47 tell us to get out of the car now we have to jump out of the car they start questioning us like quite aggressively they're like who is this guy you know to Sean and Sean's sake but he's a journalist and uh they were like well where's his passport and things where's this stuff give me his credentials I say you know I don't carry that round because if my bag gets stolen you know like look where we are you know who knows what could happen my back could

get stolen maybe I lose my camera gear but I don't want my like documentation and my passport to be stolen right so he's like no if he doesn't have his passport we're going to arrest him and they were like he's arrested he's illegal and he was fully convinced and in my mind I was like well I guess I'm going to a Haitian prison right now you know I just kind of like made peace with the fact of course you know I was full of adrenaline so Sean what exactly just happened oh you almost got arrested that's what happened so we actually went to the uh army base around the base so we were filming uh what do you call what they had us as a big check oh bulldozer big tank and we were just filming it and it

just came out and print guns in us and just like stopped the car so I had to raise my hands to show that you know I'm not I don't have a weapon just count them down and then they decide uh to search in the car if there was any guns or any ammunitions and stuff and I opposite myself as a journalist so they saw my card and then they were like okay uh give me the car paper and it was registration and your license give it to them everything was okay and then they asked you for your purpose and then you didn't have it and then they said you have them in your phone but which was not accepted and they said they're gonna arrest you everything that they find said I'm gonna arrest him I said no you

can't arrest him I'm going to city I'm going to Belle what if they take their passport his passport and took all his uh belongings how he's gonna going to travel back to the UK again and then uh they said okay all right we'll let him go because it was like he was looked fully convinced there's no way I was leaving there no you know we were not going to leave so I had to convince him in some kind of way and that was right next to that big tank bulldozer thing there's the military there that's the central government District right there and just behind it was that street that we had to drive through to not get shot at really quickly and that's right next to where that's happening this country

is beyond any kind of comprehension you know many scenes on the news show people burning tires and throwing them in the middle of the street in protest is this the area where that happens dear do not protest in this area they will do the protestation up where the government buildings are located so where I almost got arrested exactly even though there is Gang activities in this area there won't be no gun battle around this area Okay this here is where I come and fix my car and also many of the gang members used to be mechanics you know and they used to walk here you know making a living and then afterwards integrating the gang activity you know and they protect this area okay yeah I know that for sure because this is where

I come all the time to come and fix my car so this is right in the middle so this is right in the middle of the city this is what you call okay yeah the Avenue yeah the Avenue yeah right kind of what I've noticed with the other neighborhoods as well the gang neighborhoods is that if you're right in the middle it's a lot more stable but it's when you get to the outskirts it's where the disputed territory is right yeah exactly see this area is already claimed by a gang member so it stays safe we are right in it but on the periphery on the outskirts oh it's good so that's where most of the danger is because anyone that is coming they take you as a threat to get in and out of this so-called safe place you have to

drive through those places yes exactly really fast okay what is it all the ways all the um the tires that they will find on the streets like a piece of metal that they will find in the create arch with it's mostly the Ghetto Boys to prevent them from staying on the streets and become a gang member and this is one of my friend Andre agend this is what he's creating for the young boys Rising on the ghetto to stop them getting into crime exactly okay crazy just hopped out of the car and the guy walking down the street with no pants no underwear and just a shirt is this your friend here yeah that's my friend yeah Okay so we've come into uh this beautiful Workshop your name is uh and so can you just explain a bit about

what you do in the community because I've heard it's quite positive right okay yes kids say students and then still go to the school and then after that someone is coming with the shotgun give the kids really it's the baby then you just make it like against it and I'm teaching the kids for free for example you see this one that's a robin okay this is from car tires Wendy Selden Perry school pay the food but everything is more important sometimes I'm traveling also with some kids right last time was in Copenhagen okay so you've you've traveled the world right this value is the last year you were last year in Australia I'm more than Castle in Germany you're obviously an educated

man and you've traveled the world and things so how would you describe the current state of Haiti good energy positive energy also can't find some bad thing also you see all of them the world is the same thing it is the same thing everywhere in New York whatever you look at the positives of the country is that what you said yeah of course so you're happy and hating not so far not so good here is a statue of Osama bin Laden here and there's just so many statues here all recycled material 30 years of work he's been doing this and there's a skull out there and he there's a human skull and you've seen the big piles of rubbish a lot of those actually have human bodies in them because of the fighting and the Gang he

goes through looks through the trash he'll find dead bodies use the skulls from them a lot of these pieces of related to Voodoo so you know one of the main religions here in Haiti super intense but um you know incredible to see such a display of years of hard work what do you do after the movie what we're going to do out there we are to just it's uh the freelance or yeah freelance yeah I make little videos and I put them on the Internet and then you know people look at them and see what's going on in these countries you know because something like Haiti has such a crazy reputation right and so it's interesting I think for behind the headlines best way you can see something yeah like on the ground like meeting people like you

all these books and the posters are all Publications that you've been featured in uh-huh everywhere I am that's you and what year was that photo taken uh lucky 2012 12. you see the freezer what's been your favorite country that you've visited ah too much one right because yeah that's my favorite one also Scotland okay he likes Liverpool and foreign into that Voodoo Museum there a woman that you knew warned you and said just be careful because there's a lot of kidnapping around here yes right around that area she said just yesterday the kidnapped a person there right where we

were yeah and then last night the kidnap another person as well foreign just lying down the street so this neighborhood here Sean is more expensive kind of area of the city for Real Estate yes this is vividual area now where that's where you will find most of the most beautiful houses it's mostly people with money politicians

some drug dealers as well we can't afford to say that on the way here there were some police officers doing some you know just random checks and one of them saw me in the front so they stopped the car and the guy said directly to me in English is everything okay sir because I think he thought that Sean might have been kidnapping me right yeah he did that you were kidnapped he was looking at me and said stop and then he didn't ask me any questions and then he got straightforward to he's like are you okay sir yeah and I was like yes he's okay but this is like a gated community then because there's two guys with shotguns we just drove through the gate there's a massive wall so you can't even

see the houses because it's so private right do you want to hear any crime or any gang activities around this area it is well protected these houses will have amazing views right oh yes see the Caribbean out there and where do those people find the money in a poor country like that to build those massive housing and where would you say that they'd find the money Corruptions and drugs that's exactly what it is even the roads here are so much better than the rest of the city you know there's no trash Oh no you won't find no trash around this area I mean this is a rich area so it's realistic yeah so the government put in the infrastructure they clean up the trash and they fix the roads in this neighborhood but the rest

many other parts of the city we have to understand those people who own those houses or government officials and drug dealers so they make sure that the area where they are living are quite clean while the rest of the country is full with rubbish piles of rubbish everywhere that's crazy there is no words to describe what I'm saying so we just came up to this beautiful hotel here you know we're gonna have a look over the view that it has but it's boarded up it's closed and you say Sean that's because they have no clients because of the tourists are no longer coming because they're too scared because of the insecurity of the rival gang fighting every day so that cause that tourist doesn't travel to Portland where do you

see Port-au-Prince and Haiti in the next five years it will probably be worse if the government doesn't take at hand the responsibilities to put an end to that insecurity and full crisis in this country I mean if they don't do anything the only hope that we have is the U.N to come back the way I'm seeing it with the Haitian government the country ain't going nowhere the only support that we can get right now that may be help Haiti to recover from all those problems another occupation in the U.N the International Community we can't depend on the government they're too corrupt they're involved in providing those gangs with gun so the government's giving guns to The Gangs oh yes and that's well documented I know that for

sure right I remember doing research from back in 2006 and then I'm meeting with a lot of gang members and I've asked them where do you find those guns and they will tell me you went to City Soleil right that's chatty town the people don't even have water to drink but they have those big AK-47 those big guns that they have so they can't afford food but somehow they have these really expensive weapons they don't buy it with their own money somehow someone bring it to them and who have access to bring guns in the country 80 doesn't manufacture guns not even bullets yet you see them more than you will find food in the hands of those poor people do you think what you're

saying is the opinion of many Haitian people well yes and even we met with some gang members in City Soleil they themselves think that would be the best solution right yeah it's the arrival of the U.N back into the country and if they don't come what's gonna happen well the country is going down the feet down if it's already held it's already in the pit right yeah but it's going to keep going it's gonna keep going west yeah more kidnappings yes there are so many kidnapping that are happening every day in the everyday basis that we don't even know

back at the hotel these days in Haiti are so extreme I'm just so fortunate to have Sean I mean I very nearly got arrested today I could see in that guy's eyes he had his mind made up and he was not gonna budge he's like we're arresting him we're taking him away and you know when somebody who's run out at your car guns pointed military uniform next to a homemade bulldozer tank that they drive into the gang neighborhoods comes out and points a gun at you and tells you getting arrested I mean you kind of take that for the truth I've just kind of made peace with the fact I guess I'm gonna some kind of jail or gonna be detained in some way at the very least that you know I'm so lucky that Sean got me out of that

situation obviously you're only seeing you know Porter prints and there are other parts of the country in the next video we're going to be going on a huge road trip to different areas of the country also going to the second biggest city called cup Haitian the roads can be a bit sketchy they're like dirt roads through the hills or something because the other road that you can take is of course it's occupied by gangs right I'm sure you could have guessed that so we have to take this other route to avoid that join me in the next video for more from this country of Haiti I can't really say much but um all I can say is I just feel for the people of the country you know you've seen people

coming at that petrol situation today and just shouting at the camera coming right up to my lens no hesitation screaming this is the fault of the government why are you doing this to us please help us begging you can see the fire in their eyes what those guys were saying about the police showing up and just taking their petrol and sabotaging other people's petrol I mean it's just incomprehensible so I hope these videos give you a bit of understanding of the people here you know that's it's not all gangs and criminals and things right it's Everyday People of course you know that should be obvious they have to live through all this and it's just absolutely horrific what the people have

to go through here the living conditions and the fighting and the constant fear of violence it's at the top of the Richter scale is all I can say really so I'll see you in the next video thank you so much for watching and uh my heart goes out to the people of Haiti I just want to take a second and say thank you to surfshark for sponsoring this video I'm sure most of you know what a VPN is by now but if you don't it stands for virtual private Network and it basically keeps your device encrypted and protected when using the internet which nowadays is something that's becoming increasingly important surfsharkvpn keeps your online identity safe by encrypting all the information sent between your device and the

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