The United Nations has temporarily suspended the delivery of humanitarian aid to Haiti due to the inaccessibility of the port and airport of the capital due to the serious deterioration of the security situation.

Stéphane Dujarric, the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres, explained in his daily press conference that humanitarian flights had to be suspended after the decision of the Haitian Government to close Toussaint Louverture airport until November 18 following gunfire on Spirit Airlines flight 951 during landing which had to urgently divert to the Dominican Republic after being hit by several projectiles https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-43614-haiti-flash-spirit-airlines-plane-hit-in-flight-by-several-bullets-video.html . A closure that limits the delivery of aid and humanitarian personnel to Haiti.

The closure of the airport until November 18 adds to the difficulties of access to the city's port, the country's main port, which although open to navigation, is de facto closed by road, Dujarric explained.

The UN had to postpone "indefinitely" the movement of 20 trucks carrying medicines and essential supplies that were to go to the South of Haiti and is now considering the possibility of moving its air operations to an airport in the North of the country in Cap-Haïtien.

In addition, the increasing activity of armed gangs has forced UN agencies to suspend their cash delivery operations to "thousands of people", due to the lack of a minimum of security.

"We call for an end to the escalation of violence, in order to allow safe, sustainable and unhindered humanitarian access, as well as the protection of people."

HL/ HaitiLibre