THOUSANDS of Haitians took to the streets of the capital Port au Prince on Monday to demand protection from the gangs that have seized control of parts of the deeply troubled Caribbean country.

Protesters, many with their faces concealed to hide their identities, called for protection from the gangs that experts say have seized control of up to 80 per cent of Port au Prince.

Haitians’ daily lives have been blighted by incessant gang violence that has worsened the already severe poverty in what is recognised as the western hemisphere’s poorest nation.

Protesters chanted: “We want security!” as they marched for two hours from the troubled community of Carrefour-Feuilles to Champ de Mars in the city centre and then to Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s official residence, where police broke up the protest with tear gas.

“I can’t work. I can’t go out. I’m like a prisoner in my own home,” said Wilene Joseph, a street vendor and mother-of-two. “I worry about my kids being shot, because bullets are flying from all directions all the time.” 

From January to March more than 1,600 people have been reported killed, injured or kidnapped, a rise of nearly 30 per cent on the last quarter of 2022, according to the latest United Nations report.

On Monday the UN’s children’s aid arm Unicef announced an alarming spike in kidnappings, with nearly 300 confirmed cases so far this year, almost three times the total for 2021.

The agency noted that women and children are increasingly being kidnapped and used for financial or tactical gain. 

Marcher Mario Jenty, a phone vendor, said the increase in kidnappings is pushing Haitians into even deeper poverty. 

“[The victims are] going to have to sell that home to pay for ransom, and there’s a chance they might not be released,” he said.

In late July, Kenya offered to lead a multinational police force to Haiti to help stem the gang violence. 

But last week activist group Black Action for Peace described the Kenyan proposal, which has been backed by the United States, as “nothing more than military occupation by another name.” 

The group accused Kenya of undermining the sovereignty and self-determination of the Haitian people while serving neocolonial interests.