The boat’s arrival comes a month after Gov. Ron DeSantis sent state police officers and Florida National Guard soldiers to South Florida and the Keys in anticipation of a surge in migration from Haiti in the midst of ongoing gang violence and political turmoil in that country.

That mass exodus has yet to materialize, but the violence in Haiti shows no sign of abating.

Since the beginning of the year, more than 2,500 Haitians have been killed or injured, the United Nations political mission in Port-au-Prince said, the deadliest three-month period since it began tracking deaths and injuries in 2021.

The large-scale coordinated attacks on public institutions and strategic infrastructure in the Haitian capital since Feb. 29 have left at least 19 police officers dead or injured and 22 police stations and other police buildings pillaged or burned, Haiti’s representative to the U.N., Antonio Rodrigue, said Monday, reiterating a call for a deployment of an international force to assist the Haiti National Police.

“It is absolutely vital to act swiftly to avoid the crime of genocide being committed in the country,” Rodrigue told the U.N. Security Council.

The violence in Haiti is affecting all aspects of daily life and has pushed the country into a severe humanitarian crisis. More than 5 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, while more than 1.6 million are facing starvation.

“The insecurity in Port-au-Prince has made it virtually impossible for health and nutrition supplies to reach at least 58,000 children suffering from severe wasting in the metropolitan area,” Catherine Russell, the head of UNICEF, said. “The Martissant road, the only humanitarian corridor from Port-au-Prince to the southern regions, remains blocked, leaving an estimated 15,000 children suffering from malnutrition at risk of death.

Making matters worse, she added, cholera has reemerged, with more than 80,000 cases. The violence is also compromising the work of humanitarian workers, she said.

Members of the Security Council pleaded for the swift deployment of a Multinational Security Support Mission, led by Kenya, to help. the Haiti National Police combat gangs. The mission has yet to get off the ground even though the U.N. gave its approval in October.

Smuggling boat stopped off the Keys

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