In order to capture the 4,000 prisoners who have escaped from a detention centre in earthquake-devastated Haiti, the United Nations is arranging for hundred more correctional officers.
“Since some of the prisoners are very dangerous people, we are requesting of having at least 100 more correctional officers to try to establish some more detention facilities,” Alain Le Roy, chief of Peacekeeping Operations told reporters here.
Mr. Le Roy sought the support of the Haitian national police to arrest some of the prisoners who escaped from central prison in Port-au-Prince during the January 12 quake.
The increase in correctional officers is a part of the broader decision of the U.N. to increase its military troops and police officers by 3,500 to better manage the humanitarian situation in Haiti.
There are presently around 3,400 U.N. troops already stationed in the capital and the Security Council is expected to pass a resolution for its increase on Tuesday.
“We have to increase the number of troops and police to escort the humanitarian convoy that day by day are increasing drastically and it is very important that the humanitarian envoy can reach very rapidly to the people, otherwise we will have security problem,” Mr. Le Roy said.
The military will be used to secure the “humanitarian corridors” for the relief supplies to travel between Port-au-Prince and the Dominican Republic as well as the northern ports of Haiti.
