Haiti is once again facing a wave of chaos fueled by ongoing gang wars that broke out at the end of February, leading to thousands of deaths and injuries.

Members of a newly formed transitional presidential council responsible for selecting a new prime minister issued their first official statement this week, vowing to restore public and democratic order.

New Jersey is home to one of the largest Haitian-American populations in the U.S. and members of the community tell Melissa Rose Cooper the ongoing humanitarian crisis has them distraught.

Even tears to my eyes because, you know, we look at the history of Haiti, where we came from as the first black nation to get independence, to see after 220 years for us to be where we are today.

Eliezer Marcellus is heartbroken by what's happening in his beloved native land of Haiti.

A spike in gang violence since late February when gunmen started burning police stations and stormed the country's two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4000 inmates, closing the airports and creating chaos in the Caribbean nation.

Kids have not been able to go to school.

Business people or the common folks have not been able to continue to go on with their lives.

So you have a lot of people who are sick who can't can't go to the doctors.

They can't go to the hospital.

People is hungry.

They can't go to the market.

Haiti has been suffering like this for many, many years.

Be it natural disaster to be a political turmoil.

I mean, you know, dating back to the 1700s, we have been struggling with political instability for a very long time.

It's not new to Haiti, to Haiti.

The people are resilient and they will come back from this.

However, we're at a point where, you know, we haven't seen it in a very long time where at an all time low.

Stanley Neron is the executive director and co-founder of NJ for Haiti.

The coalition of nonprofit organizations provide supports and resources to Haitians living in Haiti and here in New Jersey, which is home to one of the largest Haitian-American communities in the country.

We put out a statement earlier about a couple of weeks ago in regards to really speaking on the the discourses has been taking place and calling for all actors and parties involved to really cease the gang violence and really come to a terms where they can come together for a concerted effort to establish peace and civility in Haiti.

Too many lives have been lost.

People are constantly dying.

And I think, you know what?

We may have to do here in the state is continually advocate, advocate and make sure that we provide the necessary education for the people here in the states to know what they need to do in order to help and provide support to Haiti.

Haiti hasn't had legislative elections since 2019.

Earlier this month, the country's prime minister agreed to resign once a transitional presidential council chooses its next leader.

But many Haitians believe having outsiders decide what is best for their country is even more problematic.

And I believe that this has contributed to the problem we have, because there has not been Haitian led efforts to resolve its own issues, indigenous issues that are taking place.

And I think that Haiti has been forced to take is sick and now is sick in the role as far as governance, as far as leadership, because Haiti has been receiving on the receiving end from the U.N., the United States and other countries.

It is a Haitian issues require a Haitian led solution.

And as children of the diaspora, we must continue to work together to affect in a positive manner our brothers and sisters in Haiti.

And we can't do that unless we are united and we must be united.

We must be strong and must be vigilant.

A united front.

The Haitian community here in New Jersey hopes will soon restore peace back at home.

For NJ Spotlight News, I'm Melissa Rose Cooper.