The number of people internally displaced by gang violence in Haiti has tripled to more than one million, the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned on Tuesday.
The situation is particularly dire in the capital, Port-au-Prince, where displacement has risen by 87% between 2023 and 2024, IOM figures show.
Gangs control almost the entire city, leading to the collapse of the remaining health services and triggering food insecurity. More than 5,600 people were killed in gang violence in Haiti last year alone.
IOM Spokesman Kennedy Okoth Omondi said many of the more than one million displaced people had had to flee multiple times as the gangs expanded their territory in Port-au-Prince.
An estimated 85% of the capital is now estimated to be under gang control.
Most of those displaced fled Port-au-Prince for rural areas, where resources are limited, the IOM warned. Its Director-General, Amy Pope, said that Haiti needed “sustained humanitarian assistance right now to save and protect lives”.
Half of those displaced are children, according to the IOM’s figures.
The agency described how families were “struggling to survive in makeshift shelters while facing mounting health and protection risks”.
Haiti has been engulfed in a wave of gang violence since the assassination in 2021 of the then-president, Jovenel Moïse.
A UN-backed multinational security force arrived in Haiti in June to try and re-establish control but has so far made few inroads into gang-held territory. The international police force, which is meant to bolster the Haitian National Police force, is underfunded and lacks the necessary equipment to take on the heavily armed gangs.
Meanwhile, the Transitional Presidential Council (TPC) - the body created to organise elections and re-establish democratic order in Haiti - appears to be in turmoil. (Agencies)
