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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.<\/p>\n
The situation is particularly dire in the capital, Port-au-Prince, where displacement has risen by 87% between 2023 and 2024, IOM figures show.<\/p>\n
Gangs control almost the entire city, leading to the collapse of the remaining health services and triggering food insecurity.<\/p>\n
More than 5,600 people were killed in gang violence in Haiti last year alone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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.<\/p>\n
An estimated 85% of the capital is now estimated to be under gang control.<\/p>\n
Most of those displaced fled Port-au-Prince for rural areas, where resources are limited, the IOM warned.<\/p>\n
Its Director-General, Amy Pope, said that Haiti needed “sustained humanitarian assistance right now to save and protect lives”.<\/p>\n
Half of those displaced are children, according to the IOM’s figures. <\/p>\n
The agency described how families were “struggling to survive in makeshift shelters while facing mounting health and protection risks”.<\/p>\n
Haiti has been engulfed in a wave of gang violence since the assassination in 2021 of the then-president, Jovenel Mo\u00efse.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Transitional Presidential Council (TPC) – the body created to organise elections and re-establish democratic order in Haiti – appears to be in turmoil.<\/p>\n
The TPC replaced the interim prime minister in November and seems to have made little progress towards organising log-delayed elections.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n