60,000 displaced by Haitian capital violence: UN

UNITED NATIONS: More than 60,000 people have been displaced in one month in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince which is “under siege” from a resurgence in gang violence ravaging the country, United Nations migration agency IOM said Tuesday.

“This alarming surge in displacements underscores the relentless cycle of violence devastating Haiti’s capital,” IOM’s chief in the country Gregoire Goodstein said in a statement, adding “we have never observed such a large number of people moving in this short time.”

The mass displacements from intense violence are “yet another record in Haiti’s worsening humanitarian situation,” according to the International Organization for Migration. The organization told AFP that two separate displacement waves occurred within a month: more than 42,500 people sought refuge from February 14 to March 5, and then 23,500 were displaced March 11-17. Roughly 3,300 people were displaced in both waves.

The monthly number is a record dating to when the IOM set up its monitoring system for displacement in Port-au-Prince in 2023. vHaiti, the poorest nation in the Americas, was plunged into fresh unrest last year when gangs launched coordinated attacks in Port-au-Prince to force then-prime minister Ariel Henry to resign. The interim government and a Kenya-led security force with UN backing have struggled to restore order. Armed groups now control 85 percent of the capital, according to UNICEF.

More than a million people are already displaced in the country, a number that has tripled within the past year. And the security situation has sharply deteriorated in the past two months, with escalating attacks on civilians in Port-au-Prince, a “capital under siege,” according to IOM.

“Families are being uprooted time and again, forced to leave everything behind as they flee for safety,” the IOM’s Goodstein said, noting there is desperate need for water, food, shelter and protection.

Gangs in recent days have stepped up attacks in several neighborhoods previously beyond their control, spreading terror among the population. “The situation is worsening by the day, and without additional support, we risk seeing an even greater humanitarian catastrophe unfold,” he said.

The situation continues to deteriorate despite the presence of the six-country force led by Kenya. It was supposed to number 2,500 troops, but so far has deployed only around 1,000, according to an AFP tally.