UN warns of worsening violence and mass displacement in Haiti, in new report

Violence in Haiti is escalating sharply, with gang activity reaching new levels across the country. According to a new report from the United Nations, the surge began in October 2024 and has continued through June of this year. While Port-au-Prince remains a hotspot, the UN highlights that the chaos is now spreading rapidly into rural regions, where state authority is almost entirely absent.

“The escalating gang violence outside Port-au-Prince, where the presence of the state is extremely limited, has claimed over 1,000 lives and forced hundreds of thousands to flee since October 2024,” said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The report also notes a troubling rise in human rights abuses committed by so-called self-defence groups. These armed civilian groups initially emerged in response to gang violence but are now implicated in growing numbers of violations themselves. The UN is urging urgent international intervention.

“The human rights violations and abuses that we have documented are further evidence of why Haiti and the international community urgently need to step up to end this violence,” Shamdasani added.

According to the UN, a mass killing in Pont-Sondé in the Lower Artibonite region in October 2024 marked a major turning point. What followed was a wave of brutal attacks, displacements, and growing instability.

In one of the most striking examples, the town of Mirebalais in the Centre department was completely emptied. All 100,000 residents fled as violence surged earlier this year.

The UN continues to call for coordinated international action to restore security and protect civilians, warning that without intervention, Haiti’s humanitarian crisis will only deepen.