Haiti’s gangs have gained “near-total control” of the capital and authorities are unable to stop escalating violence across the impoverished Caribbean nation, senior UN officials warned Wednesday.
An estimated 90 per cent of the capital, Port-au-Prince, is now under control of criminal groups who are expanding attacks not only into surrounding areas but beyond into previously peaceful areas, Ghada Fathy Waly, executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, told the UN Security Council.
“Southern Haiti, which until recently was insulated from the violence, has seen a sharp increase in gang-related incidents,” she said. “And in the east, criminal groups are exploiting land routes, including key crossings like Belladere and Malpasse, where attacks against police and customs officials have been reported.”
The remarks came a day after Bob Rae, president of the UN’s Economic and Social Council, said in a statement that “the situation in Haiti is deteriorating at an alarming rate.”
“The Haitian population is being exploited, raped, kidnapped and recruited by armed gangs. They are malnourished and facing famine conditions,” said Rae, a former Canadian MP.
Waly in her presentation said that criminal groups are stepping into the vacuum left by the absence or limited delivery of public services and are establishing “parallel governance structures,” and gang control of major trade routes has paralyzed legal commerce, leading to soaring prices for cooking fuel and rice, Haiti’s staple food.
UN Assistant Secretary General Miroslav Jenca told the council that “without increased action by the international community, the total collapse of state presence in the capital could become a very real scenario.”
Last month, the UN’s International Organizaton for Migration estimated that 11 per cent of Haiti’s nearly 12 million inhabitants have fled their homes due to the ongoing violence.
International security force underfunded
Gangs have grown in power since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021. Haiti has not had a president since the assassination, and has not held elections since 2016. A transitional council with rotating leaders was established last year, with hopes that the next election would be held by early 2026.
A UN-backed mission led by Kenyan police arrived in Haiti last year to help quell gang violence, but the mission remains understaffed and underfunded, with only about 40 per cent of the 2,500 personnel originally envisioned.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’s proposal in February to have the UN provide drones, fuel, ground and air transport and other non-lethal support to the Kenya-led mission has languished in the council.
In response to the gangs, the UNODC’s Waly said there has been a rapid growth in the number and activities of private security companies and vigilante self-defence groups, with some trying to protect their communities while others act illegally and collude with gangs.
“Over the last three months,” Jenca said, “these groups reportedly killed at least 100 men and one woman suspected of gang association or collaboration.”
He said the last three months have also seen an increase in sexual violence by gangs with the UN political mission in Haiti documenting 364 incidents of sexual violence involving 378 survivors just from March to April.
With a weak national police force facing acute tensions in its leadership, an army that needs rebuilding and the limited ability of the multinational force, UN experts have warned that the gangs will continue “to have the upper hand unless stronger international support is provided.” UNICEF has previously assessed that some gangs are recruiting children to support their illegal activities.
The Haitian National Police have also carried out “a worrying number of extrajudicial killings,” with suspected gang members often summarily executed,” the experts said, pointing to 281 summary executions by specialized police units in 2024 including 22 women and 8 children.
Despite the UN arms embargo on Haiti, gangs continue to obtain more powerful weapons not only from regional civilian markets but from police stockpiles in Haiti and the neighbouring Dominican Republic, the experts said.
Haitians in Canada say the impact of the earthquake that struck 15 years ago is still being felt in the country, which has been faced with political instability, economic hardships and increasing violence.
U.S. tries to end legal protections for Haitians
The turmoil in Haiti comes as Donald Trump’s administration announced last week that it was terminating legal protections for some 500,000 Haitians as soon as Sept. 2, setting them up for potential deportation.
“The environmental situation in Haiti has improved enough that it is safe for Haitian citizens to return home,” the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in an accompanying statement.
The move is being challenged in the courts.
The DHS statement came even as the State Department currently assigns Haiti its highest travel advisory level, advising Americans not to travel there due to “kidnapping, crime, civil unrest and limited health care.”