The United Nations’ migration agency says internal displacement in Haiti, largely caused by gang violence, has tripled in the past year and now exceeds one million – a record for the Caribbean nation.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported on Tuesday that “relentless gang violence” in the capital, Port-au-Prince, has fueled a surge in migration there and the collapse of health care and other services, as well as the spread of the virus. food insecurity. Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world.
“The latest data shows that 1,041,000 people, many who have left their homes multiple times, are struggling amid a growing humanitarian crisis,” the Geneva-based statement said. Children make up more than half of the homeless population.
This figure represents a three-fold increase from 315,000 in December 2023, the IOM said.
The agency’s spokesman, Kennedy Okoth, told a UN forum in Geneva that the forced return of about 200,000 people – most of them from the neighboring Dominican Republic – to Haiti last year made the situation worse. Both countries share the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.
Okoth said the number of evacuation centers in Port-au-Prince increased from 73 to 108 last year.
At least 110 people died in the Haitian slums of Cite Soleil when a gang leader targeted adults he suspected of causing his child’s illness with witchcraft, the National Human Rights Defense Network said.
The outgoing administration of US President Joe Biden has greatly supported and expanded the temporary status program, which allows some foreigners from countries such as El Salvador, Haiti and Venezuela to live in the United States.
US President-elect Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, have suggested they will scale back the program and policies that grant temporary status, as they pursue mass deportations. US federal rules will allow extensions to be terminated early, although that has not been done before.
Asked if the IOM had any concerns about possible changes to US protections, Okoth declined to comment on any specific country.
But he said “deportation or any forced return to countries that are already facing increasing security challenges and humanitarian challenges is not something that will benefit the group.”
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