More than 700,000 displaced in Haiti, half of them children: UN

Children sit in a displacement camp in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on August 14, 2024. Ongoing violence has taken a major toll, with the UN's migration agency saying almost 600,000 people in Haiti have been displaced, a 60 percent increase since March. Photo: AFP
More than 700,000 people are now displaced from their homes in Haiti, more than half of whom are children, the United Nations said today, as gang violence ravages the country.

One of the world's poorest countries has been plunged into anarchy, with gangs taking over the capital, Port-au-Prince, and the security and health systems collapsing.

The UN's International Organization for Migration agency said that by early September, some 702,973 people were displaced in the Caribbean country.

"These latest figures show a 22 percent increase in the number of internally displaced people since June, highlighting the worsening humanitarian situation," the IOM said.

The agency called for greater international attention on the crisis.

"The sharp rise in displacement underscores the urgent need for a sustained humanitarian response," said Gregoire Goodstein, the IOM's chief in Haiti.

"We call on the international community to step up its support for Haiti's displaced populations and the host communities that continue to show remarkable resilience in the face of these challenges."

The report said around 75 percent of those displaced were now sheltering in the country's provinces.

The remainder are in Port-au-Prince "where the situation remains precarious and unpredictable", said the IOM, with people often living in overcrowded sites, with little to no access to basic services.

The agency said 83 percent of displaced people were being hosted by families.

"The strain on resources is immense, with the majority of host households reporting significant difficulties, including food shortages, overwhelmed healthcare facilities, and a lack of essential supplies on local markets," it said.

"It is crucial that efforts to restore stability and security across the country continue, alongside humanitarian aid to alleviate the immediate suffering of those affected."

On Friday, the UN human rights office said more than 3,600 people had been killed this year in "senseless" gang violence in Haiti.

In October 2023, the UN Security Council approved sending a multinational stabilisation force, led by Kenya, to assist the Haitian police.

The Security Council on Monday extended its authorisation of the multinational policing mission in crime-ravaged Haiti, but without any call to transform it into a UN peacekeeping mission, as floated by Port-au-Prince.