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One year after the deployment of the initial personnel to the United Nations-sanctioned Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission in CARICOM Territory Haiti, reports indicate that violence and human rights violations continue to escalate.<\/p>\n
This is according to a Human Rights Watch press release.<\/p>\n
Persistent deficiencies in staffing, financial resources, and equipment have critically hampered the MSS\u2019s capacity to curb violence, which HRW reports has grown more intense in Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas. This ongoing violence has resulted in at least 2,680 deaths and 957 injuries, based on United Nations data.<\/p>\n
The latest report from UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres highlights a disturbing surge in severe violations against children\u2014from 383 cases in 2023 to 2,269 in 2024. Notably, there has been a twelvefold increase in documented instances of children being recruited and utilized by criminal groups, alongside a significant rise in rape and sexual abuse cases involving minors.<\/p>\n
The violence has caused hundreds of thousands to flee their homes, with the number of internally displaced persons reaching nearly 1.3 million\u2014the highest figure ever recorded in Haiti, as reported by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day, violence compels hundreds of Haitians to abandon their homes with only the clothes on their backs, seeking refuge in makeshift sites or other cities where they remain vulnerable and lack access to food and water,\u201d said Nathalye Cotrino, senior Americas researcher at Human Rights Watch. \u201cMember countries of the UN should immediately reinforce the MSS. The UN Security Council must end its inaction and upgrade the MSS into a fully empowered UN mission equipped with adequate personnel, resources, and a mandate to effectively safeguard the Haitian population.\u201d<\/p>\n
In late April and early May 2025, Human Rights Watch conducted visits to Cap-Ha\u00eftien, the capital of Haiti\u2019s Northern department. The release said that with assistance from the National Human Rights Defense Network (R\u00e9seau National de D\u00e9fense des Droits Humains, or RNDDH) and Haiti\u2019s Ombudsperson Office, researchers interviewed 33 internally displaced individuals who had recently fled Port-au-Prince, its metropolitan area, and other municipalities. They also\u00a0 reportedly engaged with humanitarian workers, diplomats, and representatives from Haitian civil society and UN agencies.<\/p>\n
Since the beginning of 2025, violent clashes involving criminal groups have intensified in previously secure zones, including Port-au-Prince, its metropolitan surroundings, as well as in Mirebalais and Saut-d\u2019Eau in the Centre department, and Petite Rivi\u00e8re in Artibonite. This violence\u2014including confrontations with self-defense militias often involving police officers and security forces\u2014has displaced over 245,000 people, according to the IOM.<\/p>\n
HRW stated that many interviewees were university students or professionals with stable employment and resources, such as homes or small businesses, who had previously been unaffected by violence until recent developments.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was living peacefully in my neighborhood. Then suddenly, security issues erupted,\u201d recounted a 23-year-old civil engineering student displaced from Port-au-Prince to Cap-Ha\u00eftien in March after an attack that resulted in his brother\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
\u201cMen came, a lot of bandits. They started shooting. My family and I ran out of the house. While crossing the street, [my 19-year-old brother] was struck by a bullet. The bullet went through his head. After that, we fled to Cap-Ha\u00eftien. In my neighborhood, no one is left\u2014only the bandits,\u201d he shared.<\/p>\n
Several interviewees reported that during recent assaults, criminal groups used messaging apps to send audio warnings, informing residents they had only hours to evacuate.<\/p>\n
A 38-year-old plumber from Port-au-Prince, father to a six-month-old, stated: \u201cThe bandits sent messages to warn us\u2026 We knew they were coming, and they came. They stormed the neighborhood, ransacked homes, and the police abandoned their posts. They killed people, set houses on fire. I lost my home. Bodies were everywhere, and the smell was nauseating. We had to run to save ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Human rights workers observed that criminal factions often set fire to homes on the outskirts of targeted neighborhoods to force residents\u2014and sometimes police\u2014to flee.<\/p>\n
According to UN officials, these tactics seem aimed at depopulating areas to facilitate the expansion of criminal groups and eventually assume control of additional regions.<\/p>\n
Many displaced individuals have moved multiple times, fleeing first within Port-au-Prince or nearby cities, then seeking refuge in Cap-Ha\u00eftien. Their journeys often involve dangerous bus rides through routes controlled by criminal entities, which operate checkpoints and extort passengers.<\/p>\n
A woman from Cabaret\u2014a northern suburb of Port-au-Prince long under criminal influence\u2014shared her experience: \u201cAfter being displaced several times within my area, I fled to Mirebalais to protect my 14-year-old daughter from sexual violence. But in late March, after criminal groups attacked Mirebalais, burning homes and killing several people, I had to leave again. I took refuge in a church in Hinche. My husband had gone out to work painting a house. I haven\u2019t heard from him since… I just hope he\u2019s alive. We left Hinche due to rumors of an imminent attack\u2026 Now we\u2019re here in Cap-Ha\u00eftien, but I fear the violence will follow us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Currently, according to the HSW release, approximately 11 percent of Haiti\u2019s population is displaced, residing across all ten departments. Over half (55 percent) of these displaced are women and girls. Most are hosted by relatives or living in informal shelters, facing critical shortages of food, water, healthcare, and other basic needs. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification reports that over 8,400 individuals in displacement sites are experiencing famine conditions.<\/p>\n
It further states that conditions in these informal camps are worsening, with more than 246 sites recorded as of early June 2025, each accommodating around 2,000 people. Many are living in overcrowded schools or public spaces, enduring severe protection vulnerabilities and inhumane conditions, as described recently by Haiti\u2019s Office of the Ombudsperson.<\/p>\n
The humanitarian response is severely underfunded, with the UN\u2019s plan to assist 3.9 million Haitians out of the 6 million in need only eight percent financed.<\/p>\n
The transitional government\u2019s lack of a comprehensive national strategy for internally displaced persons has further impeded coordinated efforts to provide adequate support, says HRW.<\/p>\n
The organization emphasized that the international community is not providing sufficient backing to bolster the MSS\u2019s mission to protect civilians from criminal violence.<\/p>\n
While eight countries signaled their intent to contribute personnel in 2024, only Kenya (the mission\u2019s lead), Guatemala, El Salvador, Jamaica, and The Bahamas have deployed a combined total of 991 personnel\u2014well short of the projected 2,500.<\/p>\n
The MSS remains in need of additional funding to sustain operations through December and to establish the remaining nine of the twelve planned bases, which are crucial for territorial control and mission consolidation.<\/p>\n
Human Rights Watch urged the UN Security Council to ensure the MSS receives the necessary personnel and resources to carry out its mandate effectively. The organization also called for transforming the mission into a fully-fledged UN operation with a mandate to uphold human rights and prevent further violence escalation.<\/p>\n
\u201cViolence in Haiti is worsening each day,\u201d Cotrino stated. \u201cThe Security Council needs to stop waiting and make the MSS a UN mission. How many more killings, rapes, kidnappings, and child recruitments will it take for governments to realize what action is needed?\u201d<\/p>\n