Over 1 mln people pushed out of home in 2024 by gang violence in Haiti: UN

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Gang violence in Haiti drove a record of more than 1 million people from their homes last year, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the figure marked a threefold increase in displacement within a year, rising from 315,000 in December 2023.

In the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince alone, displacement fueled by violence, the collapse of essential services, particularly healthcare, and worsening food security nearly doubled, rising by 87 percent.

IOM reported many of the displaced were forced to move many times and that most of the victims were children. The majority of the displaced originated from the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince. Many sought refuge in Haiti's provinces.

IOM said 83 percent of the displaced relied on already overstretched host communities, such as acquaintances, friends and families, for shelter, while the remaining struggled to cope in spontaneous sites.

To make the situation worse, the agency said, 200,000 Haitians were deported back to Haiti last year, placing a greater strain on the country's already overwhelmed social services.

Asked at a regular briefing about the deportations, Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said, "Deporting Haitians back to a country that is in the situation that it is, where the basic services are almost non-existent, where violence is rampant, is not a direction that a country should go in."

IOM also said that floods in November and December 2024 affected more than 315,000 people nationwide.

"Haiti needs sustained humanitarian assistance right now to save and protect lives," said IOM Director General Amy Pope. "We must work together to address the root causes of the violence and instability that has led to so much death and destruction."

Asked whether, considering the violence, the strapped Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti should be changed from a force comprised of police units from different countries to a UN peacekeeping force, Dujarric said the decision would be up to the UN Security Council.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that despite humanitarian challenges in Haiti, the world body and its partners continue to respond.

The World Food Programme (WFP) reported assisting 1.7 million people across the country in 2024 by providing emergency aid, school meals and social protection. IOM provided last year access to 18 million liters of clean water to uprooted people in camps and rehabilitated water pumps in affected communities, benefiting thousands of families.

However, OCHA said that much more is required to meet the needs of Haiti. In 2025 the UN and its partners will need 900 million U.S. dollars to support 4 million people. ■