Following a new outbreak of gang violence, more than 40,000 people were displaced in ten days in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced on Monday, November 25. According to the UN agency, this is the worst wave of displacement in two years. In total, more than 700,000 people are displaced in this poor Caribbean country of more than 11 million inhabitants.
Between November 11 and 20, 40,965 people had to leave their homes in the Port-au-Prince metropolis due to violence. Some were forced to flee for a second or even third time, the IOM said.
“This crisis is not just a humanitarian challenge. It is proof of our collective responsibility.”commented Grégoire Goodstein, IOM head for Haiti, in a press release. highlighting the difficulty of UN teams in carrying out their mission in these insecure conditions.
Murders and kidnappings
Haiti has suffered for decades from chronic political instability and a security crisis linked to the presence of armed gangs accused of large-scale murders, kidnappings and sexual violence.
For two weeks, Port-au-Prince and neighboring communities have been facing a new outbreak of violence fueled by Viv Ansanm (Living Together), an alliance of gangs formed in February and which managed to overthrow the then Prime Minister, Ariel Henry.
