Gang violence has killed hundreds of people in Haiti – UN

The United Nations has estimated that more than 350 people have been killed in Haiti by civilian vigilante groups since April, amid escalating gang violence that has, in recent days, forced thousands to flee in parts of the capital.

Since April 24, when civilians lynched more than a dozen suspected criminals, birthing the "Bwa Kale" vigilante movement, some 310 alleged gang members, 46 civilians and a police officer have been killed, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Ravina Shamdasani said on Friday.

The report comes after fighting intensified late last week around the capital's heavily populated Carrefour Feuilles neighbourhood, where attacks from the Grand Ravine gang prompted around 5,000 people to flee their homes.

Haiti's under-gunned police have struggled to battle the gangs, which now control large parts of the capital.

"We used to see clashes between gangs; now it's gangs against the population," said Serge Dalexis, the head of the International Rescue Committee's Haiti office.

Most of the IRC's partners working around Port-au-Prince have had to suspend mobile operations amid the recent escalation, which Dalexis said had concentrated in five hotspots around the capital.

"It's very chaotic," said Dalexis, saying many people fled their homes without key medication and only the clothes on their backs.

Violence reigns in Haiti

Late on Thursday, around 600 people sought shelter at a partner group in the lower part of Carrefour Feuilles, he said, adding they were now helping distribute food rations and hygiene kits and moving people to displaced people camps.

At the camps, the IRC is working to provide healthcare and services to victims of sexual assault, which has become daily abuse in areas under gang control.

The UN estimates that since the start of 2023, at least 2,439 people have been killed and some 200,000 people internally displaced amid severe food shortages, kidnappings and widespread sexual assault.

Haiti's unelected government requested security assistance last October, and countries are now discussing sending a UN-backed Kenya-led force to bolster police.

Shamdasani reiterated UN calls for urgent security action in strict compliance with human rights standards, while Dalexis called for guarantees of sufficient humanitarian funding.

Chronically underfunded campaigns have forced agencies, including the World Food Program to slash aid, and many NGOs have shuttered operations amid dwindling budgets and increasing risk to staff and residents attempting to reach their services.

Haitian gangs have grown more powerful since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise, and they are estimated to now control up to 80 percent of the capital.