The safety state of affairs in Haiti is in “free fall”, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned, as armed groups proceed to unleash lethal violence within the capital and different areas throughout the Caribbean nation.
In an announcement on Thursday, HRW mentioned prison gangs have escalated their assaults in Port-au-Prince since late final 12 months, and solely 10 p.c of town stays underneath authorities management.
“Haiti’s safety state of affairs is in a free fall and Haitians are struggling horrific abuses,” mentioned Nathalye Cotrino, the rights group’s senior Americas researcher.
The nation has reeled from years of violence as highly effective armed teams, typically with ties to the nation’s political and enterprise leaders, have vied for affect and management of territory.
However the state of affairs worsened dramatically after the July 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise, which created an influence vacuum.
In 2024, the gangs launched assaults on prisons and different state establishments throughout Port-au-Prince, fuelling a renewed political disaster.
The marketing campaign of violence led to the resignation of Haiti’s unelected prime minister, the creation of a transitional presidential council, and the deployment of a United Nations-backed, multinational police mission.
That Kenya-led police force – formally often known as the Multinational Safety Assist Mission (MSS) – has did not take management again from the gangs, nevertheless. Observers say the mission has been underfunded and ill-equipped.
Not too long ago, so-called “self-defence” teams have fashioned in response to the armed gangs, resulting in extra lethal violence.
Protests have additionally damaged out in Port-au-Prince towards the nation’s transitional presidential council, which has been unable to revive safety. On April 7, the authorities declared a brand new, one-month state of emergency amid the violence.
“Declaring emergencies with out equipping police with vital sources, like efficient armored autos, is not going to remedy the insecurity disaster,” the Nationwide Human Rights Protection Community, a number one Haitian rights group, mentioned in a recent report.
“The absence of state response has turned the police into firefighters—always reacting with out strategic course—whereas cities fall one after one other,” the group mentioned.
‘Why is nobody serving to us?’
In accordance with UN figures, a minimum of 1,518 folks have been killed and one other 572 have been injured between January 1 and March 27 in gang assaults, safety pressure operations, and acts of violence dedicated by the “self-defence” teams and others.
Talking to HRW, an help employee in Haiti mentioned folks “now not have a secure place” to go.
“Ladies … looking for assist haven’t solely misplaced family members, however have additionally been raped, displaced and left on the streets, ravenous and struggling to outlive. We don’t know the way for much longer they’ll endure such struggling,” the help employee mentioned.
“All [victims] ask is for the violence to cease. With no assist from the police or authorities, they really feel deserted. They ask, ‘Why is nobody serving to us? Why do Haitian lives not matter if we’re human too?’”
The UN also says greater than 1 million Haitians have been displaced by the violence, whereas half of the nation – some 5.5 million folks – face acute meals insecurity.
In early April, Save the Kids reported that greater than 40,000 kids have been amongst these displaced within the first three months of 2025.
“Kids in Haiti are trapped in a nightmare,” the group’s Haiti nation director, Chantal Sylvie Imbeault, mentioned in a statement.
“They’re dwelling in lethal areas managed by armed teams, being robbed of a traditional childhood, and at fixed danger of recruitment—whereas humanitarian help struggles to achieve them,” she mentioned.
“As displacement continues to soar, shelters have gotten fully overcrowded, leaving kids weak to illness, exploitation, and sexual violence.”
