Tag Archives: displaced

Hurricane Melissa leaves thousands displaced across the Caribbean

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The hurricane caused widespread damage to homes, infrastructure and crops, leaving thousands displaced.

However, extensive storm preparation by governments, assisted by UN agencies and other NGOs, appears to have helped lessen the impact and saved lives in many areas. 

In Cuba, the hurricane struck the province of Santiago de Cuba with winds exceeding 200 km/h per hour and six hours of torrential rain. “Melissa is one of the three most powerful hurricanes ever recorded in Cuba and the strongest worldwide this year,” said Francisco Pichon, UN Resident Coordinator for Cuba, during a press briefing via videoconference in New York.

“More than three million people were exposed to life-threatening conditions, and nearly 240 communities are cut off due to flooding and landslides”, he added speaking via video.

Existing vulnerabilities

The storm compounded existing vulnerabilities. Many affected areas had already suffered from last year’s Hurricane Oscar and earthquakes – while drought, rising viral diseases, and energy shortages caused further strain.

Despite these challenges, Cuba’s civil defence system helped evacuate over 77,000 people to protection centres, including schools temporarily repurposed as shelters.

Mr. Pichon highlighted the UN’s anticipatory action framework, which pre-positioned relief supplies and personnel before the storm hit. “This mechanism allowed us to respond quickly and ensure that essential goods reached the people who needed them most,” he said.

Plans are underway to reach two million people in the coming days, including food security, health, education, shelter, water and sanitation, and logistics.

Early preparedness saves lives

In Haiti, the storm’s slow movement brought flash floods, landslides, and severe damage to crops, said Gregoire Goodstein, the UN’s interim Humanitarian Coordinator.

“At least 24 people have died, 17 were injured, and 18 remain missing,” he reported. Around 15,000 people are currently sheltering in over 120 temporary facilities.

Early preparedness helped save lives. “We deployed emergency stocks, set up evacuation shelters, and sent out 3.5 million early warning messages,” Mr. Goodstein told journalists. “Rapid response teams worked alongside national authorities to ensure communities could evacuate safely,” he added.

Haiti faces the storm amid an ongoing humanitarian crisis, with 1.4 million people displaced, widespread hunger affecting half the population, and cholera outbreaks in some areas.

Mr. Goodstein noted that the UN’s Humanitarian Response Plan is currently 87 per cent underfunded, putting life-saving operations at risk.

“Humanitarian needs remain immense, and international cooperation is crucial.”

The UN continues to coordinate assistance across the Caribbean, supporting both immediate relief and longer-term recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Melissa.

Desks become beds as Haitian school shelters people displaced by violence

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The classrooms at Anténor Firmin school in Hinche in central Haiti are no longer studiously quiet.

Once a place of learning, it now echoes with the sounds of babies crying, water containers clanking, and voices murmuring through the night.

Over 700 people displaced by violence are crammed into the crumbling compound, sleeping on floors where children once solved math problems.

Among them is Edens Désir, a former teacher, who continues to believe that education should be the key to a more prosperous and peaceful future for this beleaguered Caribbean Island nation.

Edens Désir teaches a class at Anténor Firmin school.

A trained accountant and former secondary-school teacher, his life was upended by the violent clashes that erupted in March 2025 in Saut-d’Eau and Mirebalais, two small towns south of Hinche.

Like 6,000 others, he fled massacres, rape, arson, and looting.

“Everything I built, little by little, was destroyed,” he said. “I walked away with nothing.”

Warring gangs have long controlled most of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, some 30 miles (48 km) away.

It is only recently that their sphere of influence has moved to more the more rural areas of Centre department where, Hinche and Saut-d’Eau are located.

Edens Désir, found refuge in the school where he once studied, a place now stripped of its purpose. Desks have become beds. Classrooms have turned into shelters. Families lie packed into rooms never meant to house them.

A classroom at Anténor Firmin school in Hinche now serves as both a shelter and an informal learning space for displaced children.

Even in these crowded rooms, he found a way to start over. Not for himself, but for the children around him. With a whiteboard, a marker, and quiet determination, he has brought a sense of purpose to lives that have been thrown off course.

“Ever since I was a kid, I loved teaching,” he explained. “It’s what matters most to me. I’d rather be in front of a class than sitting around doing nothing. For these kids, school is the only real chance they’ve got.”

Living in limbo

Once on the verge of expanding a small business, Mr. Désir now lives in limbo. “That plan is gone. Violence made sure of it. My only option now is to leave and try to start over somewhere else. But as long as I’m here, I will keep sharing what I know.”

These days, he takes life one day at a time. “I can’t make plans anymore,” he said. “Each day, I just figure things out as they come. Each night, I wonder if there will be food tomorrow.”

Clean water is scarce. Long queues stretch at distribution points, where women and children wait patiently, balancing heavy containers.

Hygiene conditions are dire. With few latrines and showers available, hundreds are left without privacy or sanitation. The health risks are growing, especially for the most vulnerable.

Food is just as uncertain. “There are nights I go to sleep without eating,” he says. “But I keep teaching because the kids are here.”

IOM staff and a civil protection agent asses the needs of displaced people

Delivering aid to the displaced is no easy task. The main road between Port-au-Prince and Hinche remains blocked by insecurity, cutting off supply routes and isolating entire communities.

Despite the hurdles, the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) has reached over 800 families across 17 displacement sites, providing emergency items such as shelter kits, blankets, kitchen sets, and jerrycans.

IOM teams continue working directly with displaced families, host communities, and local authorities to assess needs and provide relief.

Site committees and civil protection teams are being trained to better manage the shelters. The most fragile sites are being relocated to safer areas and mental health support is offered to those affected by the violence.

Protect the vulnerable

These efforts aim to protect the most vulnerable, especially children, from a crisis they did not choose but are now forced to navigate.

Edens Désir believes that knowledge is the best defence against dehumanization. When violence tears everything apart, forcing children into displacement, splitting families, and cutting off access to education, teaching becomes an act of resistance.

Even when the days feel heavy, he keeps showing up for the children who still believe in him.

“If we want things to change, we need people who grow into better citizens,” he said. “I don’t know if what I’m doing is enough to make that happen, but it gives me purpose. It breaks my heart to know that one day I’ll have to leave them behind and look for a better future.”

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From Syria, UN refugee chief calls for greater solidarity with displaced people

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The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, sounded the alarm on Friday, World Refugee Day, in a message from Syria.

He said the abject failure to end conflicts – including in Sudan, Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Gaza – continues to create immense suffering. 

Difficulty seeking shelter

“Yet the innocent people who run for their lives as the bullets fly and the missiles rain down are unjustly stigmatised, making it harder to escape danger and to find somewhere to recover and rebuild,” he said.

Their situation is further compounded by brutal cuts to humanitarian aid, affecting millions who desperately need assistance. 

“At this critical juncture, it is vital that we reaffirm our solidarity with refugees – not just with words but with urgent action,” he said.

He added that inspiring examples already exists, from countries that continue to welcome and host refugees, to local communities that “open their homes, workplaces and hearts” to them, as well as “the countless individual acts of kindness and compassion that reveal our common humanity.”

Share the responsibility

Mr. Grandi said the international community can and must support these countries and communities by sharing the responsibility for protecting refugees, calling in particular for action by wealthier States, development banks, businesses and others.

The High Commissioner spent the Day in Syria, where some 600,000 people have returned from neighbouring countries after 14 years of war. Overall, more than two million Syrians have gone back to their homes and communities since the fall of the Assad regime last December.

“In a region that has suffered so much violence – and suffers even now – we are nonetheless presented with an opportunity to help Syrians achieve stability and prosperity. We must not let it pass by,” he said.

Mr. Grandi met Syrian families who spent more than a decade as refugees, whose deep joy at being among familiar faces and surroundings serve as reminder of refugees’ yearning for home. 

“Now more than ever, we must stand with refugees to keep alive their hopes of a better future,” he said. 

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DR Congo crisis: Aid teams appeal for support to help displaced communities left with nothing

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Since the beginning of the year, Rwanda-backed M23 fighters have swept across eastern DRC, taking key cities including Goma and Bukavu. The violence has displaced more than one million people in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.

Speaking from the village of Sake in North Kivu, UNDP Resident Representative Damien Mama described meeting a woman whose house had been destroyed after she fled the advancing fighters in January.

Cut off from livelihoods

“You know, with five children, you can imagine what this represents,” Mr. Mama said. “She was telling me that [her family] were given food and temporary shelter; but what she needs is to go back to her farm to continue farming, to continue her activities, and also have her home rebuilt.”

All those newly displaced by the M23 rebel advance are in addition to the five million people already living in displacement camps in eastern DRC.

Health workers have repeatedly warned that the crowded and unsanitary conditions provide ideal conditions for the spread of diseases including mpox, cholera and measles.

Given the scale of need it is urgent that small businesses get the help they need to get up and running again “providing income-generating activities for the women and the youth creating jobs”, the UNDP official insisted.

“The economy has suffered a lot,” he explained. “The banks have closed, businesses have been destroyed, and many are now operating under 30 per cent of their capacity, which is a major blow to their businesses.”

Support for women and girls

At the same time, the UN agency remains committed to helping the many women and girls impacted by alarming levels of sexual violence.

This echoes an alert issued last month by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), that during the most intense phase of this year’s conflict, a child was raped every half an hour.

In the next five months, UNDP intends to support the creation of 1,000 jobs and restore basic infrastructure, benefiting about 15,000 people.

To do this, the UN agency will need $25 million.

“We have so far secured $14 million thanks to [South] Korea, Canada, UK as well as Sweden; and our call will be to encourage other countries and donors to provide us with [the] $11 million gap.”

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Number of internally displaced breaks new record with no let-up in conflicts, disasters

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“These figures are a clear warning: without bold and coordinated action, the number of people displaced within their own countries will continue to grow rapidly,” said Amy Pope, Director General of International Organization for Migration.

The recent rise in conflicts worldwide – particularly in Sudan, the Republic of the Congo, Lebanon, Ukraine and Palestine has pushed millions more into displacement, adding to the tens of millions who already live in protracted displacement in countries such as Afghanistan, Colombia, Syria and Yemen. 

Disasters surging

The number of displaced due to disasters has risen massively, climbing from last year’s 26.8 million to 45.8 million. “The number of disaster displacements in 2024 was nearly double the annual average of the past decade,” IOM said in a new report issued by the internal displacement monitoring centre (IDMC).

Almost 30 countries and territories have reported unprecedented disaster displacement – with cyclones accounting for more than one in two people forced from their homes. The United States alone makes up about one in four of those displaced globally by disasters.

With the frequency, intensity and duration of weather hazards continuously worsening owing to climate change, there is little to suggest that the trend will not continue.

“This report is a call for preventive action, to use data and other tools to anticipate displacement before it happens and for the humanitarian and development sectors to work together with governments to develop longer-term solutions to prevent displacement,” Ms. Pope stressed.

Conflict and violence

Displacement caused by conflict and violence remains high and continues to be a major cause for displacement, too – although it did decrease slightly in 2024, compared to the previous 12 months.

Over 20 million conflict-related displacements have been recorded and almost half of these stem from Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“These latest numbers prove that internal displacement is not just a humanitarian crisis; it’s a clear development and political challenge that requires far more attention than it currently receives,” said Alexandra Bilak, director of IOM’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.

“The cost of inaction is rising, and displaced people are paying the price,” she added.

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Haiti: Displaced families grapple with death ‘from the inside’ and out

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In March, the family fled the gangs again – this time to Boucan-Carré where Leineda’s treatments were put on hold:

“Sometimes, we suffer from silent illnesses that destroy us from the inside,” Christiana said.

Gangs on the march

In the past few months, armed gangs in Haiti have been expanding their reach beyond Port-au-Prince towards the Centre and Artibonite Departments, displacing around 64,000 from those areas, according to UN estimates.

Humanitarian efforts to reach displaced communities have been disrupted by regional insecurity and funding shortages.

“What we’re seeing on the ground is unimaginable. Communities are being displaced daily, and the images of women and children fleeing for their lives with nothing are heartbreaking,” said Wanja Kaaria, the UN World Food Programme’s (WFP) Haiti director.

Attacks beyond the capital

The assassination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse in 2021 triggered widespread gang violence in the capital Port-au-Prince. Around 85 per cent of the city is now controlled by gangs. Over one million Haitians have been displaced because of this violence.

In recent months, organised crime groups have expanded their attacks into the Centre Department in western Haiti and neighboring Artibonite in northern Haiti.

In late March, one of the gangs attacked Mirebalais, killing at least 15 civilians and leading to a jailbreak of 515 inmates. In late April, gang members attacked the commune of Petite-Rivière in Artibonite, killing dozens and damaging scores of homes.

Other gang attacks have occurred in the suburbs of Port-au-Prince and throughout Centre, including in Hinche, Boucan-Carré and Saut d’Eau.

Navigating humanitarian aid blockages

After these attacks in the Centre and Artibonite Departments, over 64,000 people have been displaced according to estimates from the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM).

“Across Haiti and as we have seen this week in the Centre region especially, children are trapped in a cycle of fear and suffering, reliving the same nightmare day after day. What they need most urgently is an end to the violence,” Geeta Narayan, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) representative in Haiti, said.

As a result of ongoing gang activity and security conditions in the region, local authorities have had to scale back humanitarian aid deliveries. UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has cancelled planned field missions.

This is particularly difficult for displaced families who are fully reliant on this aid. Danise, a mother of two, has been displaced many times – first leaving her home in Jérémie, then being deported from the Dominican Republic, next, fleeing violence in Mirebalais before finally settling in Boucan Carré.

“I barely have anything to give [my children],” Danise said. “I always have to wait for food distributions to feed them…I just want to go home.”

Dozens of people displaced from the Haitian communes of Mirebalais and Saut-d’Eau attend hygiene awareness sessions in Boucan Carré.

Providing relief to displaced communities

In spite of deteriorating security, UN aid teams are working with local partners and departmental authorities to continue providing resources to displaced civilians.

“[Displaced people have had their] lives upended – entire families struggling to access water, healthcare or adequate shelter.”

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) “remains engaged alongside local authorities and partners to strengthen humanitarian action, despite limited resources, and continues to advocate for increased support,” Modibo Traore, OCHA’s Head of Office in Haiti, said.

Across the Centre Department, UNICEF has reached 8,500 people with resources, including six mobile clinics.

“We are scaling up our response in the Centre department, providing critical health care, reaching thousands of children with psychosocial support, safe water and access to education where it’s needed most,” Ms. Narayan said.

WFP is also working in the Centre Department to provide hot meals and food kits to displaced communities and has provided assistance to over 13,100 displaced individuals in this region as of early May.

This is the moment to step up. The future of Haiti depends on the actions we take today
– WFP Country Director Wanja Kaaria

“WFP food assistance offers dignity for families now living with little hope. However, funding constraints are impeding us from responding at scale.” Ms Kaaria said.

WFP estimates that it will need $72.4 million over the next 12 months and UNICEF estimates that it will need $1.2 million over the next six months to deal with the ongoing displacements in Haiti.

“This is the moment to step up. The future of Haiti depends on the actions we take today,” Ms Kaaria said.

Finding dignity through care

In recent days, young Leineda has begun to receive the treatment she needs for malnutrition at the Boucan Carré site.

“I feel happy today because before, we didn’t have any doctors to examine us or understand our pain,” Christiana said. The presence of the doctors brings back a sense of dignity. It helps us.”

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UN rights body rules Guatemala failed displaced Mayan Peoples

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The landmark decision, announced on Thursday, also considered the harm caused to succeeding generations.

“Forced displacement is permanent in nature until the victims benefit from a safe and dignified return to their place of habitual residence or are voluntarily resettled elsewhere,” said Committee member Hélène Tigroudja.

Conflict, displacement and violations

The Committee found that the 269 members of the K’iche’, Ixil and Kaqchikel Mayan Indigenous Peoples were violently uprooted from their traditional lands and forced to seek refuge in the capital, Guatemala City, in violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

They were forcibly displaced during “scorched earth” operations amid internal armed conflict in the 1980s.

Mayan leaders approached the Committee in 2021, claiming their rights under the UN treaty were violated.

Although they had reached a settlement with the Government and agreed on several reparation measures under the 2011 National Compensation Programme – which foresaw, in particular, the resettlement and construction of alternative housing – it was never implemented.

‘Stripped of cultural identity’

The UN Committee’s decision noted that while in the capital city, Mayans were also forced to conceal and ultimately change their identities, representing another violation.

“The uprooting of the victims from their natural environment and lands had a deep, devastating, and lasting impact as they were irremediably stripped of their cultural identity,” Ms. Tigroudja said. 

“They had to abandon their cultural practices, stop wearing their traditional clothing and stop speaking their language, which also constitutes an irreparable loss for their children and grandchildren,” she added.

Transgenerational trauma

In a new approach, the Committee considered that the State violated not only the rights of those who were forcibly displaced but also the rights of third-generation children born in displacement, thus transmitting the trauma of being uprooted. 

“Indigenous Peoples’ rights are, by definition, intergenerational.  Transmission is a key condition for the continuity of Indigenous Peoples’ existence and cultures,” Ms. Tigroudja said.

The Committee also highlighted that the forced displacement and accompanying violence resulted in the victims having to leave behind the buried bodies of their relatives. 

Burial rites disrupted

Moreover, they were unable to perform funeral rituals for family members who died or were executed or forcibly disappeared during the conflict, in violation of their right not to be subjected to torture and inhumane treatment. 

“In Mayan culture, not performing funeral rites is considered a moral transgression which can lead to spiritually caused illnesses that can manifest as physical diseases and can affect the entire lineage,” Ms. Tigroudja explained. 

“These are not only performative ceremonies and rituals but an integral part of the physical, moral and spiritual integrity of members of the communities as well as of the communities as a whole,” she added.

Action by authorities

The Committee requested Guatemala to search for and hand over the remains of the disappeared family members so that funeral rituals can be carried out in accordance with cultural requirements. 

The Government is also urged to undertake other measures, including providing victims, their children and grandchildren with the necessary medical, psychological and/or psychiatric treatment; and publicly acknowledging responsibility.

About the Committee

The Human Rights Committee comprises 18 independent experts who monitor implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

More than 170 States are party to the UN treaty. Committee members are elected by States parties and serve in their personal capacity. They are not UN staff and do not receive payment for their work. 

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Hundreds killed in Sudan’s camps for displaced people

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Violent clashes between armed militias and forces of the military Government have escalated dramatically across North Darfur in recent weeks as Sudan marked two years of civil war.

The El Fasher and Zamzam camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) who were forced to flee their homes because of the conflict, were disproportionately affected.

“The bombs were falling on the hospital. The sick and their mothers were killed. Those of us who survived left with only our children on our backs,” said Hawa, a mother of three who was inside a hospital in the Zamzam camp during the shelling, speaking to the UN Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).

Horror and displacement

The attacks have destroyed critical infrastructure, halted water trucking services, and led to the collapse of already fragile health services, according to the UN.

Zamzam IDP camp, which prior to the recent shelling housed at least 400,000 people, has now been nearly emptied. The UN has reported that over 332,000 people have fled the camp.

Humanitarian organisations are warning of increasing reports of sexual violence, the targeting of civilians, and forced recruitment – particularly by elements of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia.

Aid under strain

The sudden and massive influx of IDPs into already overwhelmed towns and host communities is increasing the strain on health services, water infrastructure, and local food systems.

While IDP camps face soaring demand for emergency shelters, clean water, food, and protection services, fuel shortages have led to the near-total suspension of water trucking operations in many areas, including El Fasher.

The sick and their mothers were killed. Those of us who survived left with only our children on our backs

In Central Darfur, health partners report rising levels of malnutrition, especially among children.

“In the past, we had three to four meals per day. For the past two years, giving [my children] one meal a day is a miracle,” Hawa recounted.

Although the UN is currently delivering life-saving food assistance in Tawila — North Darfur, an immediate scale-up in humanitarian assistance is needed to prevent tens of thousands of newly-displaced people from falling further into acute vulnerability.

UN agencies and their partners are urgently appealing for increased funding to avert further loss of life and irreversible humanitarian consequences.

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