Tag Archives: Gangs

Haiti crisis at breaking point as gangs tighten grip ahead of transition deadline

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With the political transition set to expire on 7 February, officials cautioned that escalating violence, entrenched criminal networks and mounting humanitarian needs risk pushing Haiti further into instability unless security and political efforts are urgently sustained.

Carlos Ruiz-Massieu, the head of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), said the country had entered a “critical phase” in efforts to restore democratic institutions, calling on Haitian actors to contain political fragmentation and prioritise elections.

“Let us be clear: the country no longer has time to waste on prolonged internal struggles,” he said, stressing the need for continuity of governance arrangements beyond the February deadline and sustained coordination to bring the transition to a close.

Mr. Ruiz-Massieu said recent steps toward elections were encouraging, citing the adoption of an electoral decree on 1 December and the publication of an calendar for going to the polls later that month.  

New provisions on voter registration, overseas voter participation and women’s representation could boost inclusivity if effectively implemented, he added.

Security still fragile

But progress on the political front is unfolding against a deteriorating security landscape.

Gangs continue to mount coordinated attacks, control key economic corridors and agricultural regions, and force mass displacement – stretching police and humanitarian capacity to the limit.

The murder rate in 2025 rose by nearly 20 per cent compared with 2024, he said.

Some security gains have been made. Police operations, supported by the Security Council-authorised Gang Suppression Force, have reopened roads in parts of Port-au-Prince and the Artibonite Department, while state presence around the capital’s Champ de Mars has been gradually restored.

Mr. Ruiz-Massieu cautioned, however, that such gains remain fragile and risk reversal without sustained pressure and basic service delivery.

Read our explainer on the situation in Hait: Why the crisis is deepening, and what comes next

Gangs reorganising and restructuring

The evolving violence reflects a deeper transformation of Haiti’s criminal landscape, according to John Brandolino, Acting Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Once-fragmented gangs have reorganised into structured criminal networks with defined leadership, territorial ambitions and diversified revenue streams.

Coalitions such as Viv Ansanm have coordinated large-scale attacks on police, prisons and economic infrastructure, he said, allowing gangs to consolidate control over Port-au-Prince and strategic corridors into Artibonite and Plateau Central.

Extortion has become a core revenue source, alongside trafficking in drugs, weapons and ammunition.

Implications for regional security

UNODC said the crisis is increasingly regional, driven by adaptive arms-trafficking routes, illicit financial flows and corruption. Despite enforcement efforts, traffickers continue to shift routes through weaker ports and offshore transfers to evade embargo controls.

Both officials underscored the importance of the transition of the Multinational Security Support Mission into the Gang Suppression Force and the establishment of the UN Support Office in Haiti, calling for predictable funding and continued international backing.

Beyond security, the humanitarian situation remains dire. Around 6.4 million people require assistance, with Haiti among the least-funded humanitarian responses globally.

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‘An unending horror story’: Gangs and human rights abuses expand in Haiti

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Left vulnerable, communities then formed self-defence groups and Haitian security forces reinforced their operations and made small gains only to be rebuffed again by gangs.

And at all stages of this cycle, human rights violations are being committed against civilians, according to a report released on Friday by the UN office in Haiti (BINUH) and the UN human rights office (OHCHR).

“Caught in the middle of this unending horror story are the Haitian people, who are at the mercy of horrific violence by gangs and exposed to human rights violations from the security forces and abuses by the so-called ‘self-defence’ groups,” said Volker Türk, High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The report also warned about “early signs of criminal governance” in the Centre Department where gangs are beginning to consolidate their gains and act as a de facto governing authority.

Four years of horror

Since 2021 and the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, gang violence has dominated the capital Port-au-Prince which is now 85 per cent controlled by gangs, says the UN.

Over 1.3 million Haitians have been displaced because of this violence, representing the largest displacement due to political upheaval in Haitian history.

Food insecurity among displaced Haitians is rampant, with Haiti one of five countries worldwide which is experiencing famine-like conditions.

As of March 2025, the violence has also expanded into previously untouched areas of the country, specifically the Artibonite and Centre Departments where 92,000 and 147,000 people have been displaced respectively.

The report also noted that recently, gangs have begun to expand beyond central Haiti towards the border of the Dominican Republic, with the apparent goal of controlling key roads through which much of the illegal weapons trafficking is happening.

“The expansion of gang territorial control poses a major risk of spreading violence and increasing transnational trafficking in arms and people,” said Ravina Shamdasani, a UNHCR spokesperson at a briefing in Geneva.

Human rights endangered

Between October 2024 and June 2025, 4,864 people in Haiti have been killed by gang violence. At least hundreds more have been injured, kidnapped, raped and trafficked.

“Human rights abuses outside Port-au-Prince are intensifying in areas of the country where the presence of the State is extremely limited,” said Ulrika Richardson, interim Head of BINUH and UN Resident Coordinator.

While many of these human rights violations – including the denial of the right to life and physical integrity, sexual violence and forced displacement — are being perpetrated by organized gangs, there are also documented human rights abuses at the hands of Haitian authorities.

Specifically, between October 2024 and June 2025, there were 19 extrajudicial executions by security forces in the Artibonite and Centre Departments – 17 of them in Artibonite.

Self-defence groups, which are increasingly prevalent as a result of inadequate State security, have also committed human rights violations, often in the form of lynchings of suspected gang members.

“The human rights violations and abuses that we have documented are further evidence of why Haiti and the international community urgently need to step up to end the violence,” Mr. Türk said.

At this point, there have been no documented human rights abuses committed by the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission authorized by the United Nations and funded and staffed largely by Kenya.

No accountability

The Haitian National Police and MSS have launched multiple operations to regain territory lost to the gangs. While some have been briefly successful, the operations have been unable to maintain a lasting presence or protect local communities, according to the report.

In fact, the report suggests that in the Centre, the situation is trending in the opposite direction with gangs consolidating territorial gains outside the capital and beginning to institute forms of criminal governance.

As a result of this persistent insecurity, judicial operations are virtually at a standstill in the Centre and Artibonite Departments.

“The international community must strengthen its support to the authorities, who bear the primary responsibility for protecting the Haitian population,” said Ms. Richardson.

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