The number of people displaced by gang-related violence in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, has tripled in the past five months, according to a new report from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

The report identified more 113,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) in Haiti. Of these, 96,000 individuals fled insecurity in the capital, due to inter-gang violence and social unrest.

Another 17,000 people remain displaced because of the worst earthquake in a decade, which devastated the country’s southern regions in August 2021. 

Gang-related violence in Port-au-Prince Metropolitan Area had resulted in racketeering, kidnappings, and wider criminal acts in a context characterized by deep inequalities, high levels of deprivation of basic human needs, and a fragmented security environment, the report says.  

“Neighbourhoods with the highest levels of violence often report economic distress, with recent surges in food and fuel prices further destabilizing already precarious livelihoods,” it says. 

“Thousands of women, children, and men have been forced to leave their homes seeking shelter away from violence and destruction,” the report says.

Since June 2021, an upsurge in violent confrontations between gangs has generated a situation of generalised insecurity in several communes of the Metropolitan Area of Port-au-Prince displaced tens of thousands of people.

Insecurity in the capital, which accelerated following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, has aggravated the already dire economic and political conditions confronting Haiti.

The Haitian Directorate-General for Civil Protection and IOM’s Displacement Monitoring Matrix (DTM) recorded 47,129 new displacement movements in the ZMPP between 23 April and 23 August 2022.

“As of 31 August 2022 in Port-au-Prince, 87,895 individuals have been displaced by gang violence, including 21,684 in 36 spontaneous sites and 66,211 in 160 host communities/neighbourhoods,” the report says.

“Violence in the capital also prompted large numbers of people to flee to the southern regions of Haiti: the DGPC and DTM identified 9,252 individuals amongst 51 host communities in the Sud and Grand’ Anse départements displaced by insecurity in the capital,” it says.The report says that the August 2021 earthquake caused the death of 2,246 people, as well as significant damage and destruction to more than 115,000 homes, and affected over 800,000 people.

IOM estimates that 16,185 people are currently displaced in the departments of Sud and Grand Anse as a result of the earthquake, including 2,528 in 35 sites and 13,657 in 51 host communal sectors.

The report says IOM has been distributing relief items and medical kits, health consultations, and assistance to people with disabilities, as well as a free line providing psycho-social support and referral services to migrants and IDPs. It has also assisted more than 6,400 families with relocation and rental allowances.

See the full report: 96,000 Haitians Displaced by Recent Gang Violence in Capital: IOM Report | International Organization for Migration