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The Caribbean’s independent wire service since 1976.

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UN warns intensified clashes putting people at increased risk in Haiti

2 min read

Displaced Haitians at a camp (File Photo)

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 13, CMC – The United Nations Friday warned that intensified clashes are putting people in Haiti at growing risk, particularly in densely populated neighbourhoods of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

“Since mid-October, violence in the commune of Croix-des-Bouquets, in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, has displaced around 2,000 people, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM),” said Farhan Haq, the UN Deputy Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, Antonio  Guterres.

He told the daily UN press briefing that nealy 90 per cent of people in Haiti are staying with host families, while the rest have sought shelter at five spontaneous sites.

He said between January and September 2026, the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights estimates that 4,200 people have been killed in violence and some 1.5 million people remain displaced across the country.

“The violence is hindering our ability to coordinate safe humanitarian operations and curtailing our access, making it harder to reach people in need. We call for communities to be protected and to be able to access health facilities, schools and other essential services,” Haq told reporters.

Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) countries have also called on the  international community to support the strengthening of the Haitian National Police and the Armed Forces of Haiti, the rule of law, and the fight against impunity.

“Furthermore, we urged all security actors present in Haiti to prioritise the protection of Haitian civilians in all of their security operations,” they said in a joint statement, adding that they also “remain deeply concerned by the ongoing humanitarian crisis, widespread violence, and reports of human rights violations in Haiti.

“We have urged the international community to increase its financial contributions to the United Nations trust fund, as the success of the UN-mandated hybrid mission depends on sustained multilateral support to fund its operations. We have called on the international community to provide essential support for humanitarian aid in Haiti, in order to address the multiple crises facing the Haitian people.”

Criminal gangs in Haiti have been seeking to destablise the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021.

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