Haiti’s Number of Forcibly Displaced People on the Rise

March 12, 2024 Hour: 4:02 pm

On Tuesday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that 362,000 people have been forcibly displaced in Haiti.

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According to the IOM, more than half are children, and the total number has increased by 15 percent since the beginning of the year.

The international organization assures that forced displacements in Haiti worsen the humanitarian situation in the Caribbean country, where violence, kidnappings and armed gangs persist and overshadow the lives of citizens. “More than half of the people currently displaced in the country were displaced in 2023,” the agency reported.

In December 2023 alone – the IOM said – more than 310,000 individuals had to leave their homes, and these figures illustrate the steadily worsening humanitarian and security situation in the country, particularly in Port-au-Prince.

‼️ In one week alone, around 15,000 people have been displaced by violence in Haiti!

Most were already displaced prior to the recent violence. Many are in need of basic commodities.

Read more here: https://t.co/89qGQW983z pic.twitter.com/S6l3TiLZ2o

— IOM – UN Migration �� (@UNmigration)
March 11, 2024

Recently, the Director General of Civil Protection, Jerry Chandler, admitted that the displaced are living in precarious conditions.

Thousands of people had to leave their homes to seek refuge with relatives, in shelters or public spaces such as squares, churches and gymnasiums.

Haiti: Waves of violence have displaced +15,000 Haitians in just a week amid ongoing looting at the country’s main port — Latest report from @UNmigration.

UN Security Council strongly condemned “destabilizing” criminal activity by armed gangs. https://t.co/RJMKPa6N4A pic.twitter.com/ULSHloLH7O

— United Nations Geneva (@UNGeneva)
March 12, 2024

Chandler acknowledged that the situation of the displaced is very difficult, as they survive in overcrowded conditions and without basic sanitation, which could lead to waterborne diseases such as cholera, which has already claimed a thousand lives since October 2022.

IOM, the World Food Program, the Economic and Social Assistance Fund, and the Social Assistance Fund do not have sufficient resources to care for all the victims.