Haiti Continues Immersed in Out-of-Control Violence
Over a thousand persons killed in just two months in Haiti where the violence appears unstoppable.
HAVANA TIMES – Over 1,000 people were killed in Haiti during February and March of this year, while at least 60,000 Haitians were forced to flee the violence that inflicts the nation, stated Maria Isabel Salvador, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti, before the UN Security Council on April 21.
“The magnitude and duration of this violence has overwhelmed the capacity of the Haitian National Police, even with the support of the armed forces and the Multinational Security Support Mission,” the UN representative declared.
The wave of violence unleashed by the criminal bands who control large parts of the capital and some provinces has worsened the humanitarian crisis that has gravely affected over a million of the country’s 11.5 million inhabitants, Maria Salvador added.
The situation is becoming ever more serious. Just last week, UN Secretary General Antionio Gutierres indicated that the violence had led to the death of 2,660 people between December 2023 and February 2025.
The criminal groups have staged ever more intense and coordinated attacks. By doing so, they have succeeded in extending their territorial control and openly challenging the authority of the government indicated Maria Isabel Salvador. In her view, “the country is approaching a point of no return”.
The coordinated attacks have affected zones previously considered secure, such as Delmas, Petion-Ville and the center of Haiti’s capital, Port Au Prince. They have also expanded into the departments of western and central Haiti and into Artibonite in the north.
One of the most alarming incidents occurred on March 31, when gang members took Mirebalais, a city of 100,000 residents in the center of the country. Over 500 prisoners escaped in the fifth prison break in less than a year, Maria Isabel Salvador noted.
In the face of the collapse of the country’s institutions many citizens have organized self-defense groups in their communities, while thousands have gone out into the streets to demand more effective security measures. “Nonetheless,” Salvador added, “national capacities remain limited.”
She recalled that on April 14, a revised budget was approved to reinforce the Haitian police and army, but warned that the Haitian authorities themselves assert that it won’t be enough without urgent international support.
Haiti’s transition government, established last year, has been able to add a few hundred officers to the National Police, which is also backed by multinational forces made up of some 600 members of the Kenyan police and some countries of Central America and the Caribbean. However, they appear to be overwhelmed by the force of the criminal bands.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis in Haiti has reached critical levels, according to Salvador, who pointed out that the insecurity has led to the closure of 39 health centers and over 900 schools in Port Au Prince alone.
Cholera outbreaks have grown, and gender violence has added to the afflictions in the poor neighborhoods under gang control, as well as in the displacement camps.
Maria Isabel Salvador urged the UN member states to support the 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan and endorse the UN commitment to “help provide vital assistance, especially to the women and children, and to promote social peace through government initiatives.”
She recognized the challenges that the United Nations agencies face in bringing vital assistance to those who need it, given the isolation of the capital, blockaded by land and without commercial flights since November.
Even so, she stated, the UN has maintained its presence using reduced, hybrid modalities. Nonetheless: “without predictable and sufficient funding, even this minimal presence is at risk.”
In addition, since January 2024, the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of La Española with Haiti, has deported some 210,000 Haitian immigrants, adding yet more weight to the already critical humanitarian situation.
Despite the chaos, Salvador explained, the transition government is advancing politically in the organization of elections, scheduled for February 2026. Constitutional consultations and logistical preparations are underway, although she also clarified that the deteriorated security situation could cast doubt on the viability of the process.
The UN envoy ended by asking the Security Council to strengthen its support for the Multinational Security Mission and to apply effective sanctions. “Haiti finds itself at a decisive moment. Without concrete and opportune international assistance, the country could fall into total chaos,” she concluded.