UN warns of nearly 1.5 million displaced in Haiti amid escalating violence

Haiti, already the poorest country in the Americas, is facing a deepening humanitarian crisis as gang violence has displaced nearly 1.47 million people, according to the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM).

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Almost 1.47 million people remain displaced in the country. The violence is no longer contained: it is spreading.

The agency reports that armed attacks are no longer confined to known conflict zones but are increasingly affecting areas previously seen as refuges. "Almost 1.47 million people remain displaced in the country," stated Gregoire Goodstein, head of the IOM mission in Haiti, during a press conference in Geneva. "The violence is no longer contained: it is spreading."

This displacement represents about 12% of Haiti's population of 12 million, with women and children constituting more than half of those affected. In May, a surge in violence in the Cité Soleil area of Port-au-Prince alone displaced over 18,000 people in a matter of days, pushing the number of internally displaced individuals in the capital above 300,000 for the first time.

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What we are seeing is the permanent simultaneity of difficulties, armed violence, mass displacement, acute food insecurity, large-scale forced returns, climate hazards, and institutions under pressure at all levels (...) each makes the others worse.

Goodstein described a "permanent simultaneity of difficulties," including armed violence, mass displacement, acute food insecurity, forced returns, climate hazards, and strained institutions, all exacerbating one another. Compounding the crisis, over 270,000 Haitians living abroad were forced to return to the country in 2025, with an additional 110,000 arriving so far this year. Among these returnees, a quarter are women and nearly 10% are children, including unaccompanied minors and newborns.

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For some, it is the first time in decades, or even in their lives, that they are returning to the country.

Adding to the dire situation, the IOM faces critical funding shortages that "now threaten our ability to remain operational beyond October." Without support for its crisis response plan, the agency's capacity to provide aid is at risk, just as the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June to November, begins.

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Funding limitations now threaten our ability to remain operational beyond October. Without support for our crisis response plan, our response capacity is at stake.