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Criminal Violence in Haiti

UN Agency Reports 1.3 Million People Displaced in Haiti

  • The UN International Organization for Migration reported that 1.3 million people in Haiti are internally displaced due to violence (Reuters)
  • This is the highest number of displaced people ever in the country and represents a 24 percent increase since December 2024 (IOM).

U.S. Security Contractor in Haiti

  • Haiti’s interim government hired former Blackwater head Erik Prince to provide private security services in its fight against gangs, the New York Times reported; Prince’s services in recent months have helped Haitian forces deploy drones to target gang members, though no high-profile targets have been reported as killed or captured (NYT)
  • One human rights organizations said the drones have killed hundreds of people since March, but no gang leaders (WSJ)

Haitian Protesters Hold Demonstrations in Port-au-Prince

  • The protestors called for an end to the gang violence across the country and demanded the resignation of the country’s transitional leadership, blaming the presidential council for failing to quell the violence in Haiti’s capital and for allowing gangs to thrive (AP)

Washington Lists Haiti Groups as Terrorists

  • The United States added two Haitian gangs to a list of foreign terrorist organizations, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying the move aimed to end “impunity for those supporting violence in Haiti;” he warned that people who transact with the groups may risk being sanctioned (WaPo)
  • An analyst from the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime said the designation would hamper humanitarian work (AP)

Trump Administration Set to Designate Haitian Gangs as Foreign Terrorist Organizations

  • The administration notified Congressional committees of the plan, which would officially label Haitian gangs Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif as foreign terrorist organizations (AP)

Gangs Attack Town in Central Haiti, Killing at Least Four Civilians

  • Gangs targeted the town of Petite Rivière and burned down over a dozen homes while firing upon civilians and exchanging gunfire with police; gunfire killed an eleven-year-old child among the four dead, and at least fifteen others suffered injuries (CNN)

Haitian Gangs Kill At Least Four Police Officers and Four Armed Civilians in Kenscoff

  • The civilians were from the Canape-Vert community and volunteered as part of a local militia to combat violent gangs (AP)

Dominican Authorities Begin Further Crackdowns on Undocumented Haitian Migrants

  • Security forces detained and deported over 135 women and children on the first day new measures took effect to ramp up immigration controls in the Dominican Republic; many of those detained were pregnant women and those who recently gave birth, as the new immigration measures requires migrants to present identification and documentation to immigration officers at public hospitals (CNN)

Three Haitian Soldiers Killed by Gang in Port-au-Prince

  • Gang members reportedly ambushed the soldiers as they traveled in an unarmored car towards the Kenscoff area of the city on a reinforcement mission (AP)

French President Seeks Reconciliation With Haiti

  • French President Emmanuel Macron said that the debt France imposed on Haiti for its independence two hundred years ago was unjust and announced a joint French-Haitian historical commission to “examine our shared past;” he stopped short of mentioning the possibility of financial reparations, a longtime Haitian demand (AP)
  • The New York Times estimated that Haiti paid back $560 million in 2022 dollars over six decades (NYT)

Haiti Announces “War-Time Budget” of Over $275 Million

  • The Haitian transitional presidential council will divide the budget to support its military and police forces, improve the integrity of its border with the Dominican Republic, and fund social programs (Reuters)

Doctors Without Borders Announce Withdrawal From Two Medical Facilities in Port-au-Prince

  • The health organization stated that it will cease operations for at least three months at the March Turgeau Emergency Center and Carrefour Trauma Hospital in downtown Port-au-Prince, which comes nearly a month after gang members fired upon their vehicles transiting between the two locations; the organization will continue to operate at other facilities in Port-au-Prince and in southern Haiti (MSF)

Dominican Republic Ramps Up Crackdowns on Haitian Migrants

  • Some of the new measures from Santo Domingo include punishing those who rent to undocumented Haitian migrants and deporting those who fail to present proper documentation at hospitals; the administration has deported over one hundred and eighty thousand undocumented immigrants since October (ABC)

Haitian Government Announces New Measures to Combat Gangs Following Widespread Protests

  • The leader of the country’s transition government pledged a new special budget for anti-gang measures and for the deployment of additional state security officers after thousands of people demonstrated Wednesday against gang violence; it was the biggest protest since the interim government was sworn in a year ago (AP)

Haitian Gangs Release Over Five Hundred Inmates After Storming Town

  • Gang members set fire to buildings and attacked the police station and prison in Mirebalais, and though police regained control of the town, they warned that many of the escaped inmates still remain across the town (BBC)

Kenyan Police Officer Missing After Attack by Haitian Gang

  • The officer was on patrol in Pont-Sondé when gang members ambushed the group; search teams were deployed following the incident to locate the missing officer (BBC)

Doctors Without Borders Vehicles Fired Upon in Port-au-Prince

  • The attack occurred after Doctors Without Borders suspended operations at the Turgeau Emergency Hospital due to increasing violence around the building; there are very few currently functioning hospitals in Port-au-Prince (AP)

Ban on U.S. Flights to Haitian Capital Extended to September 8

  • The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) originally announced the ban in November 2024, and while international flights continue in other airports, the FAA cited risks of gunfire by Haitian gangs in Port-au-Prince (Reuters)

New Transitional President of Haiti Confirmed in Peaceful Transfer of Power

  • Former Central Bank Chief Fritz Alphonse Jean replaced President Leslie Voltaire as the leading executive in Haiti’s transitional presidential council and will stay in power until August 7, 2025; in April 2024, Haiti’s government established the transitional council, which will continue rotating presidency between members until the next presidential elections in February 2026 (Reuters)

Gangs Launch Deadly Assault on Neighborhood in Port-au-Prince

  • The assault in the Delmas 30 neighborhood killed two soldiers and left an unidentified number of civilians dead, while gang members set buildings ablaze (Haitian Times)
  • On the same day, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recommended that the UN utilize funds from its peacekeeping budget to provide operational and logistical funds for the security support mission (MSS), as opposed to transforming the mission itself into a peacekeeping force (VOA)

Kenyan Police Officer Killed by Gangs in Haiti

  • Suspected gang members from the northern Artibonite region fired upon the police officer, who was on patrol at the time (AFP)

UN Secretary-General to Propose Increased Funding for Mission in Haiti

  • The proposal, which would require United Nations Security Council approval, aims to allocate funding to cover expenses and provide essential resources for the current multinational force aiding Haitian police (PBS)
  • Meanwhile, with an end to the United States’ Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians scheduled for August 3, 2025, five hundred thousand people who fled the violence will lose work permits and face deportation (BBC)

General Hospital in Port-au-Prince Set Ablaze

  • Viv Ansanm, a gang coalition that controls territory in the country’s capital, is suspected of starting the fire that destroyed the hospital—the country’s largest public health institution (VOA)

Amnesty International: Children in Haiti at Heightened Risk of Gang Violence

  • A published report indicated that one million children currently live in gang-controlled areas, with multiple accounts of targeted attacks and sexual violence against children, as well as steep rises in gang recruitment of children (Al Jazeera)

More Than One Hundred Kenyan Police Officers Arrive in Port-au-Prince

  • Recently, the United States froze some $13 million in a UN fund to support the security mission; Rubio said that Washington would provide $40.7 million for the mission and Haitian police without channeling the money through the UN fund (Reuters)