At least 96,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince as a result of gang violence, according to a report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) that triples the number of displaced people in just five months.
Analyses carried out between June and August attribute 96,000 of the 113,000 displacements detected throughout the country to violence, while another 17,000 correspond to victims of an earthquake that shook the south of the country in August 2021.
Nearly eight out of ten displaced people live in host communities, while the remaining 21 percent remain in settlements set up to accommodate these people, according to the study.
The Port-au-Prince metropolitan area has been the scene of all kinds of violent actions, including looting and kidnappings, which have also led to increased inequality and shortages of basic goods and supplies. The UN has warned on numerous occasions of problems in the delivery of humanitarian aid due to the blockades.
The UN coordinator in Haiti, Ulrika Richardson, has assured that the organization is working «side by side» with partners and local authorities «to help alleviate the problems faced by the most vulnerable families». «Thousands of women, children and men have been forced to leave their homes to escape the violence and destruction,» she said.
