Nearly 1.5 million displaced in Haiti as violence spreads, UN says

FILE PHOTO: Violence-displaced people line up for food at a shelter in Artibonite department in central Haiti, August 29, 2025. REUTERS/Fildor Pq Egeder/File Photo

Sept 25 - Haiti's displacement crisis is spreading beyond the capital, with nearly 1.5 million people uprooted across the country, the International Organization for Migration said in a report published on Friday.

• Nearly 80% of those internally displaced are now located outside the capital of Port-au-Prince, with the sharpest recent displacement increase in Artibonite department, once considered a refuge for families fleeing violence elsewhere, the report said.

• Armed gangs in Haiti have near-total control over Port-au-Prince and have been expanding into rural areas.

• Near the capital, recent armed attacks in Kenscoff displaced more than 4,000 people, with reports of homes burned, kidnappings and killings, the report said.

• Hundreds of thousands of displaced people are living in informal settlements, collective sites or other precarious conditions, increasing their vulnerability during the Atlantic hurricane season, the IOM said.

• "For families already displaced by violence, a major storm could trigger another humanitarian emergency," IOM Haiti Senior Emergency Coordinator Elise Verron said in the report. REUTERS