A mother sits with her child at a site for displaced people in Haiti.
This article is published in association with United Nations.
Escalating gang violence in Haiti has displaced a record 1.3 million people, UN human rights chief Volker Türk said on Friday.
Between 1 January and 30 May, at least 2,680 people – including 54 children – were killed, 957 injured, 316 kidnapped for ransom, and many more subjected to sexual violence and child gang recruitment.
“Alarming as they are, numbers cannot express the horrors Haitians are being forced to endure daily,” said Mr. Türk.
Conflicts on all sides
In recent months, gangs have attacked Mirebalais in the centre of the country, looting police stations, destroying property and freeing over 500 inmates from the local prison.
UN Photo/Loey Felipe
Meanwhile, so-called self-defence groups have targeted individuals they suspect of gang affiliation. On 20 May, at least 25 people were killed and 10 injured by a group accusing them of supporting gangs.
Law enforcement has ramped up operations against them. Since January, police have killed at least 1,448 people, including 65 during extrajudicial executions.
Mr. Türk called on the international community to take decisive action to end the violence, including renewed support for the Security Council-backed Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission and full enforcement of the council’s arms embargo.
He also reiterated his call for States to not forcibly return anyone to Haiti.
“The coming months will be crucial and will test the international community’s ability to take stronger, more coordinated action – action that will help determine the future stability of Haiti and the wider region,” Mr. Türk added.
Outlook for food trade ‘relatively optimistic’, FAO says
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released their annual Food Outlook report Thursday which provides a “relatively optimistic” look at international food markets.
According to the report, production is expected to increase across almost all categories, with grain production expected to reach record levels. And while prices do remain higher this year than last, between April and May there was an overall decrease of almost one per cent.
The report noted, however, that global trends — including rising geopolitical tensions, climate shocks and trade uncertainties — may still negatively impact production.
“While agricultural production trends appear solid, drivers that could negatively impact global food security are increasing,” said FAO Chief Economist Máximo Torero.
Fowl, fish fraud and fertilizer flows
The report noted that outbreaks of avian influenza have become more persistent and constitute “one of the most significant biological threats to the global poultry sector.” Nevertheless, poultry exports have largely remained largely resilient so far.
The issue of fish fraud – the misrepresentation of the location or manner of the catch – was also discussed, with FAO warning that risks are growing.
Additionally, the report examined fertilizer flows, noting Russia’s growing exports and the decrease in fertilizer prices since the COVID pandemic.
Overall, the report noted, the cost of imports worldwide has increased by 3.6 percent or nearly $2.1 trillion.
Eastern Chad ‘reaching a breaking point’ as Sudan war refugees continue to arrive
Aid teams in eastern Chad warn on Friday that host communities are reaching breaking point because of climate shocks and the pressure of hosting war refugees from neighbouring Sudan.
In an alert, the UN’s top aid official in Chad, François Batalingaya, warned that a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding almost unnoticed by the world’s media.
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“Right now, nearly 300,000 people are stranded at the border, waiting to be relocated inland,” he noted.
“Tens of thousands, mostly women and children, are sleeping in the open without shelter, clean water and health care. These are survivors of war. They arrive traumatized, hungry, and with nothing. They recount stories of mass killings, sexual violence and entire communities destroyed.”
Major exodus
Since the outbreak of war in Sudan in April 2023, more than 850,000 Sudanese refugees have crossed into Chad. They’ve joined the 400,000 existing Sudanese refugees who have arrived over the last 15 years.
The UN aid official explained that even before the latest Sudanese arrivals, nearly one million people in eastern Chad were in urgent need of help.
Today, “they are sharing what little they have – food, water, and space – with those fleeing the war,” Mr. Batalingaya said.
In an appeal for international assistance, he warned that clinics are overwhelmed, malnutrition is rising and basic services are buckling.
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