30,000 people flee fresh violence in Haiti as hunger crisis deepens

This article is published in association with United Nations.

Around 30,000 people have had to flee their homes in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas following a new wave of violent attacks and atrocities perpetrated by armed gangs over the past ten days.

Much of the violence has been concentrated in Cité Soleil, an impoverished neighbourhood in the capital, where humanitarian workers are now seeking to provide life-saving assistance. 

The Caribbean island nation continues to suffer from years of insecurity and deep-rooted poverty as well as a collapsing economy and political turmoil following a presidential assassination.

Here’s what two women who fled the violence told the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

Anidette Saint Fleur, from Quartier Blanchard (Cité Soleil)

“There was shooting everywhere. Then they set a fire very close by and we ran away with the whole family.

We didn’t go back to our homes. The gangs are everywhere in the area. We only had time to leave with our ID documents. We haven’t gone back since.

I always keep a bag ready, just in case. When I hear heavy shooting, I grab my bag and flee with everyone. 

I had just paid my rent and we had to flee. Now we have nothing — no money, no roof — and we don’t know if or when we’ll be able to return. Please help us.

Not having a roof to sleep under and food for the children is the hardest thing for us right now.”

Dorlean Boudin, resident of Sarthe, Carrefour Vincent near Cité Soleil

“There were men with machetes setting fire to houses with people inside. They burned, beheaded, shot, killed — and if you had a shop, they looted everything.

The situation was already very difficult for me, I had very little money. I couldn’t buy food because I had to save money in case of emergency, to flee. We stayed without eating so we could save for transport to escape.

I need to restart a small business to raise the children. I need help with food to feed them, and to buy water because we don’t have any.”

WFP has already reached 8,500 newly displaced people from Cité Soleil with emergency food assistance, while nine WFP-supported schools serving about 12,000 students have been forced to suspend meal distributions. 

WFP’s Janvier Muhima said people were being provided with food supplies including rice, pulses oil and fortified flour so they can feed themselves during this period of displacement.”

Across the country, over 1.4 million people, more than 12 per cent of the population, have been forced to leave their homes, mainly due to criminal violence.

Port-au-Prince has become the epicentre of violence, with up to 90 per cent of the city believed to be under the control of gangs. 

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The recruitment of children has reportedly surged, with some estimates indicating that children now comprise 30–50 per cent of some gangs.