More than 10,000 displaced by Haiti gang attacks in past week, UN says

People flee their neighborhoods after after armed gangs terrorized the Delmas 24 and Solino areas on the night of May 1, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, May 02 ,2024.

More than 10,000 Haitians have been internally displaced over the past week amid an escalation in gang violence outside the capital Port-au-Prince, according to UN migration agency estimates.

More than 10,000 people in Haiti have been internally displaced in the last week as armed gangs operating in and around the capital Port-au-Prince ramp up attacks on areas they do not yet control, according to UN migration agency estimates on Thursday.

The agency had said at the start of September that more than 700,000 people were internally displaced across the Caribbean nation, nearly double the figure six months earlier.

Gangs have in the last week been ramping up attacks on a number of towns outside the capital, where much of the city and its suburbs is under the control of various violent armed groups united under a common alliance known as Viv Ansanm.

The conflict is fueling famine-level hunger in parts of the population as gangs take over farmlands and block off transport routes, while people forced to flee their homes - often to host families or makeshift camps - can no longer depend on steady income to afford food.

While the UN authorized an international force to help Haiti's police take back control from the gangs, the mission has been poorly resourced and has produced scant results.

(Reuters)


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