Background

Political instability and violence further weakened state institutions and aggravated deficiencies in basic services. Various spikes of violence occurred, including massacres, resulting in increased internal displacement and the temporary closure of the Port-au-Prince airport. Several armed gangs grew stronger and controlled important parts of the country, including strategic infrastructure such as ports and airports, exposing the population to generalized violence and human rights violations.¹

In March, after intense pressure, Ariel Henry resigned as prime minister. In April, a Presidential Transitional Council was formed of different political forces. In November, the transitional council dismissed the prime minister appointed in June and appointed Alix Didier Fils-Aimé as the new prime minister.

In June, the first soldiers of the Kenyan police-led Multinational Security Support Mission, approved by the UN Security Council in 2023, arrived in Haiti. In September, the UN Security Council renewed the mission for another year. By year’s end, there were more than 500 soldiers from the Bahamas, Belize, Jamaica and Kenya, based in Haiti.

Economic, social and cultural rights

Almost half the population needed humanitarian assistance, with alarming levels of food insecurity and malnutrition. According to the UN’s World Food Programme in September, 2 million faced extreme food shortages, acute malnutrition and high disease levels. The health system faced serious challenges that brought it to the brink of collapse. Many hospitals and health centres had been vandalized and robbed. In the capital, Port-au-Prince, only 37% of health facilities were fully functional and access was difficult due to the security concerns, according to a UN expert. The education system had also been impacted by the violence, with schools forced to close due to shootings or having been robbed and burned.

According to the International Organization for Migration, by October, more than 700,000 people, half of whom were children, had fled their homes due to violence. Many internally displaced people faced criminal gang violence and lack of access to food and healthcare.

Unlawful attacks and killings

Abuses by criminal gangs continued unabated. According to a report by the OHCHR in 2024, at least 5,601 people were killed, 2,212 people injured and 1,494 abducted. Criminal gangs were responsible for countless abuses, including against children. These included recruitment and use, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, attacks on schools and hospitals, abductions and denial of humanitarian access.

In December, at least 180 people were killed in a gang-organized attack in Cité Soleil.²

The UN Secretary-General reported on Haiti for the first time in his Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict, stating that the UN had verified 383 grave violations against children in Haiti in 2023.³

Sexual and gender-based violence

Sexual and gender-based violence, including rape, increased in the first half of the year, according to a UN report, and “gangs have continued to use sexual violence to punish, spread fear and subjugate the population”.

Impunity

The justice system struggled to operate, and human rights violations, crime and corruption continued to go unpunished.

The deployment of the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti took place amidst serious concerns about the absence of transparency relating to human rights safeguards. Information was lacking on the accountability mechanism for possible human rights abuses and violations.⁴

Refugees’ and migrants’ rights

Several countries in the region failed to provide international protection to Haitians fleeing violence and the disastrous situation in the country.

Haitians faced racism and discrimination. The USA and the Dominican Republic continued their policy of forcibly and unlawfully returning Haitians and failed to ensure access to asylum for those seeking international protection.⁵

In October, new government measures by the Dominican Republic tripled the number of deportations. By the end of the year, 199,170 people had been deported to Haiti from the USA and the Dominican Republic.

1. “Haiti: Severe crisis calls for lasting solutions, not impunity”, 10 May ↩︎
2. “Haiti: Justice and protection must follow reports of mass killing in Cité Soleil”, 11 December ↩︎
3. “Child protection urged as the Multinational Security Support Mission deploys to Haiti”, 2 July ↩︎
4. “Haiti: Human rights safeguards and transparency must guide security mission deployment”, 4 June ↩︎
5. “Dominican Republic: End racist deportations of Haitians”, 8 October ↩︎