Haiti - March 2023

The crisis in Haiti deepens as rising gang violence has spread to new areas around the country. New clashes between armed groups erupted in Port-au-Prince at the end of February and escalated in the following weeks, resulting in 208 people killed, 101 kidnapped and over 160 injured during the first two weeks of March.

The international NGO, Doctors Without Borders was forced to temporarily close its facilities in the Cité Soleil area of the capital, citing ‘intolerable risks’ due to the violence. The UN office in Haiti reports violence has spread to every part of the capital as fighting between gangs has become more frequent and violent. Since the beginning of the crisis, at least 160,000 Haitians have been displaced, starvation worsened, and sexual violence against girls and women has been consistently used by gangs to instill terror. Between January and March 2023, Haiti’s gang violence has left more than 300 people injured, 530 killed and 277 kidnapped in gang-related incidents.

Sources: Associated Press, Doctors Without Borders, Reuters, United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Caribbean National Weekly