A fresh wave of gang violence in Haiti has forced hundreds of people to flee their homes, leaving them stranded along a road leading to the country's main airport. The clashes, which erupted over the weekend in several northern neighbourhoods of Port-au-Prince, have pushed displaced residents onto the route to Toussaint Louverture International Airport.
Monique Verdieux, 56, fled to the highway after witnessing armed men burning houses in her neighbourhood. Her family scattered in different directions, and she said she is unsure of their whereabouts. “I am now sleeping in the street,” Verdieux said, noting it was unsafe to return.
Gangs have seized control of more than 90% of Port-au-Prince since the assassination of President Jovenal Moïse in July 2021. Police report that criminal activities, including looting, kidnapping, sexual assaults and rape, have expanded into rural areas. Haiti has not had a president since the assassination.
For the past two weeks, Haitian rum maker Barbancourt and two of the nation's largest bottlers have warned about deteriorating security conditions near the airport, where operations are now severely restricted. In a statement released Sunday, the companies said the government's response to the crisis has been “largely insufficient” and noted that the poor state of roads leading to the airport hampers security forces' patrols. “You cannot secure an airport if you allow the roads around it to degrade,” the statement read.
In April, the first foreign troops linked to a United Nations gang suppression force arrived in Haiti. The UN Security Council approved a plan in late September to authorise a 5,550-member force, which has not yet fully deployed. A report by the International Organization for Migration earlier this year found that gang violence had displaced more than 1.4 million people in Haiti, with around 200,000 living in crowded and underfunded sites in the capital.
