(2024-06) ACAPS Thematic Report - Haiti: Criminal Gang Violence in Port-au-Prince (6 June 2024)
Summary — This ACAPS thematic report updates the humanitarian situation in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan zone after criminal gangs launched coordinated attacks on state institutions from 29 February 2024, closing the airport and port and forcing Prime Minister Ariel Henry's resignation. Based on a secondary data review, it documents around 2,500 people killed or injured between January and March (a 53 percent quarterly increase), gang control of up to 80 percent of the metropolitan area, a 27 percent rise in food basket costs, some 900 school closures, and only 20 percent of health facilities functioning normally.
Key Findings
- Coordinated gang attacks from 29 February 2024 closed Port-au-Prince's airport and port, freed thousands of prisoners, and forced Prime Minister Ariel Henry's resignation, with gangs controlling up to 80 percent of the metropolitan zone by end-May.
- Around 2,500 people were killed or injured by gang violence between January and March 2024, a 53 percent increase over the last quarter of 2023.
- Food insecurity reached record levels, with about 4.97 million people in IPC Phase 3 or worse for March-June 2024 (1.64 million in Phase 4), a 27 percent rise in the food basket cost, and 3,000 hectares of Artibonite rice cropland abandoned.
- Health care access hit a critical low, with only 20 percent of Port-au-Prince health facilities functioning normally and six of the country's ten major hospitals barely functional.
- Over 94,000 people fled the metropolitan area between February and early April toward the southern departments, nearly 900 schools closed affecting about 200,000 students, and around one million children in gang-controlled areas face forced recruitment risks.
Full Description
ACAPS reviews the surge in violence in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan zone (ZMPAP) in the first half of 2024, when gangs led by the G9 federation launched coordinated attacks from 29 February against police facilities, prisons, the airport, and the port, seeking to prevent Prime Minister Ariel Henry's return from Kenya. Around 2,500 people were killed or injured by gang violence between January and March 2024, a 53 percent increase on the last quarter of 2023, and by end-May gangs controlled up to 80 percent of the ZMPAP. Henry resigned on 25 April following installation of a Transitional Council, which named Garry Conille Prime Minister at the end of May, while the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support mission authorised in October 2023 had yet to begin operations. The report is based on a secondary data review and notes systematic underreporting of protection threats, including sexual violence and abduction, given gang control of territory.
Sectoral findings document a broad collapse in services and livelihoods. Between February and early April, over 94,000 people fled the ZMPAP toward Grande-Anse, Nippes, Sud, and Sud-Est, 63 percent of them previously displaced, while 89,000 IDPs occupied 87 sites within the capital. Only 20 percent of Port-au-Prince health facilities were functioning normally by late May, with six of the country's ten major hospitals barely functional. Food security deteriorated sharply: around 4.97 million people faced IPC Phase 3 or worse for March-June 2024, including 1.64 million in Phase 4, the food basket cost rose 27 percent between January and May, farmers abandoned about 3,000 hectares of rice in Artibonite (where 90 percent of national rice is grown), and over 40 percent of ZMPAP households reported job losses. Nearly 900 schools closed, affecting about 200,000 students, and around one million children in gang-controlled areas were exposed to forced recruitment, with an estimated 30-50 percent of gang members being children.
Notes
ACAPS thematic/anticipatory analysis