(2024-05) Advocacy Note - Protection of Internally Displaced Persons in Haiti (May 2024)

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) • 2024 • 7 pages

Summary — A May 2024 Protection Cluster advocacy note documents severe protection risks facing internally displaced persons in Port-au-Prince sites amid gang violence and calls on the Haitian government, donors, and humanitarian actors to act.

View Document View Original Source

Key Findings

More than 362,000 people were displaced in Haiti as of May 2024, 96 percent due to gang violence, with 90,254 IDPs in 85 sites across metropolitan Port-au-Prince. Seventy-five percent of IDP sites were in gang-controlled or high-risk areas, and gangs reportedly used IDPs as shields, including an incident at the CPS seaport on April 25-26 in which over 27 people were killed. At least 216 cases of sexual violence were reported in IDP sites in the first quarter of 2024, and 109 unaccompanied and separated children were identified in May 2024. The protection sector of the 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan was funded at only 8 percent, and only 15 of the 85 identified sites had even partial coverage by a protection partner.

Full Description

This advocacy note, issued in May 2024 by the Protection Cluster with data from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and IOM, addresses the protection of internally displaced persons in Haiti. More than 362,000 people were displaced, 96 percent due to gang violence, with at least 195,764 in the West Department and 90,254 residing in 85 sites across the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area. Conditions in makeshift sites, often schools, churches, and public buildings, are described as dire, with 34 percent of sites lacking latrines and irregular access to potable water. The note identifies six protection risks: violations of physical integrity, with 75 percent of sites in gang-controlled or high-risk areas; heightened sexual violence, with at least 216 cases reported in the first quarter of 2024; family separation and unaccompanied children; evictions, with at least 23 recorded since January 2024; unaddressed mental health needs; and poor access to services, with the protection sector funded at only 8 percent. It sets out requests to the Haitian government, donors, and humanitarian organizations and a ten-point urgent call to action.

Topics

Geography

Time Coverage

2024 — 2024

Keywords

internally displaced persons, protection cluster, gang violence, IDP sites, sexual violence, evictions, unaccompanied children, Port-au-Prince, humanitarian funding, advocacy note, OHCHR, IOM DTM

Entities

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, International Organization for Migration, Protection Cluster, Gender-Based Violence sub-cluster, OCHA, Haitian National Police, Caribbean Port Services, Government of Haiti

Notes

Protection Cluster advocacy note with OHCHR/IOM data; verify vs 12 held OHCHR docs before ingest; ayitistats wave B