According to a UN study, more than 53,000 people have left Haiti’s capital Port-Au-Prince in less than three weeks, with an overwhelming majority leaving so that they can escape the country’s relentless gang violence.
U.N. officials are concerned that over 60% are going to the rural southern part of Haiti. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric stated in a recent address, “Our humanitarian colleagues emphasized that these departments do not have sufficient infrastructure, and host communities do not have sufficient resources, to cope with the large number of people fleeing Port-au-Prince.”
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According to the study by the International Organization for Migration of the United Nations, about 116,000 Haitians who were previously residents of Port-au-Prince are currently residing in the southern region.
A few days after strong gangs attacked government buildings at the end of February, around 3 million people started leaving the capital. In addition to liberating almost 4,000 prisoners from Haiti’s two largest prisons, gunmen have set fire to police stations and opened fire on the country’s principal international airport, which is currently closed.
As of March 22, the U.N. estimated that over 1,500 people had died and another 17,000 had been rendered homeless.
A 42-year-old street seller named Marjorie Michelle-Jean and her two children, aged four and seven, were among the uncommon tourists attempting to move north rather than south from the city.
“I want to see them alive,” She went on to explain that their home’s tin roof was being struck by stray gunfire. They made two attempts to get to her village of Mirebalais in central Haiti last week, but obstacles caused them to turn around.
“I will definitely try again,” she stated. “It’s absolutely not safe in Port-au-Prince.”
Nearly 70% of the 53,125 individuals who left Port-au-Prince between March 8 and 27 had previously been forced to leave their houses and were either with relatives or in filthy, packed temporary shelters spread across the capital, according to U.N. data.
Over 90% of Haitians who are fleeing the city are jam-packing buses, putting their safety in danger as they pass through areas controlled by gangs, where there have been reports of gang rapes and instances of gunmen opening fire on public transportation.
Following the creation of a temporary presidential council, Prime Minister Ariel Henry was compelled by the violence to declare his resignation last month. Henry, who is still unable to enter Haiti, was in Kenya at the time of the assaults advocating for the United Nations-backed deployment of a police force from the East African nation.
There has been no formal establishment of the transitional council, which will select the next prime minister and council of ministers.
In the meanwhile, it’s anticipated that the Port-au-Prince mass exodus will continue.
However, Gary Dorval, 29, who was one of the few individuals present at the April 2, 2024, rally, stated he intended to remain until a new government was put in place of residence: “I want to be part of the change.”
