Haiti faces surge in forced returns amid escalating gang violence

Nearly 200,000 people have been forcibly returned to Haiti in the first eight months of this year, according to United Nations officials reporting to the Security Council. This figure represents an increase of at least 20,000 people compared to the same period last year.

The repatriation occurs amid a severe deterioration of security in Haiti. Following a recent gang attack in Kenscoff, near Port-au-Prince, approximately 47 to 50 people were killed, including five children. During the assault, houses were burned, and individuals seeking refuge in a church were attacked.

UN humanitarian official Indrika Ratwatte and Carlos Ruiz, head of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti, warned that the country's security crisis makes preparations for the first elections in a decade extremely difficult. Currently, nearly 1.5 million people are internally displaced in Haiti, a number that has doubled in just two years. Gang violence has claimed more than 21,000 lives in the country since 2022. Haitian representatives have called for the accelerated deployment of UN-backed multinational forces to assist local police in combating gang influence.