A recent United Nations report has revealed a staggering increase in gang violence in Haiti, with nearly 5,000 people killed between October 2024 and June 2025. The report highlights the escalating crisis in the country, particularly in the departments of Centre and Artibonite, where intense violence is spilling into areas surrounding the capital, Port-au-Prince.
The UN report notes that the growing presence of gangs like Gran Grif in these areas appears to be part of a broader strategy to control key routes connecting the capital to Haiti’s north and its border with the Dominican Republic. “This expansion of gang territorial control poses a major risk of spreading violence and increasing transnational trafficking in arms and people,” the report warns.
In a statement, Ulrika Richardson, the UN’s resident coordinator in Haiti, emphasized the need for international support to bolster the country’s beleaguered police force. “Human rights abuses outside Port-au-Prince are intensifying in areas of the country where the presence of the State is extremely limited,” she said. “The international community must strengthen its support to the authorities, who bear the primary responsibility for protecting the Haitian population.”
One notable incident cited in the report is the massacre in the town of Pont Sonde in the Artibonite department, where the Gran Grif gang launched a retaliatory attack, killing at least 100 people and wounding 16.
The gang also set 45 houses and 34 vehicles on fire, forcing over 6,270 people to flee for their safety. This incident contributed to the already dire crisis of internal displacement, with over 92,300 people displaced from the Artibonite department and 147,000 from Centre, a 118-percent increase from December.
The report also documents a wave of reprisal killings, with vigilante groups answering the gang’s actions with violence of their own. In one instance, the UN noted that gangs killed over 70 people near the town of Petite-Riviere de l’Artibonite, while vigilante groups killed 67 people, many assumed to be relatives or romantic partners of local gang members. Police units are also accused of committing 17 extrajudicial killings in that wave of violence.
Volker Turk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, warned that civilians will continue to suffer as the cycle of violence continues. “Caught in the middle of this unending horror story are the Haitian people, who are at the mercy of horrific violence by gangs and exposed to human rights violations from the security forces and abuses by the so-called ‘self-defence’ groups,” he said.
The UN report recommends that the international community better police the sale of firearms to Haiti and continue to offer support for a Kenya-led security mission aimed at strengthening Haiti’s local law enforcement. With nearly 1.3 million people displaced throughout the country, the situation in Haiti remains dire, and the need for sustained international support is clear.