Haiti Report, May 2, 2025
A compilation of news about Haiti from the past week.
International effort to help Haiti fight deadly gangs is in danger of falling apart
From the onset, the international mission to help Haiti wrest back control from armed gangs faced challenges and skepticism. There were legal challenges in Nairobi and push-back in Washington from congressional Republicans as the Biden administration sought to provide the first $40 million in seed money to get the Kenya-led mission going, as a united front of powerful armed gangs mounted a broad assault in Port-au-Prince to take down the government.
Now, nearly a year after the arrival of the first 200 Kenyan police officers in June of 2024, the Multinational Security Support mission is in danger of falling apart amid a worsening humanitarian and security crisis in Haiti, a lack of strategy by the United States and paralysis at the U.N. Security Council. In June, the operator of the U.S.-built mission base adjacent to the Port-au-Prince international airport needs to be notified if they will get a $200 million payment to continue operations for six months after the contract comes up for renewal in September. Meanwhile, money is still needed for critical equipment, more troops and forward operating bases.
According to the U.N., pledges received in cash to a Trust Fund for the mission amount to $110.9 million. Of that, $21 million in cash has been disbursed to date, leaving a cash balance of approximately $90 million. “A significant gap persists that hinders the desired mission effectiveness,” Kenya National Security Minister Monica Juma told the Security Council last week. With the current deployment at 1,000 personnel, which is less than 40% of the anticipated 2,500, the mission “is operating at sub-optimal level in terms of numbers of officers in theater, types and range of assets available to the mission,” she added.
But that’s not the mission’s only problem. In recent weeks, its numbers have also shrunk as Caribbean nations continued to put their own deployments on hold. Jamaica, which recently sent 26 soldiers and cops to replace its first contingent, still has not fully deployed its promised 250 officers. Belize, which had two soldiers in Port-au-Prince, has pulled them out and is currently reassessing. The Bahamas, which also has yet to fully deploy, just downsized its six officers to three.
The indecision and diplomatic wrangling are leading to growing uncertainty and fears that Haiti could be left to go at it alone even as U.N. officials sound the alarm that the crisis-wracked Caribbean nation is “approaching a point of no return.” The frustration is not just among those running operations in Haiti, but among U.N. officials who note Haiti needs is a well-resourced and politically supported deployment.
Haiti: Creation of a National Security Agency and establishment of a three-month state of emergency
The Haitian government announced on May 1, 2025, the creation of the National Security Agency (ANS), replacing the former National Intelligence Agency (ANI), and the establishment of a state of emergency throughout the country for a period of three months. The two provisions were adopted during a Council of Ministers meeting held on April 30, according to a communication from the Prime Minister's office, posted on social media and consulted by AlterPresse.
A government decree has repealed the provisions of the December 31, 2020 decree relating to the ANI, which was replaced by the ANS. The revised structure aims to address the lack of strategic coordination in intelligence gathering and analysis in Haiti. Reporting to the Prime Minister, the ANS will be tasked with ensuring the implementation of government policy on "intelligence and counterintelligence," the Prime Minister's office indicated. It will be responsible, in particular, for "centralizing, processing, and synthesizing strategic information" relating to national security, social peace, and the protection of Haiti's fundamental interests. Former President Jovenel Moïse's decree on the National Intelligence Agency (ANS) drew criticism at the time for its restrictions on individual freedoms. The government justifies the creation of the ANSI by the need to have an "integrated and coherent vision" of intelligence in order to respond more effectively to internal and external threats.
At the same time, the authorities decided to "establish a state of emergency throughout the national territory for a period of three months," in response to the worsening security crisis and its effects on the lives of citizens and the country's economy. This decree aims to mobilize the State's resources and institutional means to strengthen the capacity of law enforcement and public services, which are still powerless to stem the relentless violence of gangs. The government hopes to create the necessary conditions for more effective interventions against insecurity, while enabling a better response to the agricultural and food crisis affecting many regions of the country.
In addition, the authorities also announced that they have expanded the composition of the National Commission for Disarmament, Disarmament, and Reintegration (CNDR), increasing its membership from seven to nine. The aim is to "ensure the proper functioning" of the structure in a context marked by persistent security challenges. The country is grappling with a deep crisis, marked by gang violence, institutional weakness, and multiple humanitarian emergencies that are continually worsening.
https://www.alterpresse.org/spip.php?article31659
At least 1,617 people killed in first quarter of 2025: BINUH Q1 Report
During the first quarter of 2025, the human rights situation in Haiti remained extremely worrying, marked by mass crimes, kidnappings and sexual violence. Between 1 January and 31 March 2025, at least 1,617 people were killed and 580 injured in violence involving gangs, self-defence groups and members of the population, as well as in operations carried out by security forces. At the same time, over the same period, at least 161 kidnappings for ransom were documented, 63% of which took place in the Artibonite department.
The first quarter was marked by the intensification of the activities of criminal groups to expand their territorial influence in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince and its surroundings. The communes of Delmas and Kenscoff were particularly targeted, with the aim of destabilising Pétion-Ville. In addition, these same gangs carried out large-scale attacks against the communes of Mirebalais and Saut d'Eau, in the Centre department, to take control of roads leading to the Dominican Republic, but also to allow the escape of more than 515 inmates from the Mirebalais prison.
During the first quarter, the actions of self-defence groups as well as those of unorganized members of the population, carried out within the framework of the movement commonly known as "Bwa Kalé", remained a major source of human rights violations and resulted in the deaths of at least 189 people accused of belonging to gangs or committing ordinary crimes.
The report expresses concern about the high number of people killed during security force operations. At least 802 people were killed in these operations, about 20% of whom were members of the population that were struck by stray bullets while on the streets or in their homes. In addition, there were 65 cases of summary executions allegedly committed by elements of the police and the government commissioner of Miragoâne.
The report also highlights the serious consequences of gang activities on women and children. During this quarter, more than 333 survivors of sexual violence were identified, 96% of whom were victims of rape, often gang rape, perpetrated by gang members. In addition, at least 35 children have been killed and ten others have been injured in gang attacks, police operations or acts of mob justice. Many other children have been trafficked and forced to join gangs.
In the face of these abuses and human rights violations, and despite the continuing dysfunction of the judicial system, authorities have launched several initiatives to combat impunity, with the support of the United Nations. The Transitional Presidential Council and the government have adopted a decree creating specialized judicial units to deal with mass crimes, sexual violence and financial crimes. More than 114 rape cases have also been examined by investigating judges across the country. The fact remains that progress on emblematic cases remains slow, in particular those related to arms trafficking, the assassination of the President of the Republic and the various massacres documented since 2018.
https://binuh.unmissions.org/en/least-1617-people-killed-first-quarter-2025-haiti
Haitians fleeing gang violence swim across the country’s longest river
Dozens of people swam and waded across Haiti’s longest river on Wednesday in a desperate attempt to flee gangs that launched a fresh attack on a city in the country’s central region that has been under siege for almost a week. The onslaught in rural areas of Petite Rivière began before dawn, according to Bertide Horace, spokesperson for the Commission for Dialogue, Reconciliation and Awareness to Save the Artibonite, an activist group. “Gangs are invading the city everywhere,” she told The Associated Press by phone. “There are people trapped in their homes who can’t leave, and the guys are setting fire wherever they go.” Videos posted on social media showed people balancing their belongings on their head or holding them aloft as they crossed the Artibonite River. A couple of boats ferried the few who could afford one. Another video showed the bodies of several people, including that of a young boy, sprawled behind a school where gangs were killing residents in Petite Rivière. A woman screamed in anguish in the background as the man filming began to cry.
Horace blamed the Gran Grif gang for the ongoing attack, adding that the Viv Ansanm gang coalition was providing reinforcements. A policeman who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media said officers on Wednesday were fighting gangs at the Crête-à-Pierrot fort, site of a key battle during the Haitian Revolution. Gunmen first attacked Petite Rivière on April 24, and they have seized full control of the town’s northern region, she said. “The police are still fighting, but they have already taken control of a good part of the city,” Horace said. Several people have been killed, including an 11-year-old child, Horace said. https://apnews.com/article/haiti-gang-violence-petite-riviere-c0eaf5bd06995b534893fbfdcf021d80?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=share
Nearly 13,000 Displaced in a Few Days in Petite Rivière de l'Artibonite
A new wave of armed violence this week caused the internal displacement of nearly 13,000 people in the commune of Petite Rivière de l'Artibonite (Artibonite department, north), according to a report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), consulted by AlterPresse. 12,902 people – or 3,178 households – were forced to flee their homes in the commune of Petite Rivière de l'Artibonite, particularly in its 1st and 2nd communal sections, according to the latest IOM Emergency Monitoring Report No. 63, released on April 30.
Between April 27 and 30, 2025, bloody attacks carried out by armed gangs struck several localities in Petite-Rivière de l'Artibonite, causing the death of several people, including a child, and injuring an unknown number of others, according to information reported by several media outlets. Houses were set on fire and several families were targeted in what is believed to be a reprisal operation ordered by a gang leader. On the night of April 30, a new offensive sowed panic: heavy gunfire, rapes, fires, and desperate attempts to escape across the river. Several people died, shot or drowned, according to the same source.
The vast majority of the displaced, 90%, have found refuge with host families, mainly in Verrettes, Saint-Marc, and other sections of Petite Rivière de l'Artibonite. These families alone host 11,554 individuals, spread across eight different locations, according to the IOM report. The remaining 10%, or 1,348 people, were relocated to 16 sites, 11 of which were created urgently after the events. These sites are located primarily in the municipalities of Verrettes, Saint-Marc, and Petite Rivière de l'Artibonite. These sites include schools, churches, and other makeshift facilities, which have been transformed into temporary reception centers. https://www.alterpresse.org/spip.php?article31658
Gangs attack another town in Haiti’s central region, killing an 11-year-old child and three others
Gangs have attacked another town in Haiti ’s central region, killing at least four people, including an 11-year-old child, a human rights activist told The Associated Press on Monday. At least 15 other people were injured by gunfire, and more than a dozen homes were burned in Petite Rivière, said Bertide Horace, spokesperson for the Commission for Dialogue, Reconciliation and Awareness to Save the Artibonite. The attack began Thursday, but police were still battling gang members on Monday, she said in a phone interview. Horace shared grisly videos that showed people receiving treatment for serious wounds at a local hospital. Before she could provide further details, Horace warned that the town being attacked was without power. Her cellphone was then cut off.
A spokesperson for Haiti’s National Police did not immediately return a request for comment. Petite Rivière is the latest community in the once peaceful Artibonite region that gangs have targeted. In late March, gangs struck the city of Mirebalais and stormed a local prison, freeing more than 500 inmates. They also attacked the nearby town of Saut d’Eau, considered a sacred place that attracts thousands of Haitians annually for a Vodou-Catholic pilgrimage. https://apnews.com/article/haiti-gangs-petite-riviere-f2e10230a2c75a1ffd82d41ced928475
Assassinations and Kidnappings in Port-au-Prince, Armed Attack in Petite-Rivière de l’Artibonite
The ordeal of Port-au-Prince is unending. On Monday, April 28, 2025, the Babiole neighborhood was the target of an armed attack by the criminal coalition “Viv Ansanm.” Residents were killed, others were kidnapped, and homes were set on fire. A local resident contacted by Le Nouvelliste reported that the criminals launched their assault early in the morning on Rue Chochotte. Additionally, the resident explained to the paper that the neighborhoods of Pacot, Babiole, and part of Turgeau are now fully under the control of the criminals. “They’re on Rue Casséus and in Babiole. Yesterday, Sunday, they were seen near the Sacré-Cœur church in Turgeau. All the institutions that were in Babiole, including schools and the Plurimedic hospital, have shut down,” the resident added, expressing deep sorrow over the worsening security situation in these once highly sought-after residential neighborhoods.
Furthermore, Le Nouvelliste has learned that the town of Petite Rivière de l’Artibonite also came under armed attack early Monday. Armed criminals, members of the Savien gang, assaulted neighborhoods such as Haut Fourneau, Haut Canal, and Quatorzième. According to witnesses, the attackers burned homes, looted businesses, and attempted to take control of strategic areas of the town. Officers of the Haitian National Police (PNH) and members of local resistance brigades intervened to repel the criminals. Contacted by Le Nouvelliste, Dr. Abel Gérard Charles, head of the hospital, said that certain items were being relocated within the facility, though he did not confirm a full evacuation. “As is the case for all other institutions, it’s difficult to work in the area. All institutions have paused their activities while waiting for the situation to stabilize. The hospital itself was not attacked,” he explained.
Rubio’s plan to designate Haiti’s gangs as terrorists could deepen humanitarian crisis
In the areas of Haiti controlled by gangs, nothing moves without their getting a cut: not food, not fuel, not even humanitarian aid. Their extortion racket is so extensive that the country’s finance minister, Alfred Metellus, estimates that gangs, which charge $2,000 to allow passage for a shipping container, are pulling as much as $75 million a year from the ransoms they charge to allow goods transiting through the Dominican Republic to arrive at their destinations. Metellus made the comments in an interview this week with Haiti’s Le Nouvelliste newspaper.
That reality is prompting concerns that a plan by the U.S. State Department to designate the country’s gangs as foreign terrorist organizations could exacerbate suffering at a time when more than five million Haitians are struggling to find food and nearly 250,000 of the one million Haitians who are internally displaced reside in makeshift encampments, some with no latrines and dirt floors. “The reality is that almost no commercial or humanitarian activity takes place in or near Port-au-Prince without some level of negotiation or payment to gangs. Even the U.S. ambassador acknowledged speaking with gangs,” said Jake Johnston, an analyst on Haiti with the Center for Economic and Policy Research and author of “Aid State: Elite Panic, Disaster Capitalism, and the Battle to Control Haiti.” “The effect of this policy is likely to be the further isolation of Haiti, a de facto embargo that harms those most impoverished and does little to alter the power of the gangs,” he added.
Johnston’s concerns were echoed Wednesday by two Democratic lawmakers following a briefing by the State Department to members of Congress about the planned designation, which was first reported by the Miami Herald earlier this month. The designation, already imposed on several Latin American criminal groups by the Trump administration, relies on the use of the centuries’ old Alien Enemies Act. The designation would allow the U.S. government to target Haiti’s powerful Viv Ansanm gang coalition, now in control of up to 90% of metropolitan Port-au-Prince, and the Gran Grif gang operating in parts of the rural Artibonite region. Under the plan, gang members and their enablers would face criminal sanctions, including possible imprisonment in El Salvador’s maximum-security prison, a senior administration official told the Herald at the time. While the plan has support among some groups in Haiti, it is prompting concerns that aid groups and others in Haiti will face the impossible choice of trying to help at the risk of being labeled terrorists or letting the population suffer further.
In a letter sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday, Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida, the only Haitian-American member of Congress and current co-chair of the House Haiti caucus, expressed “grave concern” about the designation. The lawmakers fear it will unintentionally exacerbate the suffering of Haitians and help gangs consolidate control. They are demanding answers from Rubio on the administration’s rationale for the designation. “While we support efforts to target the financial support of violent gangs wreaking havoc on innocent Haitians, we are concerned that an FTO designation, absent a clear, comprehensive U.S. strategy to defeat the gangs and their enablers, is counterproductive and will only exacerbate Haitians’ suffering,” the lawmakers said.
Trump administration designates Haiti’s powerful armed gangs as foreign, global terrorists
PRESS STATEMENT, MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE
Today, I am announcing the State Department’s designation of Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists. The age of impunity for those supporting violence in Haiti is over.
Haitian gangs, including the Viv Ansanm coalition and Gran Grif, are the primary source of instability and violence in Haiti. They are a direct threat to U.S. national security interests in our region. These gangs have killed and continue attacking the people of Haiti, Haitian security forces, and Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission personnel, and are committed to overthrowing the government of Haiti. Their ultimate goal is creating a gang-controlled state where illicit trafficking and other criminal activities operate freely and terrorize Haitian citizens. Terrorist designations play a critical role in our fight against these vicious groups and are an effective way to curtail support for their terrorist activities. Engaging in transactions with members of these groups entails risk in relation to counterterrorism sanctions authorities, not only for Haitians but also for U.S. lawful permanent residents and U.S. citizens. Individuals and entities providing material support or resources to Viv Ansanm or Gran Grif could face criminal charges and inadmissibility or removal from the United States.
We commend the extraordinary bravery of the Haitian National Police and all international partners supporting the MSS mission for their ongoing efforts to establish stability and security in Haiti. We urge all of Haiti’s political leaders to prioritize the security of the Haitian people, find solutions to stop the violence, and make progress toward the restoration of democracy through free and fair elections. The United States stands with the Haitian people as they seek a secure, stable future for their country and citizens. Today’s actions taken by the State Department demonstrate the Trump Administration’s commitment to protecting our national security interests and countering these dangerous gangs. For more information about today’s announcement, see the Department of State’s fact sheet.
The Trump administration has designated a coalition of powerful Haitian gangs and an allied force sowing terror in Haiti’s bread basket as terrorists. The Viv Ansanm coalition, whose membership consists of more than two dozen of Haiti’s best-armed criminal groups, and the Gran Grief gang have been labeled as both Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rubio, who views the gangs and their escalating violence and influence as a direct threat to U.S. national security, made the designation on Friday. The gangs join eight other Latin American crime organizations that were similarly labeled as terror groups by the State Department in February. That list includes Mexican cartels as well as Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua. “The Trump Administration is sending a clear message with its terrorist designations of Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif,” a senior State Department official told the Miami Herald. “Under the leadership of Secretary Rubio we are holding accountable vicious groups which have undermined Haiti and its people. It’s in America’s national security interest to hold the vicious gangs accountable.” Rubio sees the terrorist designation as critical in trying to address regional concerns that gangs are also trying to turn Haiti into a narco-trafficking state where illegal guns and drugs pass through freely.
Both designations come with significant implications criminally and financially for anyone deemed as providing “material support” or “resources” for the designated groups. Not only do individuals risk counter-terrorism sanctions and criminal charges, they could also be removed from the U.S. or be banned from entering. “There is no territorial limitation, so if someone is paying the gangs in France or Australia that still applies,” said Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and an expert on non-state armed groups who closely monitors Haiti. “There is no limitation to just Haiti or the United States.” Both designations come with clauses, she said, that “define any payment of any kind, any material support of any kind— as little as a cup of tea, a pencil or a cup of coffee, or a toy —as material support and come with very lengthy criminal penalties and very robust financial penalties.”
“It has potentially huge implications whether banks, Western Union, financial systems will be willing to send remittances to Haiti. If they are afraid they will be prosecuted, they might be willing to not take such payments,” Felbab-Brown said. “On the positive aspect, perhaps this will scare off more Haitian politicians and businessmen who hire gangs for their nefarious purposes.” Felbab-Brown and other experts on Haitian gangs’ stranglehold on the population warn that the designations could have other “chilling effects.” They include having Haitians in the U.S. labeled as “terrorists based on flimsy evidence” as in the case of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, and to the denial of foreign assistance and humanitarian aid in Haiti.
The terrorist designation “does provide an opportunity to deny funds,” said Felbab-Brown. “It’s really imperative that any multilateral donor, bilateral donors who still provide some form of aid... engage with the U.S. government and seek guarantees or assurances they will not be prosecuted, since the odds are that some money coming from either private entities or multilateral entities will end up in the hands of the gangs. If they fear that this will lead to the U.S. government going after them, this will have enormous chilling effects on the aid and lethal effects in Haiti where so much of the population is already starving.” https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article305515216.html#storylink=cpy
Living Together: The Gangs of Haiti - Part 1: The Death of a President
A new Deep Dive Series on Gang Violence, 3 Episodes with Jacqueline Charles, Widlore Mérancourt, Sophie Rutenbar, William O'Neill and Romain Le Cour. The first episode of this Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime explores: The immediate fallout from the President’s assassination; How violent gangs filled the political vacuum and expanded their power; The complex relationship between gangs and Haiti’s political and economic elites. This episode examines how the country's political instability enabled the rise of gang dominance, and what the international community and Haitian society face moving forward. Listen or Watch; Apple: https://lnkd.in/eDmb73av
Unexplained disappearances raise questions in Haiti
Citizens come across lifeless bodies, sometimes mutilated. Others report potential kidnappings without ransom or corpses to AyiboPost. Two specialists suggest to AyiboPost the existence of criminal organ trafficking networks in Haiti. In addition, dozens of families say they have no news of their missing loved ones without ransom demands or traces of bodies. According to sociologist Ely Thélot, the crisis situation reinforces the vulnerabilities of the country’s citizens in the face of transnational crimes such as human trafficking, exploitation of all kinds and organ trafficking. Organ trafficking involves the illegal buying, selling or trading of human organs. This market, generally present in low-income countries, represents between 840 million and 1.7 billion dollars per year.
Two presidential advisers, Leslie Voltaire and Fritz Alphonse Jean, spoke of the existence of organ trafficking in Haiti, but no solid data exists on the subject. A report of the Global Initiative against Transnational Crime organized, published in 2024, reveals that certain gangs, notably in Cité Soleil and Canaan, engage in organ trafficking. Witnesses and hospital sources reported to the organization mutilated bodies found in the streets and in rural areas, as well as the existence of clandestine clinics. Faced with these revelations, the organization is calling for more in-depth investigations. These debates on organ trafficking take place in a context marked by increasingly frequent cases of kidnapping, forced disappearances and summary executions in the country. Many bodies were found charred, erasing any possibility of identification.
The information sharing platform “Positivis Alerte”, led by entrepreneur Alain Paret, recorded 1,964 disappearances of people between January 2023 and March 2025. Among them, 108 — including 71 men, 32 women and five minors — were reported directly to the agency by their families. According to Positivis Alerte, 65 of these people never returned home. From December 5 to March 14, 2025, the organization recorded sixteen new cases of disappearances, including thirteen in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince. The Haitian state does not keep any count of the missing.
https://ayibopost.com/unexplained-disappearances-raise-questions-in-haiti/
Carrefour Shut Down as Gang Leader Calls for Strike
The commune of Carrefour woke up on Monday, April 28, in a state of total paralysis. The cause of this standstill: a three-day strike launched by the Ti Bwa gang leader, known as Krisla, to “demand” that state authorities install a new interim cartel to lead the municipality, which has been without any legitimate authority for over a year.
This strike call is only the second phase of actions undertaken by the gang leader regarding this issue. Just over a week ago, he had threatened to install one of his close associates at the head of the municipality, which has neither a government representative nor any police forces. In a bitter twist of irony, the Fontamara gang boss claimed that his initiative falls under “respect for the law,” which requires that every commune be led by a cartel composed of a principal mayor and two deputy mayors.
Following the strike order, almost all activities in Carrefour have come to a halt. Only a few small neighborhood shops have opened their doors. Schools and large businesses remain closed, and the streets are nearly deserted. Even public markets have not been spared. “We were told to keep our businesses closed. I had already arrived at my stall and had to turn back,” a vendor explained. In various locations, armed men are stationed to ensure that the strike order is strictly enforced by the population. Armed gang “patrols” are even preventing motorcycle drivers from circulating.
For the past fourteen months, the commune of Carrefour has been under the control of armed gangs and has had no government representative or police presence. Nevertheless, public and private institutions continue to offer services under conditions imposed by these gangs.
In Kenscoff, gangs extend their grip on farmland
Since the bandit attack in Kenscoff in January 2025, farmers have no longer been able to go to their fields, according to a dozen of them interviewed by AyiboPost. In Kenscoff, gangs are forcing farmers to flee their land, disrupting the capital's food supply and causing market prices to rise.
Sowing activities for the spring campaign are compromised due to the presence of gangs in localities with high agricultural potential such as Viard, Sourçailles, Bongars, Nouvelle Touraine, Godet and Belot.
The commune of Kenscoff is considered the main source of market gardening production for Port-au-Prince and its surrounding areas. The mountain climate 24 km from the capital makes this town a place suitable for growing food crops and vegetables such as beetroot, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, lettuce and onions. No recent study provides figures on the annual production of Kenscoff, known as Port-au-Prince's green belt. But in 1994, the Natural Resources Institute and CARE International estimated that the Kenscoff and Séguin areas together produced approximately 36,000 tons of vegetables annually. It is an entire industry that is collapsing with the occupation of the area by bandits.
The bandits invaded the area, killing more than a hundred people and burning more than 870 houses, according to civil protection data. They also took away the peasants' belongings. "The bandits stole a lot of livestock (oxen, goats, pigs, etc.), as well as the farmers' harvest to resell in the commune of Carrefour," reveals Emmanuel Pierre, administrator of the Kenscoff town hall. The criminals also looted several potato, leek and carrot plantations, revealed farmers interviewed by AyiboPost. According to the municipal official, the criminals had built a road linking the Clémenceau district, located in the town of Procy, to Carrefour, a neighboring town under the control of the "Ti Bwa" and "Gran Ravin" gangs, in order to sell the stolen goods. https://ayibopost.com/a-kenscoff-les-gangs-etendent-leur-emprise-sur-les-terres-agricoles/
Haiti’s Marriott, its only U.S.-branded hotel, is closing
It was just 10 years ago. Former President Bill Clinton, standing in the scorching Haitian sun next to the pool of Haiti’s newest internationally branded hotel, looked around the foliage-lined courtyard and smiled. There were toasts, there was chatter — and there was hope. As Haiti’s then-president Michel Martelly welcomed Clinton and U.S. actor-turned-humanitarian-activist Sean Penn hobnobbed with the invitation-only crowd that included some of the 1,100 skilled Haitians who built Haiti’s first Marriott Hotel from the ground up, the former U.S. president reflected on how the new 11-story, $45 million structure represented more than just bricks and mortar. It was the culmination of an ask from three years earlier when Clinton, long interested in Haiti’s tourism potential after honeymooning there in the 1970s, approached the country’s largest private sector investor, Irish billionaire Denis O’Brien, and asked him to expand his commitment beyond mobile phones to help the country.
This week, the 175-room Marriott, which was supposed to help bring much-needed jobs and tourism to Haiti, announced the end of its run. It comes not only a decade after it was constructed by O’Brien’s Digicel Group, but a year after Haiti’s tumultuous economic outlook also forced Haiti’s single largest private investor to cede control as chairman of the cell phone giant to new shareholders after a lengthy debt restructuring process. “We can confirm that the Marriott Port-au-Prince Hotel will suspend operations under the Marriott brand flag as of April 30th,” Diego Thomas, Marriott International’s senior manager for Caribbean and Latin America, said in a statement to the Miami Herald. “The owner company and Marriott International continue to discuss next steps.”
The decision by Marriott and the new shareholders of Digicel Group marks the second time this month that a symbol of Haiti’s reconstruction after its devastating 2010 earthquake has had to close because of the unprecedented gang violence that has left many private businesses, schools and hospitals with no choice but to shutter their doors. And it’s the second time in weeks that Haiti’s post-quake tourism market, already hit by the ongoing Federal Aviation Administration ban over U.S. commercial flights landing in Port-au-Prince, was yet again hit with a major blow.
Last week, Miami-based Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, which operates a private destination off the coast of northern Haiti, announced a suspension of its Labadee port stop following the government’s decision to declare a country-wide state of emergency over the violence by a powerful gang coalition known as Viv Ansanm, Living Together. This week, the operators of the University Hospital of Mirebalais in central Haiti circulated an internal note telling staff that the doors of the $24 million hospital, which opened in 2013, will remain closed “until further notice.” The town was taken over this month by members of Viv Ansanm, which have also been carrying out simultaneous deadly attacks in metropolitan Port-au-Prince.
Woman from Haiti dies while in ICE custody at detention facility in Broward
Marie Blaise was 44. A release from U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement says the cause of Blaise’s death remains under investigation. Another detainee at the center told the Miami Herald that Blaise had been complaining about chest pains Friday. After her blood pressure measured with a top number of 156, the detainee said, Blaise was given some pills and sent to lie down. Later, “she started shaking, screaming, ‘My chest! My chest!’” the other detainee said. ICE said Blaise was pronounced dead at 8:35 p.m.
“Our hearts break by the unfortunate death of Ms Marie Angie Blaise,” said Guerline Jozef, executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, an advocacy group. “Our sincere condolences to her family, loved ones and the entire immigrant community. Her death is a result of cruel inhumane policies and treatment of immigrants. We will continue to push for accountability on behalf of those who unfortunately find themselves detained, trapped without proper care or due process. “We demand full transparency on the death of Ms Blaise.”
Blaise had been at the Broward center, which is owned by The Geo Group, since April 5. The agency says U.S. Customs and Border Protection stopped Blaise as she started to board a flight to Charlotte from Saint Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands without a valid immigrant visa. ICE took custody of her on Feb. 14 and transferred her to facilities in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Oakdale, Louisiana, before she ended up at the Broward center in Deerfield Beach. “What we are seeing is people traveling from the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, potentially even Hawaii, [and] those officers are not understanding these people are not coming from a different country,” Jozef said. She added that people with Temporary Protected Status and other legal protections from deportation are “being detained and transferred to ICE, who are traveling from U.S. territories [and] who should not be flagged as someone entering the U.S. when they are already in the U.S.”
ICE’s press release on Blaise’s death says: “Comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout the entirety of their stay. All people in ICE custody receive medical, dental and mental health screening and 24-hour emergency care at each detention facility. At no time during detention is a detained illegal alien denied emergent care.”
miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article305336021.html
The hunt for pregnant illegal Haitian immigrants raises concerns in the Dominican Republic
"It's tormenting me," says Santo Heredia, deeply concerned. He has had no news of his wife, who was arrested Thursday in a hospital in the Dominican Republic as part of the plan to deport pregnant women, activated this week to control Haitian immigration. The government of Dominican President Luis Abinader, which has made the fight against Haitian immigration one of its main priorities, has been requiring documentation from foreigners visiting hospitals since Monday. If they don't have any, they are expelled from the country after treatment, according to the new protocol put in place. The measure has frightened many Haitians and hospital attendance has decreased, Martin Ortiz Garcia, director of Maternity and Adolescence at the National Health Service, told AFP. The Dominican Immigration Service reported that "on the first day of the measure, 48 pregnant women and 39 women who had just given birth, accompanied by 48 minors," were arrested and taken to the Haina detention center, which houses irregular migrants, about 20 minutes from the capital, Santo Domingo. Being born in the Dominican Republic does not automatically confer nationality. A 2010 constitutional reform established that children of parents in an irregular situation do not acquire nationality. In the first quarter of 2025, authorities boasted of having carried out 86,406 deportations of Haitians. In 2024, they deported 276,215. https://lenouvelliste.com/article/255640/de-labus-la-chasse-aux-immigrees-haitiennes-clandestines-enceintes-inquiete-en-republique-dominicaine
Ban on Transit of Goods through DR will starve gangs of millions
The ban on the transit of goods through the Dominican Republic aims to deprive criminal gangs of 60 to 75 million dollars annually, extracted through the extortion of containers; to limit their access to weapons, ammunition, and resources used to recruit more young people, said the Minister of Economy and Finance, Alfred Metellus, in an interview with Le Nouvelliste on Sunday, April 27, 2025. “We have prohibited the transit of goods through the Dominican Republic (…) The main motivation is to control the flow of resources to the gangs,” said Alfred Metellus, whose estimate is based on a fee of 2,000 U.S. dollars per container, with a monthly volume of 3,000 containers. “These resources make the gangs autonomous and independent from all forms of external support or relationships. They allow them to supply themselves with weapons, ammunition, and even personnel. The goal is to break the flow of resources going to them,” Metellus continued.
“We cannot have this information and not take appropriate action (…) We must know what we want. If we want to fight insecurity, we must go to the source,” said the Minister of Economy and Finance. “The objective is not to hinder international trade, but to curb the means of financing the activities of criminal gangs,” he insisted, emphasizing clearly that “trade with the Dominican Republic is not prohibited.” “We have only prohibited the transit of goods through the Dominican Republic. I tell everyone that trade between Haiti and the Dominican Republic is not prohibited,” affirmed Alfred Metellus. “The main motivation behind the transit ban is the control of resource flows to gangs. This is not a measure to fight trade with the Dominican Republic. I would like the Dominican government to understand and support us in this effort,” Metellus clarified. “It will benefit both the Dominican government and us,” he added, while pointing out the porousness of the border. “The customs office is doing its job despite the challenges. The volume of containers has increased, and proper inspection has not been conducted. There is a possibility that war weapons and ammunition are passing through easily,” acknowledged Minister Alfred Metellus. The Ministry of Economy and Finance stated that Haitian ports have the capacity to accommodate the volume of containers.
“We know that improvements are needed in Cap-Haïtien to better manage container flows, but in Port-au-Prince, there is no issue. The volume of containers arriving in Port-au-Prince has dropped by 30 to 40%. So, the capacity is there. The problem,” admitted the Minister of Economy and Finance, “is getting them out of the Port-au-Prince port to the company depots. The Port-au-Prince port, the Tevassa port, the two ports of Carrefour, and Lafito all have the capacity to handle the flow even if the volume doubles,” assured Alfred Metellus.
Gangs' control over territories has allowed them to expand their extortion of containers and cargo trucks. With the capture of Mirebalais, they now control two of the most important trade routes from the border: Malpasse and Belladère. The seizure of weapons and ammunition in late February and early March in the Dominican Republic confirms the connection between gangs and traffickers operating on both sides of the Haitian-Dominican border.
UN Paralyzed on Haiti despite Gang Threat to Government
Haiti’s troubles have grown so dire that even UN officials are sounding the alarm in the bluntest terms possible. “Haiti has reached a pivotal moment”, María Isabel Salvador, the Secretary-General’s special representative, told the Security Council on 21 April. As gangs move closer to seizing full control of the capital, and the country’s humanitarian crisis worsens, Haiti is “approaching a point of no return”, she said. This week’s Security Council meeting on Haiti marked a symbolic milestone for the push, backed by the Secretary-General, to boost aid to the Kenyan-led multinational security mission in the country. But the results were disheartening. Council members alternated between acknowledging the country’s descent into chaos and accusing each other of doing nothing to halt it. Negotiations over a new Council resolution have yet to begin, a casualty of the Trump administration’s indecision regarding Haiti policy.
Haitians cannot afford more diplomatic wrangling. The country’s year-old transitional government is facing overt threats of a coup. Gangs have encroached further on some of the few neighbourhoods in Port-au-Prince that had remained beyond their reach. The spokesperson of the gang coalition Viv Ansanm has acknowledged that the gangs’ goal is to reach the offices of the Transitional Presidential Council and the prime minister and overthrow the government, with no plan for what would follow. Outside the capital, the gangs are expanding with little resistance, recently overrunning the city of Mirebalais, where over 50,000 people have fled.
Meanwhile, large protests against gang violence have shaken Port-au-Prince for a month, flustering a transitional government that is itself consumed by internal political disputes. Some political leaders have intensified calls on the council and prime minister to resign. Former coup monger Guy Philippe has declared that he would join a popular uprising to topple the authorities. Last week, a planned protest by a powerful vigilante brigade that had threatened to march on government offices was called off at the last minute after the security forces mustered a show of force. Caricom, the U.S. State Department, Britain and France condemned any attempt to change the government through violence.
With no sign of imminent Security Council action to scale up international security assistance, events on the ground in Haiti may move much more quickly than anyone can control. The cost to Haitians will only climb.
Salaries, benefits and privileges of the Transitional Council scrutinized by RNDDH
The issue of Haitian leaders' salaries, benefits, and privileges has always been a black box, a taboo subject. Those in power do everything they can to keep this information secret. A report by RNDDH on the lifestyle of members of the Presidential Council prompted the CPT to offer explanations that explain nothing. On the contrary, it shows how well the members of the Presidential Council are supported by the public treasury. Each presidential advisor costs the public treasury ten million gourdes every month, according to the report of the National Human Rights Defense Network (RNDDH). The nine members of the CPT receive 225,000 gourdes as salary; an operating fee (1/3 of the salary) of 75,000 gourdes, a second residence fee of 400,000 gourdes, telephone cards for an amount of 500,000, intelligence fees of around 4,500,000 gourdes, fuel costs of 300,000 gourdes, a debit card with an amount of 2,500,000 gourdes, expenses of 500,000 gourdes for their spouse, expenses for filling the refrigerator of 75,000, food costs of 925,000. This makes a total 10,000,000 gourdes for each of the nine members of the CPT, according to the RNDDH.
In a statement released this week, the CPT attempted to deny the RNDDH's information, but without providing any figures to support its position. "In the interest of transparency regarding the CPT's total budget, which is the Presidency's budget, that is, the operating resources for the Reception Villa, the Palace to keep them safe (Cat team, USGPN, USP), we tell the public that the figures show that the nine members of the CPT do not weigh more heavily on the Republic's budget than when there was a single president," the CPT stated. The CPT points out that 2.2% of the budget was allocated to Michel Martelly's presidency during the 2014-2015 fiscal year, while the Presidential Council received 1.7%. In reality, the 2.2% of the budget allocated to Martelly's presidency represented 1.3 billion gourdes, while the 1.3% allocated to the CPT represented 3.7 billion gourdes. Between Martelly's presidency and that of the CPT, the Republic's budget grew significantly.
For his part, Énomy Germain told the newspaper that several elements of the table presented by the CPT should be highlighted. "Mr. Fritz Jean, through the figures communicated, is only engaging in statistical manipulation. The CPT, which he heads, has published the proportion of the Presidency's budget in relation to the total operating budget over several years. However, percentages alone limit the analysis, as they conceal details. For example, although the Presidency's budget represented 2.2% of the total operating budget in 2014-2015 compared to only 1.7% in 2024-2025, the amount allocated has nevertheless increased significantly in absolute terms—from 1.3 billion gourdes to 3.6 billion. This represents an increase of 184% in ten years. In other words, the apparent percentage decrease masks considerable growth in real terms." This strategy (voluntary, in my opinion) of the CPT raises questions of ethics and transparency in the management of public funds,” the economist explained.
MSS: Kenya Calls for Proper Gear to Tackle Armed Gangs
The spokesperson for the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS), Jack Ombaka, called on contributing countries to honor their commitments by providing appropriate equipment to help restore peace in Haiti. Commissioner Ombaka was a guest on Radio Galaxie’s 1 p.m. news broadcast. “Without the presence of the MSS, Port-au-Prince would already have fallen into the hands of the gangs. That will not happen as long as we are here. We are doing what we can. But what we lack is heavy equipment to clear the roads,” stated spokesperson Jack Ombaka.
“We are aware of the dissatisfaction among Haitians. But the international community needs to be encouraged to deliver the appropriate equipment so we can do the job. Without this equipment, we will not reach our objectives. This is very important. Everything is fine with the United States. It’s thanks to them that we are here. But it’s not only up to the Americans to provide us with equipment. Other countries supporting the mission had pledged donations. During the meetings, we were promised that they would be delivered soon. We are confident. We can do more if we have more equipment, more weapons, and more ammunition,” continued the MSS spokesperson.
Commissioner Jack Ombaka also provided clarification regarding the planned rotations among Kenyan officers in the coming days. “The agreement signed by Kenya included provisions for rotations within our ranks after one year. The first contingent of around 200 officers arrived in the country on June 25. Their rotation is scheduled for this coming June, but it has not yet been set or confirmed,” he explained. https://lenouvelliste.com/en/article/255723/mss-kenya-calls-for-proper-gear-to-tackle-armed-gangs
No International Aid Unless Haiti Presents Security Strategy
On April 22, an important meeting on Haiti took place in Washington, on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings. The donor roundtable, which served as the meeting format, brought together the main financial partners of the Republic. While for several months the focus had been on securing funding to support an economic recovery plan estimated at $1.3 billion, ambitions have since been scaled back to $600 million.
In reality, the country was unable to launch its appeal for assistance. It must be said that, for over fifteen years, all attempts to raise funds for Haiti have failed: cholera, hurricanes, the earthquake in the South, and the humanitarian crisis have not triggered international compassion or the generosity of potential donors. This time, according to Minister of Economy and Finance Alfred Métellus, the amount being requested is adapted to the current situation. But even by cutting the needs in half, Haiti’s request did not elicit a more enthusiastic response.
“Once there is a positive development in the situation, we will conduct another evaluation. Perhaps we can move toward 5 or 10 billion,” explained the Minister of Finance, emphasizing that the worsening situation led to the reduced amount sought. More neighborhoods have fallen under gang control, and some areas are now inaccessible, he added. “There are identified infrastructure projects that we will not be able to finance. We are prioritizing projects in social protection, projects that can provide more support to the population, projects to help children return to school. We are also looking to implement labor-intensive projects, projects involving the private sector, projects that can improve social services for the population,” stated Alfred Métellus.
“All donors are requesting that the government present a security plan for the country. We will organize another meeting to present this security plan. This will take place in the summer, in June, so that by September, security in the country may improve. Some donors have even made their aid conditional upon the presentation of this plan,” said Alfred Métellus. In fact, there will be no new funding for Haiti without at least the presentation of a credible security plan. That is the minimum the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT) must deliver. The best-case scenario would be tangible results, but at the very least, the CPT must begin by establishing a credible security plan.
World Bank Group: The Costs of Inaction Would be Unbearable
Haiti is currently experiencing one of the most challenging periods of its recent history. Considering this ongoing disheartening political and security burdens, a multi-donors Rapid Crisis Impact Assessment (RCIA) was conducted and published in December 2024, identifying measures to address the crisis and support the transition. At the request of the Government of Haiti, a donor roundtable was convened building upon the assessment and, during the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings on April 22 to discuss programmatic priorities with international partners as Haiti navigates its path to recovery.
The roundtable provided an opportunity for Haitian stakeholders to review and discuss an updated version of the RCIA Investment Plan, which identified the most critical investment priorities implementable in the current security context. It was also an opportunity to convene experts to remind the community of donors and partners that the “costs of inaction” would be unbearable for Haiti and the region.
During his intervention Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé shared the government’s commitment to economic recovery and improving security. He explained that the roundtable event is fundamental to communicating their strategic priorities to various partners, and to request necessary support for the implementation of the Investment Plan resulting from the Rapid Crisis Assessment Report. “The Investment Plan is not limited to a series of projects to be financed. It reflects the Haitian government’s vision of a recovery based on social justice, human security and economic development, said Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, Haitian Prime Minister. “In accordance with our vision of economic recovery, the government has adopted a series of provisions to align the allocation of public resources with the priorities of the Plan.”
The overall investment needs outlined in the updated plan are estimated at US $644 million, within the framework of 107 separate programs in all four priority areas outlined in the assessment. The government had already mobilized more than $209 million from international partners, which leaves a financing requirement of $364 million for the immediate two years to enable interventions deemed urgent, realistic and of strategic importance. “The priority is to safeguard essential government institutions, necessary to ensure service delivery in government controlled and liberated areas and facilitate economic recovery. It is also necessary to preserve essential human capital to retain the skills and workforce needed for recovery, said Anne-Lucie Lefebvre, World Bank Country Manager for Haiti.” Civil society stakeholders who attend the roundtable recall that women and youths coupled with technology are essential for the Caribbean country recovery strategy. “We participated in the Haiti Donor Roundtable sessions and insisting on focusing more on the power of technology, women and the digital economy as part of the solution for economic recovery for Haiti”, said Marc Alain Boucicault of the BANJ innovation agency. “Some of the interventions included: More access to Internet, Energy and FinTech’s in Haiti - Digital Skills Trainings - Inclusion of Women - Out of the box Public Private Partnerships.” https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2025/04/28/haiti-the-costs-of-inaction-would-be-unbearable
World Bank: $50 million to promote sustainable agriculture in Haiti
The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors approved a $50 million grant for the second phase of the Haiti - Resilient Productive Territories project. This project adopts a comprehensive multisectoral environmental approach, integrating agriculture, environment, and water management to ensure sustainable food security and create employment opportunities. Haiti faces critical food security and nutrition challenges, exacerbated by various factors. As a result, many households have had to reduce their eating frequency due to declining incomes and rising food prices. To address these pressing issues, the project aims to strengthen the resilience of productive landscapes by promoting sustainable agricultural practices, preserving natural resources, improving water management systems and supporting the livelihoods of local communities.
The Haiti - Resilient Productive Territories project will specifically encourage the creation of integrated policies and action plans and will implement the master plan for resilient productive landscapes led by two ministries: the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development and the Ministry of the Environment. The project will also finance investments and innovations throughout the value chain, from input production to processing and marketing, thereby improving market access and creating jobs. It will support Haiti's long-term objective of improving agricultural productivity, the climate resilience of agri-food systems, and natural resource management in selected landscapes. Smallholder farmers in the Nippes department and communities in the Palmes region will benefit directly from the initiative, gaining access to improved inputs, services, and knowledge essential for implementing climate-smart and nutrition-sensitive agriculture.
OPINION/ANALYSIS
Guest Opinion: “Cruelty Is Not My Flag: Contesting Arbitrary Detention and Deportations from the Dominican Republic”
Guest post by Bridget Wooding, the director of the Centro para la Observacion Migratoria y el Desarrollo Social en el Caribe (OBMICA), based in the Dominican Republic (https://obmica.org)
In its latest efforts to remove Haitian migrants, authorities in the Dominican Republic have introduced a slate of new immigration control measures–amongst them a new protocol requiring the presence of immigration officers in hospital maternity wards and for women without paperwork to be deported immediately. This latest cruel and misogynistic policy further deepens migrant women’s vulnerabilities, increasing the obstacles they face in accessing vital public health services.
In recent years, the Abinader administration has relentlessly pursued the deportation of Haitian migrants–ordering sweeping raids, arbitrarily detaining thousands with no due process, and carrying out mass deportations despite the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Haiti (see previous blogs here and here). Despite constant calls from both local and international organisations urging authorities to cease their mistreatment of this migrant community, in April Dominican authorities further bolstered their removal efforts by introducing a slate of new immigration control measures. As well as aspects like expanding the operational capacity of the General Directorate of Immigration, reinforcing border surveillance, and accelerating the construction of the border wall, on 21 April the country introduced a new pilot scheme to carry out migration control operations within hospitals, including maternity wards.
This new protocol has been launched in the 33 hospitals that report the largest number of pregnant migrant women–mainly those of Haitian origin. According to the new scheme, immigration officers will be posted to hospitals and hospital staff must identify patients and ensure that they have valid paperwork and a letter of employment within the Dominican Republic. If such requirements are not met, the patient will be immediately deported following treatment. Of course, the overall aim of these operations is to expel Haitian women from the country, violating their need for humanitarian protection while Haiti continues to experience institutional crisis, structural crisis, and human rights violations.
The impact of the administration’s latest efforts to expel migrants is already being felt. Stories have emerged of women (and their newborn babies) being arrested and detained just after birth. The Plateforme Genre du Nord’est (PGNE), a civil society group at the norther border in Haiti, has been monitoring deportees arriving in the northeast. Since January 2025, it has registered 33,205 deportees–and as many as 3,442 in the week beginning 21 April. Since the introduction of the new protocol, the group has observed large numbers of vulnerable deportees. They note: “The number of repatriates helped by the PGNE rose to over 3,000 persons including: young boys and girls, elderly and disabled migrants as well as unaccompanied children. Critically there were 742 women: 53 were pregnant and 60 were nursing mothers. The babies totalled 76 of whom 60 were still breastfeeding.”
The numbers being removed are so high that civil society organisations in Haiti are becoming overwhelmed. In a 25 April virtual protection meeting of actors working to receive and reintegrate repatriates, Jesula Blanc, who heads up PGNE, expressed concern that even working day and night, the voluntary group cannot sustain the complexities of receiving so many Haitian migrants in such vulnerable situations. “We are at the end of our tether,” she said.
While none of the main political parties in the country have objected to the new protocol, concerned civil society organisations and key health personnel have advocated for the measure to be overturned. Civil society rights defenders in the Dominican Republic have also taken to social networks using the hashtag “Cruelty is not my flag” to signal their opposition to the state’s current detention and deportation policies. Until the new migration measure is rescinded, they have pledged not to stop advocating for the proper protection of migrants, particularly women and children, and to contest rights violations and the impediments they face in accessing sexual and reproductive health.
The Haitian Foreign Minister also protested the protocol in no uncertain terms when he called the Dominican Ambassador in Port au Prince to a meeting to discuss the extraordinary turn of events. Beyond, both the UN system and the Inter-American Human Rights system have denounced it–arguing that it flouts Dominican legislation, a binational protocol with Haiti, and international conventions and jurisprudence.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
In December 2024, we (the Observatory for Caribbean Migrants (OBMICA)) carried out interviews in the east of the Dominican Republic with Haitian migrant women regarding the obstacles they face in accessing public health–especially sexual and reproductive health. Often, they reported feeling as if they are stuck between a rock and a hard place: conditions do not exist for them to remain in or return to Haiti, but they simultaneously endure a confrontational context in the Dominican Republic.
Sadly, the situation these interviewees face has since worsened. In recent weeks, many of them (those that have not been deported) have had their modest communities bulldozed in violent anti-migrant actions undertaken by the authorities. (These communities actually date back some forty years to when the tourist industry recruited Haitian workers from the cane fields to come and work in construction in the burgeoning tourism industry in Punta Cana/Bávaro.) There are no legal pathways currently to obtain status for migrants with irregular status and even those with legal status have their papers disrespected in a context where there is little to no due process. Facing conditions like these, we have started to observe some migrants making spontaneous returns–when they perceive themselves to be in the immigration firing line within the Dominican Republic, some are returning to Haiti to avoid the stranglehold of military-supported migration operations. https://www.globaldetentionproject.org/guest-opinion-cruelty-is-not-my-flag-contesting-arbitrary-detention-and-deportations-from-the-dominican-republic