Haiti’s Humanitarian Emergency Deepens as Armed Gangs Push Beyond Port-au-Prince

Armed gangs now hold sway over nearly all of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, and are extending their operations into surrounding areas. Kenscoff, once a tranquil farming community on the capital’s outskirts, has come under renewed attack in recent days. The violence threatens to aggravate food insecurity that the United Nations has already described as severe.

Located about twenty kilometres south of Port-au-Prince in the foothills of a mountain range, Kenscoff has faced intermittent assaults since January 2025. This month, gangs struck again. Between 4 and 9 July, at least 61 people—including 14 children—were killed in Kenscoff and the neighbouring commune of Pétion-Ville, according to UN figures.

“The toll is truly heavy – these bandits have killed many people, burnt many cars, burnt many houses and forced many citizens to flee their homes,” Kenscoff Mayor Jean Massillon told RFI correspondent Peterson Luxama. “To this day, there are fathers who cannot stop crying because they have lost their sons, their daughters, their spouses.”

Home to roughly 65,000 residents, Kenscoff sits in a strategically important agricultural zone. Local farmers raise livestock and cultivate crops that supply a significant share of the capital’s food.

When gangs first targeted Kenscoff last year, more than 3,000 people fled and at least 262 were killed, per the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH). “Gang members displayed extreme brutality, aiming to instil fear within the population,” the agency noted in its January–March 2025 situation report. “They executed men, women, and children inside their homes and shot others on roads and paths as they tried to flee the violence, including an infant.”

Mass displacement

The latest assaults displaced nearly 6,000 people from Kenscoff in just five days, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported, marking the largest exodus the town has seen in 15 months. Massillon said his administration is evaluating the damage and seeking alternative shelter for displaced families.

He attributed the attacks to gangs based in Carrefour, a nearby commune fully controlled by Viv Ansanm, a coalition of armed factions. Massillon urged stronger police presence: “The problem is securing the area. After security forces drive the bandits away, they don’t stay. This makes it easier for the criminals to come back and attack us. We need security forces to remain and consolidate their presence on the ground, not just show up after the next attack. The authorities also need to give us more resources and strengthen the police’s capacity to fight armed groups.”

Widespread hunger

The recent unrest unfolds amid a broader humanitarian crisis. An estimated 6.4 million Haitians—over half the population—require assistance, and a record 1.5 million have been displaced by gang-related violence. Armed conflict, displacement, climate shocks, and global economic instability have severely disrupted food supply chains.

Though Haiti possesses fertile land and was largely self-sufficient in food until the 1980s, the World Food Programme (WFP) now says about 5.8 million people—roughly half the population—lack sufficient nourishment. “There’s no doubt that Haiti is a fertile land. But the insecurity has completely destabilised farming areas, displacing farmers and their families who were already living in poverty,” said Erwan Rumen, WFP Haiti deputy country director, this week.

WFP country director Wanja Kaaria stressed that hunger relief and peacebuilding are inseparable. “Tackling hunger is vital to restoring stability in Haiti. We cannot build peace when families have nothing to feed their children. Hunger opens the door to armed groups who will exploit the crisis, luring children with food and preying on women and young mothers who are struggling to provide for their families,” she said in an April appeal.

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