GNV News July 9, 2025

On July 2, 2025, Ghada Waly, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), reported to the UN Security Council that 90% of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, is controlled by multiple criminal organizations. Haiti has remained in turmoil since the assassination of its then-president in 2021, and in 2024 alone at least 5,600 people were killed by gang violence. In addition, 1.3 million people—half the population of the capital—have been forced to flee to escape the violence.

In this situation, criminal organizations are exploiting people. Specifically, they are reported to perpetrate arbitrary violence and sexual violence, kidnapping, and to recruit people as fighters. In addition, their control of movement within the areas they dominate is causing disruptions to logistics and soaring prices, and if the situation does not change, it is estimated that more than half the population—5.7 million people—will face severe food insecurity during 2025. Meanwhile, extrajudicial police killings are also a concern, with 281 killings reported in 2024.

Since 2024, a Kenya-led Multinational Security Support (MSS ) mission has been underway, and as part of this Kenyan police have been deployed to Haiti. However, it has been pointed out that the effort lacks both funding and personnel. It has also been reported that Haiti’s criminal organizations illegally obtain weapons via transport routes from the United States and the Dominican Republic, and preventing arms smuggling from these countries is considered important as well.

Learn more about Haiti → “Haiti: The Absence of Government and Its Prospects”

Learn more about weapons and business → “Arms Trade: The Dark Intersection of Politics and Business”

A shelter in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti (Photo: Pan American Health Organization PAHO / Flickr [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0])