(Tanzania) Haitian gangs have taken almost total control of the capital and the authorities are unable to stop the escalation of violence in this poor Caribbean country, warned senior officials of the United Nations (UN) on Wednesday.
It is estimated that almost 90 % of the capital Port-au-Prince is now under the control of criminal groups which extend their attacks not only to the surrounding areas, but also beyond, in previously peaceful areas, said Ghada Fathy Waly, general manager of the United Nations Office against Drugs and Crime (UNUDC), the UN Security Council.
The southern Haiti, until recently spared by violence, experienced a sharp increase in gang’s incidents. And in the east, criminal groups exploit the land routes, in particular key passage points, such as Belladère and Malpasse, where attacks against police and customs officers were reported.
Ghada Fathy Waly, Director General of the United Nations Office against Drugs and Crime (ONUDC)
According to Mme Waly, the state authority is quickly reduced as the gang control extends, with cascade effects. Criminal groups benefit from the vacuum left by the absence or limited supply of public services and set up “parallel governance structures”. The control of the main commercial routes by the gangs has paralyzed legal trade, resulting in the prices of the fuel of cooking and rice, the basic food of Haiti, she said.
PHOTO ODELYN JOSEPH, ARCHIVES ASSOCIATED PRESS
Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Son-Aimé (second from the left) talks about the Mexican business manager Jesus Cisneros after having participated in an event marking the first anniversary of the multinational security support mission in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, June 26, 2025.
The United Nations Under-Secretary General, Miroslav Jenca, told the Council that “the continuous encirclement of Port-au-Prince by the gangs” and their reinforced establishment in the capital and beyond “bring together the situation of the chasm”.
“Without an increased action of the international community, the total collapse of the presence of the state in the capital could become a very real scenario,” he warned.
The gangs have gained in power since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021. Previously, it was estimated that they controlled 85 % of the capital. Haiti has not had a president since this assassination.
A stronger international support required
A mission supported by the UN and led by Kenyan police arrived in Haiti last year to help repress the violence of the gangs. However, the mission still lacks staff and financing, with only around 40 % of the 2,500 people initially planned.
The proposal made in February by the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, to provide drones, fuel, land and air transport and other non -lethal means of support for the mission led by Kenya has remained a dead letter to the Council.
PHOTO CLAUDIA GRECO, ARCHIVES REUTERS
Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General
In response to gangs, mme Waly has noted rapid growth in the number and activities of private security companies and self -defense groups, some seeking to protect their communities, while others act illegally and collaborate with gangs.
“In the past three months, these groups have killed at least 100 men and a woman suspected of association or collaboration with gangs,” said Jenca.
He said the last three months have also been marked by an increase in sexual violence committed by gangs. The United Nations political mission in Haiti has identified 364 incidents of sexual violence involving 378 survivors just March and April.
A new UN expert report, covering the period from October to last October, indicates that the gangs have exploited political disorders and the disorganized response to the security crisis by Haiti, pointing to competing political ambitions and allegations of corruption within the Haitian transitional bodies, which hindered the action.
“If the expansion of territorial control brings additional sources of income and an additional negotiation power to the gangs, these attacks are also supported by individuals who try to destabilize the political transition for their own political ends,” the experts told.
A major result is that very little progress has been made in the restoration of public security or the implementation of the roadmap for the organization of national elections by February 2026, the experts responsible for monitoring the arms embargo to Haiti and the sanctions against the main gang leaders in their report to the Security Council said.
Faced with a weakened national police, faced with strong tensions within his command, an army to be rebuilt and the limited capacities of the multinational force, the experts warned that the gangs would continue to “take over without stronger international support”.
Self -defense groups, experts said, “often include local police officers, some of whom actively participate in human rights violations”.
PHOTO JEAN FEGUENS GIVES, REUTERS ARCHIVES
A member of a citizen group of self -defense takes a position in a residential area after gangs burned houses in Furcy, Haiti, June 24, 2025.
Haitian national police also committed “a worrying number of extrajudicial executions […] ; The alleged members of gangs are often summarily executed, “added the experts, highlighting 281 summary executions by police units specialized in 2024, including 22 women and 8 children.
Despite the arms embargo decreed by the UN to Haiti, the gangs continue to obtain more powerful weapons, not only in regional civil markets, but also in police stocks in Haiti and the neighboring Dominican Republic, according to experts.
