As gang violence expands, Haiti's humanitarian crisis worsens
Twenty kilometres south of Port-au-Prince in the foothills of a mountain range, Kenscoff has been subjected to sporadic assaults since January 2025.
This month, the gangs attacked again. Between 4-9 July, at least 61 people – including 14 children – were killed in Kenscoff and the neighbouring commune of Pétion-Ville, according to the United Nations.
“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,” the mayor of Kenscoff, Jean Massillon, told RFI's correspondent Peterson Luxama.
“To this day, there are fathers who cannot stop crying because they have lost their sons, their daughters, their spouses.”
With around 65,000 inhabitants, Kenscoff occupies a strategic position in a region largely devoted to agriculture. Its farmers tend livestock and grow crops that form an important part of the capital's food supply. People displaced by gang attacks take refuge in Kenscoff town hall, on 13 February 2025.
When gangs first attacked Kenscoff last year, more than 3,000 people fled and at least 262 people were killed, according to the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH).
“Gang members displayed extreme brutality, aiming to instil fear within the population,” the agency wrote 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.”
Gangs could overrun Haiti capital if aid falls short, UN chief warns
Mass displacement
This month's attacks caused nearly 6,000 people to flee Kenscoff in the space of five days, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), which said it was the largest displacement the town had experienced in 15 months.
Massillon said his team is currently assessing the damage and looking for alternative accommodation to house the families forced to abandon their homes.
He blamed the attacks on gangs from Carrefour, a commune near Kenscoff that is entirely under the control of Viv Ansanm, a coalition of armed groups.
Massillon called for police reinforcements to deter further attacks. “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,” he said.
“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.” A Kenyan police officer on special deployment to Haiti patrols Kenscoff on 13 February 2025.
Haiti's future remains 'hanging in the balance' 15 years after earthquake
Widespread hunger
The latest unrest comes as Haiti faces a humanitarian crisis. An estimated 6.4 million people – more than half the country's population – are now in need of aid and a record 1.5 million Haitians have been displaced by violence linked to armed groups.
Gang violence and displacement, along with climate shock and global economic instability, have massively disrupted Haiti's food supply chains.
Haiti has rich soil and was largely food self-sufficient until the 1980s. Today, the World Food Programme (WFP) says that some 5.8 million people, around half of Haiti's population, don't have enough to eat.
“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,” Erwan Rumen, deputy country director of WFP Haiti, told France 24 this week.
Tackling hunger and restoring peace go hand in hand, said WFP country director Wanja Kaaria.
“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.