According to a new report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Haiti has surged to an unprecedented level, with over 1.4 million people forced to flee their homes due to escalating gang violence and instability. This figure is up 36 percent since the end of 2024 and represents the highest number ever recorded in the country. Meanwhile, hunger in Haiti continues to worsen, with over half of the population — 5.7 million people — facing high levels of acute food insecurity.
The latest IOM displacement report reveals another alarming trend: the crisis is spreading well beyond the capital city of Port-au-Prince. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of new displacements have occurred outside the capital, particularly in the Centre and Artibonite departments — a trend also observed in previous assessments.
“The severity of this crisis demands increased and sustained response. The generosity of Haitian communities hosting displaced people must be matched by renewed international support,” said Grégoire Goodstein, IOM’s Chief of Mission in Haiti, in a statement on Wednesday.
“What is needed now are sustainable solutions that restore dignity, foster resilience, and create lasting alternatives for those enduring this long and complex crisis.”
Existing displacement sites are severely overcrowded. In Port-au-Prince, 238 improvised sites struggle to provide basic services, including food, water, and healthcare. Furthermore, the number of spontaneous displacement sites has grown from 142 in December to 238 today.
The crisis is largely driven by the growing presence of armed groups that disrupt economic opportunities and exacerbate existing challenges, such as adverse climatic conditions, inflation, and declining agriculture performance, which limits the Haitian population's access to income and food sources.
More than 85 percent of IDPs are housed with host families, which means that local communities continue to bear the greatest burden despite mounting pressure on limited resources. Only in the capital do the majority live in improvised sites.
Nearly two-thirds of new displacements have been reported outside Port-au-Prince, particularly in the departments of Centre and Artibonite, which have been hit hardest. Unlike in previous years, the majority of armed attacks resulting in mass displacements took place in the provinces (69 percent) in 2025.
IOM warned that women and children are the most severely impacted by the armed conflict, accounting for over half of all displaced individuals in Haiti. Many families have been separated as parents send their children to stay with relatives in safer areas in a desperate effort to protect them.
Communities along Haiti’s border with the Dominican Republic are facing additional strain as more than 207,000 deported Haitians have returned since January 2025 to a country where gang violence has escalated. This occurred despite repeated calls from the United Nations that Haitians should not be forcibly returned.
IOM has responded by expanding its operations beyond Port-au-Prince and bolstering its presence in affected provincial areas. The UN organization provides emergency shelter, clean water, health services, mental health and psychosocial support, protection services, and livelihood opportunities to vulnerable families.
Food security is worsening as funding dwindles
Haiti is among the world’s top five hunger hotspots, where people suffer from extreme hunger, starvation, and death. The situation will only worsen unless urgent action is swiftly taken to de-escalate the conflict, stop the displacement of people, and provide large-scale aid.
Currently, over 5.7 million people in Haiti are facing high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or worse), a figure expected to rise to nearly 6 million between March and June of 2026. That is according to the latest analysis of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), released in October.
Among those 5.7 million people, more than 1.9 million are experiencing emergency levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 4), requiring urgent action to support the poorest households and prevent them from adopting further harmful coping strategies.
On Wednesday, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned that severe disruptions to its most critical humanitarian operations, including those in Haiti, are expected by the end of the year due to dwindling global funding.
In Haiti, hot meal programs have already been suspended, and families facing emergency-level hunger are receiving only half of the WFP's standard monthly rations due to funding shortfalls. WFP's operations in Haiti face a $44 million funding shortfall over the next six months.
As humanitarian needs continue to grow, the International Organization for Migration renewed its call to the international community to scale up funding and ensure access to urgent aid for those most in need. The UN organization also urged the community to invest in long-term solutions that address the drivers of displacement.
The humanitarian response plan for Haiti is one of the least funded in the world (at 14 percent), highlighting the urgent need for increased international support to address this escalating crisis.
“Without immediate and sustained support, the suffering of hundreds of thousands of displaced and deported Haitians will only spiral further,” IOM stated.
Haiti is facing one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises
The country is grappling with a dire humanitarian crisis, driven by escalating gang violence and the subsequent collapse of essential services. Ongoing armed violence has brought Haiti to the brink of collapse. At least half of the population — 6 million people, including 3.3 million children — requires humanitarian assistance.
Armed groups have tightened their control over the capital and spread far beyond it, leaving the population devastated by gang violence. At least 3,137 people were killed in the first half of 2025, and the violence continues to escalate.
Haiti has been plagued by gang violence and instability since 2021, when President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated. The Haitian National Police (HNP) is understaffed and ill-equipped; it has been unable to stop the gangs from terrorizing the population, especially in the capital.
A UN-authorized Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission of roughly 1,000 personnel enabled the HNP to regain access to certain areas and infrastructure but failed to stabilize the situation.
During an August briefing of the UN Security Council, Secretary-General António Guterres described Haiti’s ongoing humanitarian crisis as devastating. Referring to the crisis as a "perfect storm of suffering," he urged the international community to act before it's too late and emphasized that Haiti remains "shamefully overlooked and woefully underfunded."
On September 30, the Security Council took a major step in addressing Haiti's growing security crisis by approving a resolution to transform the MSS mission into a multinational "Gang Suppression Force" (GSF). The resolution authorized UN member states to establish the GSF in collaboration with the Haitian government for an initial period of 12 months.
The new mission aims to "neutralize, isolate, and deter" the gangs that continue to threaten civilians, human rights, and Haitian institutions. Resolution 2793 (2025) grants participating states the freedom to carry out intelligence-led, targeted operations either independently or with the national police force and the Haitian Armed Forces — a significant change.
The GSF will consist of up to 5,550 personnel, including 5,500 uniformed military and police personnel, as well as 50 civilians. The UN Secretary-General will establish the UN Support Office in Haiti (UNSOH) to primarily support the new force, the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), the HNP, and the Haitian Armed Forces.