According to new data published by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), nearly 1.3 million people are now internally displaced in Haiti, which is a 24 percent increase since December 2024. With this surge, Haiti has the highest number of people ever displaced by violence, and internally displaced people (IDPs) now represent 11 percent of the country's population of 11.9 million.
“Behind these numbers are so many individual people whose suffering is immeasurable; children, mothers, the elderly, many of them forced to flee their homes multiple times, often with nothing, and now living in conditions that are neither safe nor sustainable,” said Amy Pope, IOM Director General, in a statement on Wednesday.
“We need to act urgently. The strength of the Haitian people is humbling, but resilience cannot be their only refuge. This crisis cannot become the new normal.”
Gang violence in Haiti continues having a devastating impact on the population. Since early 2025, waves of extreme brutality have resulted in widespread casualties. According to the United Nations, more than 1,500 people were killed, 570 others were injured, and at least 161 were kidnapped in gang-related violence in the first quarter of the year.
The Caribbean island nation has been plagued by gang violence and instability since President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in 2021. The national police force is understaffed and ill-equipped and has been unable to stop the gangs terrorizing the population, especially in the capital Port-au-Prince.
The ongoing armed violence has brought Haiti to the brink of collapse, creating a dire humanitarian crisis. At least half of the population, or 6 million people, are in need of assistance, including 3.3 million children. Armed gangs seeking to expand their control have also led to massive displacement.
While Port-au-Prince remains the epicenter of the crisis, with gangs now controlling about 90 percent of the city, gang violence is spreading beyond the capital. Recent attacks in the Centre and Artibonite departments have forced tens of thousands more residents to flee; many are now living in precarious conditions in makeshift shelters.
According to IOM data, nearly a quarter of all IDPs are still living in the capital, though increasing numbers are fleeing to other parts of the country in search of safety.
In the North, the number of people forced from their homes has grown by nearly 80 percent. In the Artibonite department, violence in Petite Rivière alone has driven thousands more from their homes, bringing the total number of displaced people in the area to over 92,000.
The situation in the Centre department is even more alarming. Fighting in towns such as Mirebalais and Saut-d’Eau has more than doubled the number of displaced people in just a few months, rising from approximately 68,000 in December 2024 to over 147,000 in June. As a result, many families now face life without access to healthcare, schools, and clean water, further exacerbating the challenges they already face to survive.
Displaced families often settle in informal sites or overcrowded host households, which have limited access to basic services. As more people are forced to flee, the number of spontaneous displacement sites is also rising.
According to IOM, the number of IDP sites has jumped from 142 to 246 since December. The sharpest increase is in areas that had none previously, such as the Centre department, which now has 85 such sites.
Port-au-Prince remains the only area where the majority of IDPs — 66 percent — live in displacement sites, while 98 percent of IDPs in the provinces live outside of sites.
IOM reports that it has scaled up its operations in the Port-au-Prince Metropolitan Area (PPMA), providing essential household items to over 20,000 people, delivering three million liters of clean water, and offering basic healthcare to 6,000 people.
Those displaced primarily need food, access to livelihoods, health care, water, hygiene, sanitation, and shelter.
As these needs grow, IOM reiterates its call to the international community to ramp up support, noting that without immediate funding and access, millions remain at risk.
Essential though it is, humanitarian assistance alone is not enough.
The UN organization stated that sustainable solutions must address the root causes of displacement, improve access to essential services, and provide viable alternatives to gang violence for youth, as these measures are critical to breaking the cycle of violence and restoring stability.
In an update on Wednesday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) expressed concern about the alarming rise in internal displacement in the country. OCHA said that the sharp deterioration in the displacement situation comes at a time when humanitarian access is increasingly restricted and funding remains critically low.
“Without urgent support to meet growing needs and address the structural drivers of displacement, the crisis will deepen further, placing even more pressure on already overstretched systems and communities,” the UN humanitarian office said.
As of today, only 8 percent of the 2025 Haiti Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan has been funded, with just over US$75 million received out of the more than $908 million needed.
In addition to experiencing a massive displacement crisis, Haiti is facing a severe hunger crisis, with more than half of the population struggling with acute food insecurity. The latest food security report shows that a record 5.7 million people — more than half of all Haitians — are acutely hungry due to relentless gang violence and an ongoing economic collapse.
According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), nearly 6 million people are experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or worse), and more than 2 million are facing emergency levels of hunger (IPC Phase 4). The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimates that over 1 million Haitian children are exposed to IPC Phase 4.
Meanwhile, approximately 8,400 people are likely facing catastrophic levels of hunger (IPC Phase 5). IPC Phase 5 is the most critical level of acute food insecurity. People experiencing this level face extreme food shortages and severe acute malnutrition, putting them at risk of starvation.
Further information
Full text: Haiti — Report on the displacement situation in Haiti — Round 10 (June 2025), Displacement Tracking Matrix, International Organization for Migration (IOM), report, published June 10, 2025
https://dtm.iom.int/reports/haiti-report-displacement-situation-haiti-round-10-june-2025