Haiti

Police are trying to reach a gang-controlled area in central Haiti where at least 16 people have been killed in a series of attacks over the weekend.

Chad has committed to deploy 750 police officers and gendarmes in the latest effort to push back the violent gangs that have permeated much of Haiti. The officers will be part of a new Gang Suppression Force (GSF), proposed by Panama and the U.S. and approved by the UN Security Council last September. 

The liberation of territory from gangs and a more “motivated and visible” police presence has provided a “glimmer of hope” for Haiti as the Caribbean island nation continues to struggle with violence, insecurity and poverty. At least 1.4 million people largely in the capital Port-au-Prince, have been forced to flee their homes due to gang violence, creating what the UN’s Designated Expert on the situation of human rights in Haiti, William O’Neill, has called an “unprecedented level of internal displacement.”

Haitian security forces and private contractors working with them have conducted extensive and apparently unlawful lethal drone strikes, Human Rights Watch said today. … According to data from multiple sources reviewed by Human Rights Watch, at least 1,243 people were killed by drone strikes in 141 operations between March 1, 2025, and January 21, 2026, including at least 43 adults who were reportedly not members of criminal groups, and 17 children. 

More than 1.4 million people have now been displaced by violence and instability in Haiti according to the latest data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM). This marks a 40 per cent increase since the end of 2024, … .

With Haiti’s interim authority set to dissolve and no new government in sight, political infighting and deepening gang violence leave the country facing another uncertain chapter.

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) for one year to 31 January 2027. … The text also revised the mandate of BINUH to undertake six key tasks “in an integrated manner with all UN entities in Haiti”.

Haiti’s deepening crisis has reached a critical phase, senior UN officials warned the Security Council on Wednesday, as powerful gangs continue to expand their control across the country.

A united front of Haiti’s most powerful gangs, Viv Ansanm, has extended its territorial reach, expanded its illicit rackets and pushed the country to a fresh peak of violence. As a new international force readies for deployment, gangs increasingly claim they are fighting to defend the poorest from predatory elites.

Kenya dispatched a new contingent of police officers to Haiti on Monday, moving to reinforce an overstretched multinational mission that has struggled to contain the country’s powerful armed gangs.