International desk (EFE).- More than 16,000 people have been killed in Haiti since 2022 amid escalating violence, hospitals are collapsing and food insecurity has reached famine-levels, the United Nations and humanitarian groups warned Thursday.
According to UN figures, over 16,000 people have died since 2022, with half of this year’s killings occurring during police operations against gangs.
Türk warned of rising extrajudicial killings, including at least 174 alleged summary executions by police and 559 deaths caused by explosive drones used in government operations.
He stressed that security forces must respect “the principles of legality, necessity, proportionality, non-discrimination, precaution and accountability.”
Gang violence has expanded beyond Port-au-Prince into central and northern departments, fueling arms and drug trafficking.
Widespread abuses include kidnappings, sexual violence against women and girls, extortion, and looting of food trucks, schools, and hospitals.
The UN estimated that half of Haiti’s population, six million people, including 3.3 million children, now requires humanitarian aid, while 1.3 million have been displaced.
Türk urged states to enforce the UN arms embargo, noting that between 270,000 and 500,000 illegal firearms circulate in Haiti.
Health system on the edge
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned that civilians are bearing the brunt of the violence, with nearly 40% of Haitians needing urgent medical care.
Up to 80% of health centers in Port-au-Prince have been destroyed, looted, or abandoned, leaving only one major public hospital operational.
MSF said that in the first half of 2025, if treated 13,300 emergency patients, 2,600 survivors of sexual violence, and more than 2,200 victims of direct violence.
A quarter of the victims were children, with one in three injured minors suffering gunshot wounds.
“This violence takes place in a territorial conflict where civilians are trapped between explosive drones and the brutal violence of armed groups that loot, burn homes, destroy neighborhoods, and increasingly use sexual violence as a weapon,” said MSF coordinator Mumuza Muhindo Musubaho.
MSF noted that fear of attacks prevents patients in gang-controlled neighborhoods from seeking care outside those areas, worsening a “crisis within the crisis” for Haiti’s fragile health system.
Hunger crisis reaches catastrophic levels
The World Food Programme said Haiti is now one of only five countries in the world facing IPC Phase 5, the highest level of food insecurity, equivalent to famine.
“Haiti remains one of the most complex and severe food crises in the world, with 5.7 million people in acute food insecurity,” said WFP’s Haiti director Wanja Kaaria.
Funding shortfalls have forced the WFP to cut rations and suspend programs. The agency said it requires 139 million dollars over the next year to sustain assistance.
“Food aid is vital in Haiti’s volatile environment; it not only saves lives today but reduces the risk of social collapse, forced migration, and regional instability,” Kaaria stressed.
Despite access restrictions, WFP said it has reached over 2 million Haitians in 2025 and continues to support long-term food security, including school meals for 600,000 children. EFE
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