By Sandrine Exil
Port-au-Prince (EFE).- In Haiti, grieving families now face a deadly negotiation: burying loved ones has become a costly and dangerous ordeal. Since early 2024, armed gangs have seized historic cemeteries such as Port-au-Prince’s Grand Cemetery, extorting families who can no longer lay their dead to rest without paying high fees or facing violence.
“We are witnessing a radical transformation of Haitian mourning. The collective practices that once gave meaning to death have been dismantled by fear and extortion. It is the death of death itself,” warned Jean Wilner Jacques, anthropologist and expert in Caribbean funerary culture.
Just meters from Jean-Jacques Dessalines Avenue, in the heart of Port-au-Prince, life has vanished from Rue de l’Enterrement, once the city’s funeral epicenter.
Funeral homes are shut, hearses no longer circulate, and silence reigns, interrupted only by the occasional ambulance sneaking through side streets to avoid gang surveillance.
“Since February 2024, we haven’t been able to work. Armed attacks destroyed our offices,” said the manager of a funeral home on Fleury Battier Street.
“Now, for every burial, we must contact the armed group controlling the cemetery. It’s the only way to avoid incidents on the day of the funeral,” added the manager, who asked to remain anonymous for safety.
“We pay to bury:” Grieving in a country held hostage
Founded over 250 years ago, the Grand Cemetery is now under gang control.
“The municipality no longer charges fees. Everything is paid to the gangs. Even entering with a body costs up to 2,000 gourdes (15 dollars),” the funeral director said.
Traditional rituals, music, and family processions have vanished.
“Only two people can accompany the coffin. Anything else is too dangerous,” he added.
Mireille, aged 52, spoke quietly about her mother, who died in January 2025.
“She died at home, in Carrefour-Feuilles. We had to pay 50,000 gourdes (318 dollars) for a spot in Turgeau cemetery. We couldn’t use the family niche in the Grand Cemetery, it’s in gang hands.”
Gangs have also set up road tolls for funeral processions.
“Just to transport a corpse to Carrefour, I need at least 15,000 gourdes (114 dollars) for illegal checkpoints,” said another funeral provider.
“In 2021, a funeral cost 100,000 gourdes (762 dollars). Now, the minimum is 200,000 (around 1,523 dollars). People simply can’t afford it,” he added.
In rural areas like Petite-Rivière, Artibonite, families carry coffins on foot for hours to avoid gang-controlled cemeteries.
“No one wants to bury their dead in cemeteries controlled by the Gran Grif group,” said local magistrate Dort Lereste.
Bodies abandoned, morgues overflowing, dignity lost
“Gang takeovers of cemeteries reflect state collapse. But they also redefine how families mourn. Grieving has gone underground,” noted Sociologist Erika Louvert, an expert in urban dynamics.
With most traditional cemeteries inaccessible, others like Fragneau-Ville in Delmas 75 are seeing surging demand.
“Before, we buried only the homeless. Now families of all social levels come here,” said director Floriant Maxo.
In April, the cemetery saw 20 burials, up from 15 in February. “Some Saturdays, we have up to five funerals,” said Maxo.
To meet demand, they built stacked niches. Bodies are lifted with scaffolding.
Renting a niche costs 50,000 gourdes (318 dollars) annually; entry is 5,000 gourdes (38 dollars), collected by the Delmas city hall.
“At least here, some dignity remains,” said Maxo.
Another cemetery, Parc du Souvenir in Torcel, now operates partially after being looted in 2024. Losses exceeded 500,000 dollars.
“Now we only offer limited cremations,” said the administrator.
In overcrowded morgues, hundreds of bodies await burial. Many go unclaimed—families displaced or unable to pay. Frequent power outages accelerate decomposition.
“Without refrigeration, bodies rot in hours. Some have been here over three months,” said Joseph Bernard, who runs a funeral home in Croix-des-Bouquets.
“We’ve lost all ability to guarantee basic respect for the dead.”
Makeshift storage in garages or containers is now common. “This isn’t dignified, but it’s all we can do,” Bernard lamented.
Doctors warn of potential disease outbreaks from improper corpse handling.
Since December 2024, attacks against civilians have risen by 24%. Violence has expanded beyond Port-au-Prince into the Center and Artibonite departments. In the north, internal displacement is up to 80%.
Haiti also faces a total collapse in basic services, healthcare, education, and water access.
The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) recorded 4,026 murders in the first half of 2025.
Gang violence has displaced 1.3 million people, six times the 2022 figure, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). EFE
seo/dgp