Haiti’s security crisis forces displacement and relocation

August 29, 2026

Haiti's Centre Department, traditionally a peaceful agricultural region known for religious festivals and farming, has experienced a dramatic security collapse since gang attacks began in 2023. The situation deteriorated severely between March and April 2025 when criminal coalitions led by the Canaan Taliban and 400 Mawozo gangs launched major assaults on Mirebalais and Saut d'Eau, destroying infrastructure, looting hospitals, and forcing approximately 147,000 residents to flee their homes. Displaced families initially sheltered in overcrowded schools under deplorable conditions with poor sanitation and limited space.

Who is affected

Approximately 147,000 displaced residents of Mirebalais and Saut d'Eau communes
More than 350 displaced families (including specific individuals Marie Christiane and Madelene) relocated from school-based shelters
Over 1,000 students whose schools were used as displacement shelters
Women and girls subjected to rape and sexual assault by gangs
Suspected police informants, self-defence brigade members, journalists, and influencers targeted by gangs
Cargo truck drivers experiencing hijackings
General population of the Centre Department facing extortion and violence
Pilgrims who previously visited religious festivals at Saut d'Eau

What action is being taken

The IOM, Haiti's northern civil protection agency, and the U.S. Embassy are operating a relocation program that has moved over 350 families to a new transit centre
Armed self-defence groups, the Haitian National Police (PNH), Brigade for the Security of Protected Areas (BSAP), and Armed Forces of Haiti (FAd'H) are occupying key areas of the department
Gangs are continuing to occupy parts of the Centre Department, imposing illegal checkpoints, conducting identity checks, hijacking trucks, kidnapping, and executing suspected collaborators

Why it matters

This represents a significant expansion of gang violence into previously safe regions of Haiti, demonstrating that criminal coalitions are extending territorial control beyond the capital metropolitan area. The Centre Department's strategic importance stems from its agricultural productivity, border position facilitating trade with the Dominican Republic, and role as a refuge for those fleeing violence elsewhere. The destruction of critical infrastructure like the Mirebalais University Hospital—the country's largest non-governmental healthcare facility—and the mass displacement of 147,000 people signals a humanitarian crisis that threatens Haiti's food security, disrupts essential services, and eliminates safe havens for internally displaced persons throughout the country.

What's next

The new transit centre will allow more than 1,000 students to return to their classrooms at the beginning of the new school year in September.

Read full article from source: Global Voices