GENEVA - The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Wednesday that nearly 580,000 people are now internally displaced across Haiti, representing a 60 per cent increase since March.
In addition to the displacement in and around the capital Port-au-Prince, gang-led violence has pushed ever greater numbers of people to flee to neighboring provinces.
As a result, in the Southern region, the number of internally displaced men, women and children has gone from 116,000 to 270,000 in just the last three months.
Most of those displaced are currently hosted by communities already struggling with social services that are simply overwhelmed and poor infrastructure.
Acute in the south
IOM said this was particularly acute in the country’s southern areas, already weakened by the powerful 2021 earthquake.
In the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, two thirds of the people displaced live in sites which have formed spontaneously with very limited access to basic services.
IOM has provided nearly five million litres of clean water to some 25,000 people and rehabilitated 22 water hand pumps.
More than 37,000 people have been provided with relief supplies including blankets, water containers, solar lamps, kitchen sets and plastic sheets. Mobile clinics have also been deployed to provide medical assistance and psychosocial support has been made available, including through a free hotline.
