Sept 25 (Reuters) – Haiti’s displacement crisis is spreading beyond the capital, with nearly 1.5 million people uprooted across the country, the International Organization for Migration said in a report published on Friday.
• Nearly 80% of those internally displaced are now located outside the capital of Port-au-Prince, with the sharpest recent displacement increase in Artibonite department, once considered a refuge for families fleeing violence elsewhere, the report said.
• Armed gangs in Haiti have near-total control over Port-au-Prince and have been expanding into rural areas.
• Displacement in Artibonite rose between May and August 2026, as escalating insecurity forced new waves of movement and reduced safe options for the affected population, the IOM said
• Near the capital, recent armed attacks in Kenscoff displaced more than 4,000 people, with reports of homes burned, kidnappings and killings, the report said.
• Hundreds of thousands of displaced people are living in informal settlements, collective sites or other precarious conditions, increasing their vulnerability during the Atlantic hurricane season, the IOM said.
• “For families already displaced by violence, a major storm could trigger another humanitarian emergency,” IOM Haiti Senior Emergency Coordinator Elise Verron said in the report.
(Reporting by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez; editing by Paolo Laudani and Deepa Babington)
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