The death toll from gang violence in Haiti rose to 5,600 in 2024, according to the UN | Haiti

More than 5,600 people are believed to have been killed in Haiti last year, the UN has said, as a Kenyan-led international mission struggles to contain rampant gang violence.

The number of murders has increased by more than 20% compared to 2023, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. More than 2,200 people were injured and nearly 1,500 kidnapped, according to the press release.

“These figures alone cannot account for the absolute horrors perpetrated in Haiti, but they do show the unrelenting violence to which people are subjected,” said Volker Türk, United Nations high commissioner for human rights, in a press release.

The victims included two journalists and a police officer killed when gunmen opened fire on a crowd gathered on Christmas Eve for the much-anticipated reopening of Haiti’s largest public hospital, which gangs forced to close earlier this year.

Other victims include more than 200 people killed in a gang-controlled slum in early December, many of them elderly Haitians, after a gang leader sought to avenge the death of his son following voodoo rituals, according to the UN. This is one of the largest massacres reported in Port-au-Prince in recent history.

The victims also include 315 suspected gang members or people associated with them who were lynched and more than 280 people killed by police in alleged summary executions, the UN said.

“It has long been clear that impunity for human rights violations and abuses, as well as corruption, remains widespread in Haiti,” Türk said.

He called for more logistical and financial support for the U.N.-backed mission that began in early June as the United States and other countries call for a U.N. peacekeeping mission.

About 400 police officers from Kenya are leading the mission and were joined a few days ago by some 150 military police officers from Central America, the majority from Guatemala. Jamaica, the Bahamas and Belize have sent a handful of personnel, while other countries including Barbados, Bangladesh and Chad have committed to doing the same, but it is unclear when they will be deployed .

This number remains well below the 2,500 officers expected for the mission.

In another blow to Haiti’s stability, Sunrise Airways announced Monday that it would temporarily suspend flights to and from the capital Port-au-Prince, 85% of which are controlled by gangs.

This leaves the country’s main international airport without any commercial flights for the third time this year.

Sunrise Airways did not provide a reason, saying only that the decision was based on circumstances beyond its control, adding that the safety of passengers and crew members was a priority.

In November, the Port-au-Prince airport closed after gangs opened fire and struck three planes, including a Spirit Airlines plane in mid-flight, injuring a flight attendant.

Although the airport has since reopened, the US Federal Aviation Administration in December extended a ban on US flights to the Haitian capital until March 12 due to security concerns.

Overall, gang violence in recent years has left more than 700,000 people homeless, many of whom have congregated in makeshift and unsanitary shelters.

As violence continues to grow, Türk called on all nations to stop deportations to Haiti.

“The acute insecurity and resulting human rights crisis in the country simply do not allow for a safe, dignified and sustainable return of Haitians. And yet the evictions continue,” he said.

Under the Biden administration, about 27,800 Haitians have been expelled from the United States, according to Thomas Cartwright of Witness at the Border, an advocacy group that tracks flight data.

Meanwhile, the neighboring Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, deported more than a quarter of a million people to Haiti last year as part of an ongoing crackdown on migrants.