Gang control and displacement in Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, Haiti. Reported onset 29 February 2024.
TL;DR
Armed group control of large parts of Port-au-Prince displaced people within the city itself and then outward to departments that had previously received little displacement, making Haiti one of the fastest changing urban displacement situations tracked anywhere.
What happened
- Coordinated armed group action across the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area closed roads, the port and sections of the city to normal movement.
- Families moved repeatedly inside the capital, from one neighbourhood to another, before larger movements towards provincial departments began.
- Spontaneous sites opened in schools, cinemas and public buildings rather than in planned camps.
Why it matters for the data
- Urban displacement of this kind is largely invisible to camp based counting methods, so site lists understate the scale.
- Repeated short distance movement means the same household may be recorded in several locations over a year.
- Displacement into provincial departments shifts service demand to areas with far less humanitarian presence.
What to watch next
- IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix Haiti round reports and site profiles.
- OCHA Haiti access and response reporting.
- Departmental level arrival tracking outside the capital.
Where the figures come from
This page does not publish population figures for the event. Numbers for an active event change faster than any single page can responsibly restate them, and access restrictions mean estimates carry wide uncertainty. The organisations below publish the current figures and the methodology behind them.
Country context
For the wider picture, see the Haiti displacement dashboard, which tracks conflict events, population movement and humanitarian needs on a rolling basis.