UN Secretary-General Guterres visits Haiti as gang violence displaces 1.5 million people

Jun 16, 2026

UN Secretary-General António Guterres visited Haiti to address a severe humanitarian crisis driven by gang violence, which has displaced 1.5 million people and killed 2,300 in 2026. Gangs like Viv Ansanm control up to 70% of Port-au-Prince. Guterres's visit comes as a new, multinational UN-backed gang-suppression force prepares to deploy to support Haiti's police and help the transitional government move toward elections.

Guterres Haiti visit

▪U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres visited Haiti on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, amid a crisis of surging gang violence.
▪During his one-day visit to Port-au-Prince, Guterres met with Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier-Fils-Aimé and visited a shelter for displaced people.

Gang violence displacement crisis

▪A record of more than 300,000 people have been displaced by gang violence across the capital, Port-au-Prince.
▪The powerful gang federation Viv Ansanm is estimated to control 70% of Port-au-Prince.
▪Surging gang violence in Haiti has displaced 1.5 million people, leaving more than 1 in 10 people homeless.
▪Gang violence in Haiti has killed 2,300 people and led to 100 kidnappings in 2026, according to UN statistics.
▪The U.S. government has designated the Haitian gang federation Viv Ansanm as a foreign terrorist organization.

UN gang-suppression force

▪Jamaica, Chad, El Salvador, and Guatemala have deployed fewer than 1,000 troops for the new gang-suppression force.
▪A new UN-backed gang-suppression force, approved by the UN Security Council in September, is being deployed in Haiti.
▪The new force replaces a previous UN-backed mission led by Kenyan police that was considered underfunded and understaffed.

Humanitarian conditions in shelters

▪Some residents have lived in makeshift shelters for up to four years after gangs attacked their communities and forced them to flee.
▪A makeshift shelter in a former Port-au-Prince school houses more than 1,200 people, where only one meal a day is guaranteed.

Haiti political transition

▪A day before the UN chief's visit, Human Rights Watch urged him to protect the population and address the root causes of violence.
▪Haiti has not had a president since Jovenel Moïse was assassinated at his private residence in July 2021.

Election pressure on government

▪Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier-Fils-Aimé is under pressure to hold elections in the country of nearly 12 million people.
▪Prime Minister Alix Didier-Fils-Aimé stated that security is a priority for the transitional government to be able to hold elections.