According to the latest data provided by the country's General Directorate of Civil Protection, this situation has caused 51 deaths and 140 injured. | Photo: EFE

Port-au-Prince, June 11 (RHC)-- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has denounced in a report that in the first three months of 2023 some 1,630 people have been killed, injured or kidnapped in Haiti, while it is estimated that more than 165,000 have been displaced by gang violence.

"Gang attacks, extrajudicial killings, kidnappings and gender-based hate violence have become commonplace in the lives of Haitians, forcing local residents to flee their homes," said a statement released in Port-au-Prince..

According to this UN agency, the situation worsened in the first quarter of 2023, representing a 30 percent increase in these crimes compared to the previous quarter; while expressing concern over the "large number of lynchings" by neighborhood groups.

The organization stressed that, in addition to gang violence, Haitians face other problems, such as the torrential rains of the last week, which have caused severe flooding and hundreds of victims.  "The start of the cyclone season on June 1 adds more pressure to the crisis response. In the first week of June, heavy rains affected nearly 46,000 people in the country and other similar and even more severe weather events are expected in the coming months," said the IOM.

According to the latest data provided by the country's General Directorate of Civil Protection, this situation has caused 51 deaths and 140 injured, forcing 13,000 citizens to leave their homes.  To this was added an earthquake of 4.9 scale, which occurred last June 6, with no damage reported, less than two years after another one of 7.2 magnitude, which left more than 2,200 dead. "Some of the survivors who lost their homes at that time are still in a situation of displacement".

The IOM says the worsening situation, mainly gang violence, is hampering its efforts, which have allowed the return of at least 61,600 people, most of them from the Dominican Republic.

Despite the challenges, the agency and its partners continue to provide humanitarian response, "providing shelters, distributing personal hygiene items, solar lamps, kitchen sets and other essentials," they say.