Hundreds displaced, medical services suspended amid gang violence in Haiti

Aid group Doctors Without Borders says it has suspended hospital operations because of gunfire safety concerns.

A new wave of gang violence in Haiti’s capital has displaced hundreds of people and caused the aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) to suspend work in local hospitals.

The group, also known as Doctors Without Borders, said on Monday that about 800 residents had sought refuge from fighting inside its hospital in the Cite Soleil neighbourhood of Port-au-Prince before operations were suspended.

“Currently, not a single hospital is open in the area where the fighting is taking place,” MSF said in a statement, adding that while the need for medical services remains substantial, it could not guarantee the safety of staff or patients due to gunfire in the area. A security guard was struck by a stray bullet inside the compound.

Fighting between powerful gangs, which have seized effective control over large parts of the Haitian capital since the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise in 2021, has led to widespread violence and strain on the civilian population.

Efforts by authorities to quell the fighting and curb the influence of criminal groups have largely proven ineffective.

Another hospital in the area, Hopital Fontaine, told the Reuters news agency that it had evacuated newborns from the intensive care unit. MSF says that it treated some patients who were transferred from the hospital, including pregnant women who gave birth overnight.

A contingent of foreign troops arrived in Haiti in April as part of a United Nations-linked effort, but past interventions have had little impact on the insecurity.

“I am now sleeping in the street,” 56-year-old Monique Verdieux told the Associated Press, saying that she was afraid to return home after watching gunmen burn buildings in her neighbourhood.

Other Haitians displaced by fighting over the weekend have taken refuge on the road to Toussaint Louverture airport.