Haiti Residents Protest Gang Violence in Cite Soleil as Hundreds Flee Homes

Residents of Haiti's Cite Soleil neighborhood protested Tuesday demanding government protection after gang violence over the weekend forced hundreds of people to flee their homes. Two dozen demonstrators gathered at an intersection holding tree branches even as gunshots rang nearby.

Roselaine Jean-Pierre, 67, who fled her home on Sunday and is now sleeping in the streets of Port-au-Prince, told reporters she did not deserve what happened. Some protesters said they saw people getting killed in Cite Soleil over the weekend. Burned cars and dead cows were visible in the area afterward.

Haitian authorities have not released any information on casualties. One resident who briefly returned to gather clothes said she knew of seven people killed and others shot. , prompting many to flee in search of safety. “It is our good feet that saved us,” the resident said.

Evacuated Amid Clashes Doctors Without Borders announced the evacuation of its hospital in Cite Soleil following the intense clashes on Sunday. The humanitarian group released the statement on Monday. The violence displaced hundreds in the neighborhood alone. It forms part of wider gang activity that has expanded from the capital into the countryside, including looting, kidnapping, sexual assaults and rape.

Gangs have overtaken more than 90 percent of Port-au-Prince. The country has not had a president since 2021. A report published earlier this year by the International Organization for Migration found that gang violence has displaced more than 1.4 million people in Haiti. Approximately 200,000 of them are now living in crowded and underfunded sites in the capital.

April the first foreign troops linked to a U.N. force arrived in Haiti to help quell ongoing violence. The U.N. Security Council approved a plan in late September to authorize a 5,550-member force, which has not fully arrived. An unknown number of troops from Chad have so far been deployed.