Haiti Deserves to be Free

The transition of power in Haiti in February, when the nine-member Transitional Presidential Council dissolved and formally handed executive authority to Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, was a critical moment. It marked a shift from a chaotic, multi-member body to a single, U.S.-backed executive. The prime minister quickly formed a new Council of Ministers focused on security, organizing elections, and combating gang violence. Of the eleven newly appointed ministers, five are women, unlike the Transitional Presidential Council, which didn’t have any female members and only one female observer. Meanwhile, the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, a Kenya-led, UN-authorized force deployed to Haiti in 2023 to combat rampant gang violence and stabilize the country, began to transition to the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) on April 1, under the leadership of South African Jack Christofides.

The Gang Suppression Force (GSF) is set to replace the ill-equipped and underfunded Kenya-led MSS. The United Nations Security Council approved the GSF with a 12-month mandate to: completely neutralize gangs; provide security to critical infrastructure such as education centers, hospitals, airports, and maritime ports; coordinate with the Haitian National Police and armed forces; protect vulnerable populations from violence and human rights abuses; and support the reintegration of former gang members while strengthening local institutions. Unlike the MSS, the GSF is explicitly mandated to actively confront and fight the gangs. It also has a larger capacity of 5,550 personnel and the authority to arrest suspected gang members, powers the previous mission lacked.

The World Food Programme reports that 6.4 million people (more than half the population, including 2.8 million children) are in dire need of humanitarian aid. To date, more than 1.45 million people remain displaced.

An assessment by the International Rescue Committee found that most public services have collapsed, leaving the majority of Haitians without access to clean drinking water, food, or education. This breakdown created severe health risks, including potential cholera outbreaks, widespread hunger, increased gender-based violence and sexual exploitation, and rising rates of child recruitment by gangs.

The Artibonite Department, a province known as the breadbasket of Haiti, which has been serving as a refuge for more than 165,000 internally displaced people, was raided twice in less than a month. On March 29, reports show that the Gran Grif gang attacked the town of Petite Rivière, killing 70 people, displacing over 6,000, and burning 50 homes. On April 13, violence also struck the Marigot municipality, leaving seven people dead and resulting in the burning of a police station and several police vehicles.

Since the start of intensified gang violence in 2021, following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, more than 1.4 million Haitians have been displaced. The UN reports that over 300,000 people are now living in overcrowded and unhygienic temporary shelters in Port-au-Prince. Edem Wosornu, Director of OCHA’s Crisis Response Division, visited Haiti from March 16–20 and noted that “a school that normally holds 400 students now shelters 2,800 people. Across the country 1,600 schools remain closed. School is very important to Haitian people, so having 1,600 schools – 250,000 children out of school is distressing.”

Additionally, gangs use gender-based violence as a method of extortion, recruitment, and territorial acquisition. Reports indicate that 8,100 cases of gender-based violence were recorded in 2025, a 25% increase from the previous year. In February 2025, UNICEF reported a 1,000% increase in sexual violence against children since 2023.

Deficiencies in the arms embargo have significantly facilitated gang expansion, even with the presence of the MSS. Gangs now control roughly 90% of Port-au-Prince, key roads to access the capital and major maritime ports, and about half of the Artibonite region, an essential part of Haiti’s agricultural economy. This expansion has also prompted government security forces to deploy small explosive kamikaze drones, several of which have detonated in residential areas, killing more than 1,200 people and injuring over 700 between March 2025 and January 2026.

Even in light of all these compounding needs and dangers to life, the Trump administration has continued to eliminate legal protections for Haitians. Temporary Protected Status (TPS) expired in February, though a judge has allowed TPS holders to remain in the country while legal challenges proceed. Last year, 270,214 Haitians were deported. Although the Dominican Republic accounts for 98% of the deportations, if the Supreme Court rules in favor of the administration, over 350,000 Haitians will lose their legal status, leaving them vulnerable to brutal ICE detentions and deportations.

Photo: Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles as part of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Mitchell Corley, available in the public domain via Wikimedia Commons.