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OVERVIEW
In 2024, Haiti has seen a 60% increase in the number of displaced people, rising from 362,000 in March to 702,973 in September, primarily as a result of deteriorating security conditions in the Port-au-Prince Metropolitan Zone (ZMPAP). One-third of those displaced nationwide left their homes in the first half of the year, marking this as a period with one of the highest levels of displacement in Haiti’s recent history. More than 90% of all displaced people originated from the Ouest department, particularly the ZMPAP, which accounted for 85% of the national total. These areas also experienced the highest violence-related incidents between 2023–2024 (IOM 09/06/2024; ACLED 07/08/2024; IOM accessed 27/09/2024).
Nearly half of those displaced (315,200) have sought refuge in the Grand Sud region, in the departments of Grande’Anse, Nippes, Sud, and Sud-Est. The arrival of an increasing number of IDPs in these departments could increase pressure on already limited resources and services. In 2023, over one million people in the Grand Sud region required humanitarian assistance, including food, healthcare, and WASH services (IOM 22/09/2024; OCHA 17/04/2023; WFP 15/03/2024; STC 26/03/2024). The Grand Sud region was already sheltering over 116,000 IDPs – particularly in Sud (38,000) and Sud-Est (37,000) – by late 2023, mostly displaced from the ZMPAP as a result of violence in 2022–2023 (IOM 16/01/2024, and 09/06/2024; ACLED 07/08/2024; IOM/Shelter Cluster 10/10/2023).
Sud department has received the most IDPs in 2024 so far, with around 116,000 by September, a figure only surpassed by the displaced population in the ZMPAP. Despite this, however, there are no official IDP sites in Sud, forcing the displaced to stay with host communities, typically family members or acquaintances. Food shortages remain the main issue for host communities and the Grand Sud region in general (IOM 22/09/2024 and 09/06/2024).
Food assistance is expected to be a priority need for IDPs and host communities. Over 1,050,000 people are already projected to face severe acute food insecurity in the Grand Sud region. With the growing population, more people in the region are likely to need food assistance. Agricultural production in 2024 has been below the seasonal average as a result of erratic rainfall and overall insecurity affecting access to land, the availability of seeds, and the cost of labour, among other effects. Since February 2024, gangs have also attacked trucks transporting food and blocked roads used to move products from farming areas or import zones to markets across the country, further affecting food availability (FEWS NET 13/09/2024 and 31/08/2024; FAO 10/9/2024; UN 22/04/2024).
In Grand Sud, the Grand’Anse and Sud-Est departments have been hit hardest by rising household and transportation-related costs throughout 2024, putting host communities and the broader population at increased risk of food insecurity, as less locally produced and imported food is expected to reach the departments’ local markets (WFP 27/06/2024 and 19/01/2024; FEWS NET 13/09/2024;
WP 07/03/2024).
The already underfunded national healthcare system, which was further weakened by the insecurity crisis, is likely unable to cope with the high number of new arrivals. Anticipated above-average rainfall and temperature created by La Niña, expected mainly in eastern Haiti near the border with the Dominican Republic, could lead to a rise in waterborne diseases such as cholera, dysentery, salmonellosis, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever, requiring increased medical care for both displaced and host communities (WMO accessed 14/09/2024; IRI accessed 14/09/2024; CDC 01/05/2023; FEWS NET 14/06/2024; Lifewater 23/05/2019).
Although violence against civilians has decreased in the ZMPAP in Mid-2024, as gangs appear to be consolidating their positions, renewed clashes remain a possibility. This could lead to further internal displacement, with more people fleeing the ZMPAP for Grand Sud, as seen in recent weeks in Delmas, where more than 2,000 people left their homes after gangs clashed in the Boston neighbourhood on 11 September (IOM 14/09/2024). If gangs continue to expand their presence and increase activities in more areas of the country, food could become even less available and accessible throughout the region, as happened previously (WFP 15/03/2024; STC 26/03/2024)