Haiti: La Chapelle Attack (Artibonite) - Flash Update No. 1 (As of 25 June 2025)

This report is produced by OCHA Haiti in collaboration with humanitarian partners in Artibonite, using information available at the time of publication.

KEY POINTS
• On Sunday, 22 June, an armed group attacked the commune of La Chapelle in the Artibonite department. The violence forced 8,890 people (2,257 households) to flee, mainly to other areas within Artibonite, and some to the West department (ETT65/IOM).
• The RRM Consortium reports six deaths and the burning of the police station, the district school office, homes, and businesses.

SITUATION OVERVIEW
On the afternoon of Sunday, 22 June 2025, armed groups attacked the town of La Chapelle in the Artibonite department. La Chapelle borders Verrettes to the north, Saut-d’Eau to the south, Mirebalais to the east, and Saint-Marc to the west. The attackers stormed the town, setting fire to the police station, the District School Office (BDS), and several private homes. They also looted and vandalized homes and businesses. After several hours of clashes with police from the La Chapelle station, the armed groups set up roadblocks to block law enforcement from entering the town. According to IOM’s Emergency Tracking Report No. 65 for Artibonite, the violence forced 8,890 people (2,257 households) to flee. Most of them (91 per cent) moved to other parts of Artibonite, while others fled to the West department. Around 95 per cent of displaced people are staying with host families, while the remaining 5 per cent have settled in six spontaneous sites — five newly formed after the attack, and one that existed previously.

RESPONSE
To support the collection and sharing of data on population movements following this crisis and to highlight their scale and geographic spread, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), through its Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) unit, produced a displacement tracking report (ETT). Humanitarian actors in Haiti will use this report to guide their sector-specific response according to the standard operating procedures for emergency response to new population movements.