The United Nations has ordered its staff out of Port-au-Prince as Haiti's security crisis worsens again, with armed gangs, police and civilian vigilantes all locked in violent clashes. Al Jazeera reported that the UN began airlifting evacuees from the capital to Cap-Haïtien, while other foreign embassies and relief agencies also scaled back their presence. The move reflects a capital in which normal operations have become increasingly difficult to sustain.
The evacuation does not mean the UN is abandoning Haiti, but it does show how sharply the security environment has deteriorated. UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the organisation was adapting its operations, with some staff moving to safer parts of the country and others leaving Haiti but continuing to work remotely. He said the critical humanitarian programmes in Port-au-Prince would continue. That distinction matters: the UN is trying to maintain aid activity even as it reduces the number of people exposed to the violence.
The airport and road network have become part of the problem. Al Jazeera reported that the main international airport in Port-au-Prince had been closed after commercial flights were hit by gunfire while landing and taking off earlier in the month. The report also said the US military had flown diplomats out of the country and that most foreign embassies were now effectively closed or operating with only a handful of staff and security details. In practical terms, that means access to the capital is increasingly restricted for nearly everyone.
Humanitarian groups are already feeling the strain. Doctors Without Borders suspended critical care in Port-au-Prince after accusing police of threatening its staff and patients. Food for the Poor said it could no longer make regular deliveries because of roadblocks and disrupted access to ports. Those are not abstract setbacks. They translate into interrupted medical treatment, unreliable food supply chains and a greater risk that neighbourhoods will be cut off from help altogether.
The most alarming part of the picture is the scale of displacement and death. Al Jazeera cited UN estimates that at least 220 people were killed in coordinated attacks in November and that more than 4,500 people had been killed so far this year. It also said about 41,000 people were forced to flee their homes in two weeks and that overall displacement had passed 700,000. In a country already struggling with weak institutions, those figures describe not just insecurity but the erosion of everyday state capacity.
