Over 4,000 people have been killed in Haiti since Kenyan police officers arrived in the Caribbean island nation as part of a UN-backed mission to end gang violence.
A new UN report indicates that gang violence has gone up since the Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission, led by Kenya, got boots on the ground.
Between July 1, 2024 and February 28, 2025, at least 4,329 people died in gang-related incidents and another 1,356 were injured.
The report indicates that men accounted for 3,491 of those killed. The gangs killed 601 women, 94 boys and 53 girls.
Armoured vehicles of the Kenyan peace-keeping mission patrol as residents flee Delmas 30 neighbourhood due to gang violence, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on February 25, 2025.
Photo credit: Jean Feguens Regala | Reuters
Kidnappings, rape and sexual exploitation, destruction of property, restrictions on access to essential services like healthcare and education have been on the rise in the same period that the UN reviewed.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) estimates that 92 per cent of the deaths and injuries resulted from firearm use.
The report stated that the gangs were still being supplied with weapons, even though they are not manufactured in the Caribbean nation.
Demonstrators walk past a burning barricade during a protest against gang-related violence and to demand the resignation of Haiti's transitional presidential council, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 26, 2025.
Photo credit: Jean Feguens Regala | Reuters
“The use of firearms and ammunition in Haiti, a country that does not manufacture such weapons, has bolstered and empowered criminal gangs, enabling them to commit severe human rights abuses,” the report read in part.
The gang violence, the UN adds, spiked in the second half of 2024.
It also targeted informants and other individuals believed to be helping the MSS and Haitian authorities crack down on gang violence.
“As a result of these violent attacks, they also expanded their control into middle-class neighbourhoods, notably Solino, using them as strategic footholds for easier access to wealthier areas. In November 2024, Viv Ansanm attempted to attack the area of Pétion-Ville, one of the last remaining gang-free neighbourhoods in the capital, where commercial areas and banks are situated,” the report further states.
The report further states that gangs, which previously engaged in territorial wars, have started uniting to fight off the MSS.
The united gangs identify as Viv Ansanm (Living Together) Coalition, under the tutelage of former Haitian police officer-turned-warlord Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier.
The Kenya-led MSS also has police and military officers from Jamaica, Belize, Bahamas, Guatemala, El Salvador and Haiti.
Barbecue, who heads the Revolutionary Forces of the G9 Family and Allies, referred to interventions by the international community as the “common enemy” after Kenya revealed plans to send 1,000 police officers for the MSS.
“These gangs have become more united and coordinated, often outpowering national security forces. This situation has dramatically worsened the nation’s security, human rights, and humanitarian crises, while also presenting significant ripple effects for the broader region,” the UN report states.
A demonstrator gestures while holding a Haitian flag and a placard during a protest against gang-related violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 26, 2025.
Photo credit: Jean Feguens Regala | Reuters
Clashes between rival gangs have been on a decline following the formation of Viv Ansanm, with violence being turned on to those opposed to the unity of the violent groups, and civilians.
The UN report has raised concerns on air travel, which is considered the safest mode of transport, especially in gang-controlled areas.
Last year, gangs shot down three commercial planes, which triggered a suspension of all flights until February 2025.
Those attacks took place hours after former interim Prime Minister Gary Conille replaced by Alix Didier FilsAimé.
It is still unclear whether the attack on the flights is linked to his dismissal from office or not.
Honour guard stands during the funeral service of Elidson Trazil and Edwin Elira Trazil, members of the Haitian Armed Forces, who were killed in a clash with gangs in February 2025, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 17, 2025.
Photo credit: Fildor Pq Egeder | Reuters
The UN said that the number of illegal firearms in Haiti range between 270,000 and 500,000.
“The majority of weapons in circulation were believed to be illegal and were mostly in the hands of criminals but also of other private actors, including private security companies,” the report read.
The Haitian government is leading talks with Viv Ansanm to recover the body of Benedict Kabiru Kuria, who was killed in a March 25, 2025 ambush by the consortium of gangs.
A source involved in the mission told the Nation that the gangs have claimed that Mr Kuria’s body is well preserved, an indication that they may want to use his remains for ransom.
“The gangs are saying that the body is well preserved. From the look of things, they might demand for money as it has been in the past, even before Kenya entered Haiti,” he said.
In 2021, the Haitian government was unable to recover the bodies of five police officers who were killed in Village-de-Dieu after it refused to part with the amount of money the gang was demanding.
A gang identified as Gran Grief Savien, which is part of Viv Ansanm, is allegedly holding the slain officer’s remains. Mr Kuria was killed in an area that Gran Grief Savien controls.
