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According to the UN migration agency, IOM, recent weeks have seen an increase in the deportation of women, including those who are pregnant or breastfeeding, as well as children and newborn babies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The agency has emphasised the heightened risks these groups face being returned to Haiti, where access to basic services remains severely limited.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday alone, IOM staff at the Bellad\u00e8re border crossing in Haiti received 416 deportees, including 11 pregnant women and 16 women who are still breastfeeding.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile IOM teams are not present during the deportation process itself, their efforts focus on the needs of deportees upon arrival, many of whom arrive in precarious and highly vulnerable conditions, often without any resources<\/strong>,\u201d said UN Spokesperson St\u00e9phane Dujarric, speaking in New York.<\/p>\n He explained that IOM provides immediate humanitarian assistance, including food, water, and hygiene kits, as well as first aid, medical referrals, and psychosocial support.<\/p>\n Special attention is given to maternal health, and temporary places to live are arranged for women who are breastfeeding when necessary, he added.<\/p>\n Mr. Dujarric also updated on the situation in Haiti, where rising violence and recent funding cuts are undermining essential services and worsening the humanitarian situation, particularly in the Centre Department.<\/p>\n Escalating violence on the part of armed groups has triggered mass displacement, with more than 51,000 people, over half of them children, fleeing recent attacks<\/strong>. Many are now stranded at makeshift sites or seeking safety in other regions.\u00a0<\/p>\n He noted that the University Hospital of Mirebalais \u2013 a major referral facility with about 300 beds \u2013 has suspended operations<\/strong> following a wave of insecurity in the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cArmed attacks, a mass prison break and the destruction of public infrastructure forced the hospital to gradually shut down. Before its closure, it served nearly 850 patients each day, including through maternal care and advanced cancer treatment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, two other hospitals in the area \u2013 St. Therese in Hinche and Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Artibonite \u2013 are now coming under increased strain and face critical shortages, including oxygen and emergency medical kits.\u00a0<\/p>\n Since the closure of the University Hospital in Mirebalais, they have treated more than 200 patients for gunshot wounds, strokes, suspected cholera and malnutrition.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSt. Therese alone has received more than 3,500 internally displaced people \u2013 tripling its outpatient caseload,\u201d Mr. Dujarric said.<\/p>\n The UN Children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF) and humanitarian partners are working to relieve pressure on the health system in Centre Department.<\/p>\n Mobile clinics are being deployed to reach 30,000 people in host communities and displacement camps, in coordination with the Haitian authorities and the Catholic charity Caritas.<\/p>\nWorsening conditions<\/strong><\/h2>\n
No safety inside hospitals<\/strong><\/h2>\n