{"id":85453,"date":"2026-05-20T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/30000-people-flee-fresh-violence-in-haiti-as-hunger-crisis-deepens\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T12:00:00","slug":"30000-people-flee-fresh-violence-in-haiti-as-hunger-crisis-deepens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/?p=85453","title":{"rendered":"30,000 people flee fresh violence in Haiti as hunger crisis deepens"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Much of the violence has been concentrated in Cit\u00e9 Soleil, an impoverished neighbourhood in the capital, where humanitarian workers are now seeking to provide life-saving assistance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n \u00a9WFP\/Odelyn Joseph<\/span>
\n A burnt-out car is left on the street in a residential area of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, following armed clashes.<\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Caribbean island nation continues to suffer from years of insecurity and deep-rooted poverty as well as a collapsing economy and political turmoil following a presidential assassination.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what two women who fled the violence told the UN World Food Programme (WFP).<\/p>\n

Anidette Saint Fleur, from Quartier Blanchard (Cit\u00e9 Soleil)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cThere was shooting everywhere. Then they set a fire very close by and we ran away with the whole family.<\/p>\n

\n \u00a9WFP\/Sylvain Barral<\/span>
\n Anidette Saint Fleur, fled from a neighbourhood attacked by gangs.<\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We didn\u2019t go back to our homes. The gangs are everywhere in the area. We only had time to leave with our ID documents. We haven\u2019t gone back since.<\/p>\n

I always keep a bag ready, just in case. When I hear heavy shooting, I grab my bag and flee with everyone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I had just paid my rent and we had to flee. Now we have nothing \u2014 no money, no roof \u2014 and we don\u2019t know if or when we\u2019ll be able to return. Please help us.<\/p>\n

Not having a roof to sleep under and food for the children is the hardest thing for us right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dorlean Boudin, resident of Sarthe, Carrefour Vincent near Cit\u00e9 Soleil<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cThere were men with machetes setting fire to houses with people inside. They burned, beheaded, shot, killed \u2014 and if you had a shop, they looted everything.<\/p>\n

\n \u00a9WFP\/Sylvain Barral<\/span>
\n Dorlean Boudin, fled Sarthe, Carrefour Vincent near Cit\u00e9 Soleil.<\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The situation was already very difficult for me, I had very little money. I couldn\u2019t buy food because I had to save money in case of emergency, to flee. We stayed without eating so we could save for transport to escape.<\/p>\n

I need to restart a small business to raise the children. I need help with food to feed them, and to buy water because we don\u2019t have any.\u201d<\/p>\n

WFP has already reached 8,500 newly displaced people from Cit\u00e9 Soleil with emergency food assistance, while nine WFP-supported schools serving about 12,000 students have been forced to suspend meal distributions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

WFP\u2019s Janvier Muhima said people were being provided with food supplies including rice, pulses oil and fortified flour so they can feed themselves during this period of displacement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n \u00a9WFP\/Sylvain Barral<\/span>
\n The UN’s World Food Programme has delivered aid to affected communities.<\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Across the country, over 1.4 million people, more than 12 per cent of the population, have been forced to leave their homes, mainly due to criminal violence.<\/p>\n

Port-au-Prince has become the epicentre of violence, with up to 90 per cent of the city believed to be under the control of gangs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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