Haiti's gang violence has displaced 300,000 children since March: UN
Gang violence in Haiti has displaced more than 300,000 children since March, the UN children's agency said Tuesday as the Caribbean country struggles to curb killings and kidnappings.
Children are more than half of the nearly 580,000 people who have become homeless in the last four months. The spike in violence began in late February after a series of coordinated attacks on key government infrastructure eventually led Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign in April.
The humanitarian catastrophe unfolding before our eyes is taking a devastating toll on children, Catherine Russell, UNICEF's executive director, said in a statement. Displaced children are in desperate need of a safe and protective environment, and increased support and funding from the international community.
Gangs now control at least 80 per cent of the capital Port-au-Prince and the key roads leading in and out of it, with more than 2,500 people killed or injured across the country in the first three months of the year