Amid the worsening humanitarian situation in Haiti, Amy Pope, Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), concluded a high-level tour this week urging the international community to step up its efforts and support communities uprooted by violence and instability.

More than 1 million people are now displaced inside of Haiti – triple the number from just a year ago. Gang control over vast areas of Port-au-Prince has forced families to flee repeatedly, leaving them without access to shelter, water, or medical care. At the same time, nearly 200,000 Haitians were deported back from neighboring countries last year https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-43981-haiti-flash-the-dominican-republic-has-sent-back-to-haiti-276-215-haitians-2024.html , adding pressure to already overwhelmed local systems.

"This is one of the most complex and urgent crises in the world, with implications for regional and global stability,” said DG Pope. “When we invest in humanitarian support, we don’t just save lives – we build resilience and safety to helps stabilize communities and reduce the conditions that cause forced migration [...] These are not just statistics—they are lives caught in crisis over and over."

During her visit, Pope met with displaced families in a camp in Port-au-Prince, listening to their experiences and assessing their most urgent needs. The IOM-Haiti Director also met with representatives of the Haitian Government, including Ministers Jean Harvel Victor Jean-Baptiste (Foreign Affairs) and J. E. Kathia Verdier (MHAVE), to identify concrete ways to strengthen migration governance, expand access to legal documents, and facilitate reintegration.

IOM is currently leading efforts across more than 50 displacement sites, including shelter, camp management, protection, and emergency water, sanitation and hygiene services – even in areas affected by violence. The organization is also working with communities to rehabilitate infrastructure and expand access to education and livelihoods.

Beyond immediate relief, IOM is also helping people reintegrate into communities, including through the rehabilitation of public infrastructure to expand access to essential services in areas that are hosting displaced people.

"The Haitian people are showing remarkable strength in the face of unthinkable hardship,” DG Pope said. “But relying on resilience alone is not a strategy. The Haitian people need support—and they need it now. The cost of inaction will not only be measured in lives lost, but also in broader instability that affects us all."

HL/ HaitiLibre