More than 300,000 children have been displaced in Haiti since gangs forced Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign and took over the capital Port-au-Prince earlier this year, UNICEF said.
Many children, some of whom are forced to join gangs, live in makeshift shelters and lack access to food, health care, clean water and sanitation, according to UNICEF.
Gang violence in Haiti has displaced more than 300,000 children since March this year, the UN children’s agency said on Tuesday, as the Caribbean country struggles to curb killings and kidnappings.
Children make up more than half of the nearly 580,000 people who have had to leave their homes in the past four months. The surge in violence began in late February after a series of attacks on key government infrastructure forced Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign in April.
“The humanitarian disaster unfolding before our eyes is taking a devastating toll on children,” said Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director, France 24 reports.
She said that displaced children need a safe and protected environment and increased support and funding from the international community.
The gangs now control at least 80 percent of the capital Port-au-Prince and key roads leading in and out of it, and more than 2,500 people have been killed or injured across the country in the first three months of this year, according to the UN.
Many children live in makeshift shelters, including schools that are in poor hygienic conditions, exposing them to the risk of disease. School closures also lead to higher dropout rates.
Displaced children and teenagers in Haiti also face a greater risk of sexual assault, exploitation, abuse, and separation from their families.
