UN humanitarians report alarming uptick in armed violence in Haiti's capital

N humanitarians on Wednesday reported an alarming escalation of armed violence since Sunday in a neighborhood in Haiti's Port-au-Prince metropolitan area.



The violence in Cite Soleil has forced more than 5,300 people to flee their homes. More than half of them have sought shelter in 12 sites, while many others are being hosted by already overstretched communities, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), citing figures from the International Organization for Migration.



"The scale of violence has had immediate consequences for people's access to life-saving healthcare," said OCHA, adding that Doctors Without Borders on Monday was forced to evacuate and suspend its operations in Cite Soleil Hospital, after treating more than 40 gunshot patients in under 12 hours and sheltering over 800 people.



The same areas had already experienced armed violence in March and April, resulting in the displacement of close to 8,000 people and increased pressure on essential services, said OCHA.