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Graphics · International Affairs Watch

Where the violence moved in Haiti

Between January and March 2026, security operations contained the gangs in central Port-au-Prince. The violence did not disappear: it changed department.

Period
January – March 2026
Unit
Department (10)
Main source
BINUH / OHCHR
Published
28 July 2026

Before you look at the map

A painted department does not mean “territory under control”: it means where the cited sources place the events. None of these figures is published broken down by department, and this map does not distribute them.

Haiti · ten departments

11.9 M people

Grand'AnseNippesNord-OuestSudL'ArtiboniteCentreNord-EstNordOuestSud-EstGrand'AnseNippesNord-OuestSudL'ArtiboniteCentreNord-EstNordOuestSud-Est
No cited events in this stepWhere the sources place the events

Ten departments. Eleven million nine hundred thousand people.

Everything that follows happens inside this outline. The map works at department level because that is the unit at which the sources place the events. Finer than that would be invention.

Population: UNFPA, 2025. Geometry: Natural Earth, public domain.

Ouest: the capital, the port and most of the metropolitan area.

The Viv Ansanm coalition, unified since 2023-2024 and led by Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier, remains the dominant force in Port-au-Prince, controlling the main port.

IAW Haiti profile, as of 22 July 2026, based on BINUH/OHCHR.

1,642

People killed in three months. And 745 injured.

69% of the victims are attributed to security force operations against the gangs — not to the gangs. Among them, explosive drone attacks operated by the private contractor Vectus Global: at least 69 civilians killed or injured, five of them children.

What the map cannot say

The map is switched off on purpose. This is a national figure and the source does not publish it by department: painting one would mean distributing a number nobody distributed.

BINUH/OHCHR quarterly report, published 8 May 2026. Period: January–March 2026.

The operations worked in the core. The violence moved.

They contained the gangs’ territorial expansion in the centre of the capital, and the conflict shifted toward the Artibonite and Centre departments. That is the source’s conclusion, and the only one this map can support.

BINUH/OHCHR quarterly report, 8 May 2026.

83

Dead in three days, in the Lower Artibonite.

Between 29 and 31 March 2026, coordinated attacks across 16 localities left 83 people dead.

What the map cannot say

The 16 localities are not marked: the source does not publish which they are. The whole department is painted, which is the most the evidence supports.

BINUH/OHCHR quarterly report, 8 May 2026.

1.5 M

Displaced inside the country.

A record for Haiti, and a movement that does not stop at a department border: people leave where the violence arrives and pile up where it has not arrived yet.

What the map cannot say

The whole country in a light tone: this figure is national too. The cited source does not disaggregate it, so the map cannot say where each person is.

IOM, June 2026.

What this map does not say

A map makes everything look precise. This data is not.

  1. 01

    Painted is not controlled

    A department in colour does not mean a group dominates it. It means the cited sources place the events of that step there. Territorial-control maps exist, but they are built from different evidence and none of the sources on this page publish it.

  2. 02

    No figure comes disaggregated

    The 1,642 deaths, the 745 injured and the million and a half displaced are national figures. Distributing them by department — even if the map looked better — would mean inventing the distribution. That is why in those steps the map switches off or paints whole.

  3. 03

    And the dates do not line up

    The BINUH report covers January–March 2026 and was published in May. The displacement figure is from June. The description of control in Port-au-Prince is dated 22 July. Read together they look simultaneous. They are not.

+ See the data as a table
FactFigureScopePeriodSource
Total population11,900,000National2025UNFPA
People killed1,642NationalJan–Mar 2026BINUH/OACNUDH
People injured745NationalJan–Mar 2026BINUH/OACNUDH
Victims attributed to security force operations69%NationalJan–Mar 2026BINUH/OACNUDH
Civilians killed or injured by drones (Vectus Global)≥ 69NationalJan–Mar 2026BINUH/OACNUDH
Killed in coordinated attacks83Lower Artibonite · 16 localities29–31 Mar 2026BINUH/OACNUDH
Internally displaced1,500,000NationalJun 2026OIM / IOM

Sources and materials

  1. BINUH / OHCHR. Quarterly report on the human rights situation in Haiti, published 8 May 2026. Period January–March 2026.
  2. IOM. Internal displacement in Haiti, June 2026.
  3. UNFPA. World Population Dashboard — Haiti. Total population 2025.
  4. Department geometry: Natural Earth (public domain), Mercator projection fitted to the country. Paths were computed offline and live in the repository: the page depends on no map service.

The cited facts are the ones IAW publishes in its Haiti profile. If they are revised there, this page is out of date: the profile prevails. If you find an error, write to us and we will correct it with the update date visible.