Members of the Haitian Armed Forces (FADH) patrolled the city centre near the National Palace in Port-au-Prince on 1 October 2025, following a major United Nations decision.
On 30 September, the UN Security Council approved a resolution to upgrade its security mission in gang-controlled Haiti into a larger, fully operational force including military troops.
The new mission can now deploy up to 5,500 uniformed personnel, combining police officers and soldiers, unlike the previous law enforcement-focused operation.
The UN reported on Thursday that armed violence in Haiti has claimed more than 16,000 lives since January 2022, warning that “the worst may be yet to come.”
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said the human rights situation had “reached a boiling point,” with violence and abuses intensifying since March.
Haiti, the poorest nation in the Americas, has long suffered from violent criminal gangs that commit murders, rapes, looting, and kidnappings amid chronic political instability.
Turk told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that over 16,000 people had been killed and around 7,000 injured in gang-related violence since monitoring began in 2022.
Gangs are now spreading fear beyond Port-au-Prince, and the unrest could “destabilise the wider sub-region,” Turk warned. He urged urgent international support for the new mission, stressing that without it, the situation could deteriorate further.
The UN rights chief condemned the “spiral of violence” between gangs, civilians, and security forces. He revealed that since March, the Haitian government had intensified its use of explosive drones in anti-gang operations, killing at least 559 people — including 11 children — by mid-September.
Most of these strikes are likely unlawful under international human rights law.
Turk also expressed concern over self-defence groups and spontaneous mobs, which have killed more than 500 suspected gang members this year.