"I apologize" by addressing yesterday to forcedly displaced persons due to the violence of the gangs in Haiti, the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has admitted that he has not been able to mobilize the international community so that their suffering can be somewhat mitigated.
At an earlier school in Port-o-Prince, transformed into a reception area of over 1,250 and forced displaced persons, Guterres, who visited the Caribbean state yesterday, sat down to hear some of the women, who told him what they have been living in the last two years who have fled to this educational structure, renamed "Colombia".
"I came with my four children on 13 November 2024", after "we lost it all", he explained one of them in a hall where there was suffocating heat, under a roof made of sheet metal.
Other rooms are worse. "Five people per room, ten families, no privacy," he continued.
Another displaced person, who also lives in the old school, talked about bugs -- lice, bugs. ..that bother everyone, as well as that children lack education.
"I apologize for not being able to mobilize the international community," the UN chief told them. "We know how much you suffer, and I came here mainly to listen to you," he continued, expressing his disappointment that the United Nations plan to provide humanitarian aid to the country in 2026, costing $880 million, has been financed by less than a quarter.
Visiting Haiti, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called on the international community to stand with the country's people.https://t.co/DhM35d8b8T pic.twitter. Com/iEE05o6Ij4— UN News (@UN News Centre) June 16, 2026
The women with whom he met are among about 1.5 million Haitians who have been forced to be displaced because of the brutality of gangs, who have multiplied in recent years the murders, kidnappings, rapes, child recruitments. ..
With an armoured vehicle
Almost half the population, more than 5 million of the total 11 million inhabitants, is now in a state of serious food insecurity, according to UN figures.
"For too many Haitians, every day is a struggle for survival," Guterres summed up during a press conference.
"The world has no right to look away," he continued, describing the international community's "indifference" as the "greatest shame".
Today, I met with families in Haiti who have lost everything. Yet, they show remarkable course & signity.
Their resilience has moved me deeply.
These families are not asking for the world’s sympathy.
They are waiting for the world’s action. pic.twitter. com/gTNlbfMAER— António Guterres (@antoniaguterres) June 16, 2026
The message of the displaced people at school was clear. "We want to go home," he shouted a crowd in the creal language to the Secretary General.
When he came down, yesterday morning, from a United Nations helicopter, in Santo Domingo, on the other side of Espanola Island, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Antonio Guterres voiced to the Haitian serving Prime Minister Alix Didier Phils-Eme, who went there to welcome him, his "collegiate" to the suffering Haitians.
I have just arrived in Port-au-Prince on a solidarity visit with the people of Haiti.
The humanitarian situation here is desperate, but there are faint glimmers of Hope.
My message to the international community:
Stop looking away.
We must stand with Haiti. pic.twitter. com/jEXdXlc6l— António Guterres (@antoniaguterres) June 16, 2026
Moving in an armored vehicle on the streets of the Haitian capital, the UN SG, who had had to visit the country since July 2023, also went to the Bertier base, where the first excerpts of the new Gang Suppression Force (ICS) were recruited, found by a journalist from the French Agency accompanying him.
She inspected military personnel from Chad, browsed the dormitories, met with General Erdenebat Batsuri from Mongolia, a veteran of international peacekeeping missions, who recently took over its commander.
The UN Security Council decided in September to approve the replacement of the Multinational Security Support Mission (PAYA), led by Kenya -- facing lacks of funding, equipment and personnel and was heavily criticized -- by the new Gang Suppression Force (ICS), with a much clearer mandate. The new force, which has begun to grow, will count up to 5,500 uniformed members, police officers, as well as military.
To this stage, it counts less than 1,000 members, from Chad, Mongolia, Jamaica, Guatemala and Salvador, according to its administration.
Drones
This force -- which is not a UN peacekeeping mission -- can still count for its custody and other issues in the newly established "support office" of the organization, also visited by Mr Guterres.
The poorest Caribbean state remains endless years now plunged into a multidimensional crisis, political, economic and security. But the situation has worsened further in recent years.
In recent times, enforcement forces, involving the Haitian police, private security companies, using unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as civilian militias, have been slowing down the spread of gangs in the capital, which they are estimated to control by 90%, according to the latest report by the Security Council, released in April.
The bloodshed continues. "The gang violence resulted in at least 2,300 deaths, 1,100 injuries, and 99 kidnappings from the beginning of the year", stressed the day before Monday the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Folker Turk.
Nevertheless, Antonio Guterres wants to hope for the success of the ICS. "I have been leaving Haiti with a message of hope, for the first time in years, we see the edge of the tunnel," he assured.