Much of the violence has been concentrated in Cité Soleil, an impoverished neighborhood of the capital, where aid workers are now trying to provide life-saving assistance.
A burned car is left on the street in a residential area of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, after armed clashes.
The Caribbean island nation continues to suffer from years of insecurity and deep-seated poverty, as well as a collapsing economy and political turmoil following the assassination of a president.
This is what two women who fled violence told the United Nations World Food Program (WFP).
Anidette Saint Fleur, from the Blanchard neighborhood (Cité Soleil)
“There were shots everywhere, then they set fire very close and we escaped with the whole family.
Anidette Saint Fleur, fled a neighborhood attacked by gangs.
We did not return to our homes. Gangs are everywhere in the area. We only had time to leave with our identification documents. We haven’t been back since.
I always have a bag ready, just in case. When I hear loud gunshots, I grab my bag and run away with everyone.
I had just paid the rent and we had to flee. Now we have nothing, no money, no shelter, and we don’t know if or when we will be able to return. Please help us.
Not having a roof over our heads or food for the children is the most difficult thing for us right now.”
Dorlean Boudin, resident of Sarthe, Carrefour Vincent near Cité Soleil
“There were men with machetes setting fire to houses with people inside. They burned, beheaded, shot, killed… and if you had a store, they looted everything.
Dorlean Boudin, fled Sarthe, Carrefour Vincent near Cité Soleil.
The situation was already very difficult for me, I had very little money. I couldn’t buy food because I had to save money in case of emergency, to escape. We went without food so we could save for transportation and escape.
I need to restart a small business to raise children. “I need help with food to feed them and to buy water because we don’t have any.”
WFP has already reached 8,500 newly displaced people in Cité Soleil with emergency food assistance, while nine WFP-supported schools serving some 12,000 students have been forced to suspend meal distributions.
WFP’s Janvier Muhima said people were being provided with food including rice, pulse oil and fortified flour so that they could feed themselves during this period of displacement.”
The UN World Food Program has delivered aid to affected communities.
Across the country, more than 1.4 million people, more than 12 percent of the population, have been forced to leave their homes, primarily due to criminal violence.
Port-au-Prince has become the epicenter of violence and up to 90 percent of the city is believed to be under gang control.
Recruitment of children has reportedly increased, with some estimates indicating that children now make up between 30 and 50 percent of some gangs.