Around 200,000 people were forcibly returned to Haiti during the first eight months of 2026, as the country faces a new escalation in gang violence that killed more than 3,000 people during the first half of the year.
The figure, presented Friday during an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, represents at least 20,000 more forced returns than during the same period in 2025.
The warning comes as Haiti struggles to contain the advance of armed gangs and just five days after a new massacre in Kenscoff, a commune on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, where at least 47 people were killed.
Indrika Ratwatte, the U.N.’s acting Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, presented the figures to the Security Council, which was urgently convened at the request of Panama, the United States and Colombia.
The forced returns are also taking place amid uncertainty for Haitians living in the United States. Days before the Kenscoff massacre, Haiti received the first U.S. deportation flight since the Donald Trump administration won a court battle that ended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for around 350,000 Haitians.
More Read
A new flight carrying migrants from the United States and the Bahamas arrived in Haiti on August 27.
The deportations come as the humanitarian and security situation inside Haiti continues to deteriorate.
