IOM Chief Urges Greater Global Support to Haiti Amid Growing Crisis

Port-au-Prince, 15 April 2025 – Amid a worsening humanitarian emergency in Haiti, International Organization for Migration (IOM) Director General Amy Pope concluded a high-level visit this week urging the international community to step up and support for communities uprooted by violence and instability.

More than 1 million people are now displaced inside of Haiti – triple the number from just a year ago. Gang control over vast areas of Port-au-Prince has forced families to flee repeatedly, leaving them without access to shelter, water, or medical care. At the same time, nearly 200,000 Haitians were deported back from neighboring countries last year, adding pressure to already overwhelmed local systems.

“This is one of the most complex and urgent crises in the world, with implications for regional and global stability,” said DG Pope. “When we invest in humanitarian support, we don’t just save lives – we build resilience and safety to helps stabilize communities and reduce the conditions that cause forced migration.”

During her visit, DG Pope met with displaced families at a Port-au-Prince site, listening to their experiences and assessing their most pressing needs. “A mother told me she had fled her neighborhood three times in two months. She was living under a tarp with her children, with no idea where they could go next,” DG Pope said. “These are not just statistics—they are lives caught in crisis over and over.”

DG Pope also held discussions with Haitian Government officials, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Religious Affairs, and Haitians Living Abroad, to identify concrete ways to reinforce migration governance, broaden access to legal documentation, and strengthen reintegration.

IOM is currently leading efforts across more than 50 displacement sites, including shelter, camp management, protection, and emergency water, sanitation and hygiene services – even in areas affected by violence. The organization is also working with communities to rehabilitate infrastructure and expand access to education and livelihoods.

Beyond immediate relief, IOM is also helping people reintegrate into communities, including through the rehabilitation of public infrastructure to expand access to essential services in areas that are hosting displaced people.

“The Haitian people are showing remarkable strength in the face of unthinkable hardship,” DG Pope said. “But relying on resilience alone is not a strategy. The Haitian people need support—and they need it now. The cost of inaction will not only be measured in lives lost, but also in broader instability that affects us all.”

IOM remains committed to working alongside the Haitian people and the Haitian Government to restore safety, dignity, and opportunities for people across the country.

For more information please contact: 

In Haiti: Antoine Lemonnier, alemonnier@iom.int 

In Panama: Jorge Gallo, jgallo@iom.int 

In Geneva: Daniela Rovina, drovina@iom.int