2026-02-11

The International Rescue Committee published a major emergency warning on February 11 stating that Haiti is on the verge of humanitarian collapse and that without immediate international action to protect civilians and rush in aid the consequences will be catastrophic. The warning comes with updated humanitarian indicators showing dramatic deterioration across protection metrics food security and forced displacement. IRC Country Director Mwiti Mungania stated the organization has documented conditions that indicate systemic failure of humanitarian response mechanisms. IRC data shows more than 8,000 people were killed in Haiti in 2025 representing a 20 percent increase over 2024. Gender-based violence cases reached 8,000 in 2025 up 25 percent from the previous year. Sexual violence against children has increased 1,000 percent since 2023 while child recruitment by armed gangs rose 700 percent in the first quarter of 2025 alone. The organization reports that 1.4 million people are February 11, 2026 displaced with half being children and that 270,000 individuals were forcibly returned to Haiti in 2025 representing a 36 percent increase over 2024 deportation figures. The most alarming indicator is that humanitarian funding stands at only 3.4 percent of documented need creating operational constraints that make effective response impossible. The World Food Programme has been forced to suspend life-saving meals for newly displaced families and slash food rations in half due to funding shortfalls. WFP requires 44 million dollars to maintain operations through April 2026 but current funding levels cannot support even reduced programming. The combination of deteriorating security conditions expanding displacement and collapsing humanitarian funding creates conditions for mass starvation and protection failures. International Organization for Migration data shows that 98 percent of forced returns came from the Dominican Republic with deportations of adult women up 92 percent girls up 152 percent and boys up 133 percent compared to 2024. Nineteen percent of deportees were already internally displaced before leaving Haiti and 60 percent had been previously deported indicating recidivism driven by lack of viable options inside Haiti.