Ghada Fathy Waly (UNODC) on Haiti - Security Council…

The Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Ghada Waly, told Council members that organized criminal groups have gained near-total control of the capital, with an estimated 90 percent of Port-au-Prince under their grip, while they continue expanding across strategic routes and border regions.

Waly said, "as gang control expands, the state's capacity to govern is rapidly shrinking, with social, economic and security implications."

"In the vacuum left by the absence or limited delivery of public services," she continued, "criminal groups are stepping in" and are "establishing parallel governance structure and providing rudimentary public services."

The Executive Director said "this erosion of state legitimacy has cascading effects. With gangs controlling major trade routes, legal commerce is paralyzed. Container traffic at the Port-au-Prince terminal has plummeted, choking off supply chains and crippling the economy.

She said that reports increasingly point to sexual exploitation targeting women and girls, particularly among those facing deportation or living in areas under gang control. And she added that even more disturbing are new allegations of trafficking in persons for the purpose of organ removal.

Waly also said, "the forced repatriation of Haitian migrants from several countries in the region continues, often to zones of acute insecurity without basic protection or services, exacerbating the vulnerabilities of already at-risk populations."