A damning United Nations report has revealed that the vast majority of Haiti’s 26 active armed gangs are engaged in the systematic trafficking and exploitation of children. UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Marta Hurtado presented these alarming findings at a Friday press conference, detailing a humanitarian crisis of grave proportions.
The comprehensive UN investigation documents multiple forms of severe exploitation endured by minors coerced into gang activities. While some children perform basic tasks, many are forced into conducting surveillance on security forces, collecting extortion payments, damaging property, and participating in kidnappings, targeted assassinations, and sexual violence.
Although precise numbers remain unavailable due to the clandestine nature of these operations, UN data from 2024 indicates approximately 500,000 minors currently reside in territories controlled by criminal gangs. Hurtado expressed particular concern about how these vulnerable children are frequently perceived as perpetrators rather than victims by law enforcement agencies, with documented instances of minors being summarily executed by police or vigilante groups.
The report identifies poverty, institutional fragility, social marginalization, and pervasive armed violence as primary drivers enabling this exploitation. Gangs typically lure children with promises of power, status, or protection, while others are coerced through violence, threats, or manipulation via food and drugs. Those from extremely impoverished backgrounds, street children, and displaced minors in camps face exceptionally high risks of recruitment.
In response to these findings, the UN Human Rights Office has issued urgent recommendations including enhanced protection for educational institutions, a paradigm shift toward rehabilitation rather than punitive measures for affected minors, and strengthened accountability mechanisms for those orchestrating child trafficking networks.