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Haiti’s gangs are recruiting child soldiers, rights group says
Boys and girls driven by hunger into gangs face abuse and forced into criminal activities, Human Rights Watch warns.
Haiti’s powerful armed groups are increasingly recruiting children into their ranks amid a growing humanitarian crisis, a global human rights watchdog has warned, with girls sexually abused and forced into domestic work.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of children “driven by hunger and poverty” have in recent months joined gangs and were forced to commit criminal acts ranging from extortion and looting to killing and kidnapping, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report published on Wednesday.
Boys are often used as informants, trained to use weapons and ammunition, and deployed in clashes against the police, the report said.
One of the boys interviewed, 14-year-old Michel, said he had joined a gang when he was eight. “I didn’t have parents and lived on the street,” he told HRW.
“I usually ran errands or participated in roadblocks. There were four other kids in the group, 13 or 11 years old.”
Haiti has been rocked by escalating violence since February when gangs launched attacks on prisons and other state institutions across the capital, Port-au-Prince. The unrest spread to other parts of the Caribbean nation and has displaced more than 700,000 people, according to the United Nations.
According to testimonies gathered by HRW, girls are raped and forced to cook and clean for gang members and often abandoned once they become pregnant.
“Gabriel, the gang leader of Brooklyn [in Cite Soleil], asks his henchmen to bring him a virgin girl every month. With the boss doing this, there’s no way to stop others who do the same,” a humanitarian worker revealed to the New York-based group.
‘State absent’
According to HRW, “severe hunger” was the main reason for the children joining the criminal groups.
“They said the state was absent, there were no police in their neighbourhoods, and they had no legal economic or social opportunities to earn a living, buy food, or access basic necessities,” the report said.
Haiti’s gangs have been expanding their influence in recent years while state institutions have been paralysed by a lack of funds and political crises. Gangs now control territory where 2.7 million people live, including half a million children.
About a third of gang members are children, according to UN estimates. The criminal groups control nearly 80 percent of Port-au-Prince and are expanding into other areas, according to HRW.
The report said gangs are increasingly using popular social media apps to attract recruits. The leader of the Village de Dieu gang is a rapper and publishes music videos of his soldiers. HRW said he has a specialised unit to train children on handling weapons and setting up checkpoints.
The rights group said it interviewed 58 people, including children associated with criminal groups, humanitarian workers, diplomats and representatives of Haitian civil society and UN agencies in Port-au-Prince in July, and an additional 20 remotely.
The UN approved Haiti’s request for a multinational police mission to help the country’s police fight the gangs a year ago, but it has so far only been partially deployed.
HRW outlined several measures for both the government and the international community to address the deep instability including providing more resources for security forces, ensuring children are able to eat and go to school and providing rehabilitation for recruits.
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Protesters on Sunday set a Tesla vehicle on fire and smashed windows at a United Nations agency in Geneva as they marched against a Group of Seven summit set to kick off across the border in France, prompting police to fire tear gas.
Around 20,000 people gathered for a march that was initially peaceful before some protesters later damaged what they described as symbols of capitalism and multilateralism, including the parked Tesla and the UN agency.
Demonstrators grabbed bricks from the ground to throw at police, as tear gas was deployed in Geneva’s streets, witnesses told Reuters.
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A Tesla car burns during a protest against the upcoming G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, in France, in Geneva, Switzerland, June 14, 2026. (REUTERS/Denis Balibouse)
There have been previous protests at G7 gatherings over the years, with many demonstrators using the summits to speak out against capitalism, globalization, climate change and inequality.
Demonstrators in the latest protest said they were marching against the G7 as a symbol of concentrated political and economic power.
This comes after Tesla owner Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire last week.
“To me, it’s a meeting of the rich that shows once again how the rich can become even richer while the poor are left behind,” protestor Pippa Saugy told Reuters.
People hold a protest against the upcoming G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains in France, in Geneva, Switzerland, June 14, 2026. (REUTERS/Umit Bektas)
The G7 summit, scheduled to take place from Monday to Wednesday in Évian-les-Bains, on the shore of Lake Geneva, will feature the leaders of France, Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan and the U.S., as well as the European Union.
The conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine are expected to dominate the agenda. Leaders will likely attempt to avoid a clash with U.S. President Donald Trump after he announced a tentative agreement aimed at ending the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran.
Businesses in Geneva were boarded up and hundreds of riot police were deployed in the streets over concerns about violence.
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People attend a protest against the upcoming G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains in France, in Geneva, Switzerland, June 14, 2026. (REUTERS/Umit Bektas)
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“This is an attempt to frighten demonstrators, to frighten people and discourage them from coming out to protest,” protester Mattia Piccard told Reuters.
Another demonstrator said she wanted to raise the issue of gender inequality during the march against the G7.
“The values represented by the G7 are completely misogynistic, and they contribute to inequality,” Clélia Colin told the outlet.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Published on
At least 58 states and territories are contaminated by anti-personnel mines, the UN rights chief said on Tuesday, with heavy civilian casualties in Myanmar, Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine.
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“It is deeply troubling that almost 30 years since the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty was adopted, these explosive weapons continue to kill and injure people, often decades after they were placed,” Volker Türk said in a statement.
“It is essential that all states recommit to putting an end to the production, use and transfer of these weapons and redouble their efforts to cooperate in clearing mines already placed.”
Türk produced a report on the situation, drawing on information from governments, NGOs, humanitarian organisations and civil society.
At least 945 people were killed and 4,325 injured by landmines and explosive remnants of war in 2024 alone, it said, citing the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor.
“Among victims where the status as military or civilian was known, civilians made up approximately 90% of all recorded casualties in 2024,” the report said.
The states with the highest number of casualties in 2024 were Myanmar with 2,029, Syria with 1,015, then Afghanistan with 624, followed by Ukraine, Nigeria, Mali, Yemen and Burkina Faso, which each recorded more than 200 casualties.
In a separate statement, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines said mines and explosive remnants of war, including cluster munitions, killed or injured more than 5,000 people in 2025, again with the vast majority being civilians.
Türk’s office noted that children make up more than 40% of all civilian casualties of anti-personnel mines recorded since 1999.
Besides killing and maiming, anti-personnel mines turn areas into no-go zones, Türk’s office said, hampering rights, prolonging displacement and stopping land from being used for agriculture.
While the Ottawa mine ban convention has 162 states parties, Türk noted that other countries with considerable stockpiles are not yet members.
Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland recently withdrew and Ukraine is suspending its implementation.
“States that have not yet ratified the treaty should promptly do so and those that have withdrawn should quickly rejoin,” said Türk.
He hailed Lebanon’s recent decision to join the Ottawa convention, despite the war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Türk’s report said that in the seven years to 2025, contributions to the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Action sharply decreased from $125 million to $46 million (€107 million to €39 million).
Additional sources • AFP
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