HAITI’S militias have gained “near-total control” of the capital Port-au-Prince and authorities are unable to stop escalating violence across the impoverished Caribbean nation, senior United Nations officials have warned.

An estimated 90 per cent of the city is now under the control of criminal militia groups that are often described as gangs.

The militia have expanded their attacks not only into surrounding areas but beyond into previously peaceful areas, UN Office on Drugs and Crime executive director Ghada Fathy Waly told the world body’s security council on Wednesday.

“Southern Haiti, which until recently was insulated from the violence, has seen a sharp increase in gang-related incidents,” she said.

“And in the east, criminal groups are exploiting land routes, including key crossings like Belladere and Malpasse, where attacks against police and customs officials have been reported.”

UN assistant secretary-general Miroslav Jenca told the council that “the ongoing gang encirclement of Port-au-Prince” and their strengthened foothold in the capital and beyond was “pushing the situation closer to the brink.”

He warned: “Without increased action by the international community, the total collapse of state presence in the capital could become a very real scenario.”

Militias have grown in power since the assassination of president Jovenel Moise in July 2021, previously being estimated to control 85 per cent of the capital. Haiti has not had a president since then.

A UN-backed mission led by Kenyan police arrived in Haiti last year aiming to help quell the violence, but the mission remains short of personnel and funding, with only about 40 per cent of the 2,500 officers originally envisaged. 

In response to the rise of the militia, Ms Waly said there had been a rapid growth in the number and activities of private security companies and vigilante self-defence groups, with some trying to protect their communities while others act illegally and collude with the militia.

“Over the last three months,” Mr Jenca said, “these groups reportedly killed at least 100 men and one woman suspected of gang association or collaboration.”

He said the last three months had also seen an increase in sexual violence by gangs, with the UN political mission in Haiti documenting 364 incidents of sexual violence involving 378 survivors from March to April alone.

Despite the UN having imposed an arms embargo on Haiti, militia continue to obtain more powerful weapons not only from regional civilian markets but from police stockpiles in Haiti and the neighbouring Dominican Republic, experts monitoring the embargo and sanctions against key gang leaders said in a report to the security council.