• Doctors Without Borders permanently closes its Port-au-Prince emergency center due to gang violence.
• More than 60% of health facilities in the capital are non-functional amid rising insecurity.
• The closure affects approximately three million residents in the metropolitan area.
• Gang violence has displaced a record 1.4 million people across Haiti.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced on Wednesday its decision to permanently close its emergency care center in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, due to the intensified violence in the region. Haiti's capital is now reportedly 90% controlled by gangs, making the operation of such a vital facility increasingly dangerous, according to Los Angeles Times, NPR, and Africanews.

The emergency center, located in the Turgeau neighborhood, had previously shut down temporarily in March 2025 after armed attackers opened fire on MSF vehicles evacuating staff. This escalated security threat led MSF’s head of mission in Haiti, Jean-Marc Biquet, to state that resuming operations would be unfeasible as the building had been subject to stray bullets from the nearby conflict zones, highlighting the facility's precarious situation according to Los Angeles Times and Africanews.

As the violence continues, more than 60% of the capital's health facilities are inactive, including the general hospital, affecting health access for the three million residents. The closure of this center, described by Biquet as a crucial lifeline, is expected to have dire consequences for individuals who have no other medical options available nearby. The humanitarian crisis is compounded by a sharp increase in displacements, with estimates reporting 1.4 million people now displaced due to gang violence, according to NPR, Los Angeles Times, and Africanews.

Despite the involvement of a UN-backed multinational security force, there has been limited progress in alleviating the violence, as Biquet and others note the dire conditions faced by the Haitian population, many of whom are internally displaced and living in poor conditions without access to proper medical facilities. The ongoing situation exacerbates their vulnerabilities and emphasizes the urgent need for assistance in the region, according to NPR, Los Angeles Times, and Africanews.