Gang violence in Haiti has already claimed more than 2,300 lives in 2026, with the UN warning that impunity is fuelling the crisis as a new international force prepares to step in.

It’s been another deadly year in Haiti. At least 2,300 people have been killed in gang violence since January, with around 1,100 injured and 99 kidnapped, the United Nations said on Monday, cbinews.tv reports.

UN human rights chief Volker Turk didn’t hold back, calling on authorities to deal with the “rampant impunity” in the Caribbean nation of 12 million people.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas and has been battling instability for years. Powerful gangs are carrying out killings, rapes, looting and kidnappings with little pushback.

“In Haiti, gang violence has resulted in at least 2,300 deaths, 1,100 injuries and 99 kidnappings since the start of the year,” Turk said.

There’s a new plan to try to stop it. The UN Security Council last year approved a new international GSF to neutralise the gangs. The force will gradually replace the previous Multinational Mission to Support the Haitian Police, known as MMAS.

The Security Council gave the GSF the go-ahead last September at the United States’ urging, after concerns that MMAS was under equipped and underfunded.

An initial deployment plan has now been approved. It sticks to the Security Council’s cap of 5,500 troops and police officers, with deployments set to happen in phases.

Turk gave the update during his global address at the opening of the 62nd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The 47-country council meets three times a year, and this second session of 2026 runs until July 7.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is heading to Haiti on Tuesday. His spokesman Farhan Haq said last week it will be “a solidarity visit, during which he will meet men, women and children whose lives have been affected by violence”.

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