What changed

B100428/2025

B100413/2025

Motion for a European Parliament resolution on the humanitarian and security situation in Haiti, in particular the rising power of criminal gangs and the recent massacre in Cabaret

The European Parliament,

– having regard to itsRule previous150 resolutions(5) onof Haiti,its Rules of Procedure,

having regard to Rule 150 (5) of its Rules of Procedure;

A. whereas on 11 September 2025, at least 42 people, including a 4-year-old child, were killed in Labodrie, a fishing village north of Port-au-Prince, by a criminal gang;

whereas Haiti faces a severe humanitarian and security crisis as armed gangs expand control, particularly in and around Port-au-Prince, while state institutions have largely collapsed and the country risks becoming a narcostate; whereas a refugee crisis is underway, impacting notably EU ultraperipheral regions;

B. whereas criminal gangs have grown in power since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021; whereas this has led to massive insecurity, kidnappings, and large-scale attacks on the police, politicians, journalists, hospitals and civilians;

whereas in September 2025, gangs from the Viv Ansanm coalition carried out a massacre in Labodrie, commune of Cabaret, killing at least 42 civilians, including children, burning homes and displacing more than 2,900 people, many in precarious conditions in Arcahaïe;

C. whereas since the Duvalier family’s dictatorship (1957-1986), Haiti’s political and economic elites have been using gangs for political ends; whereas drug trafficking became a significant source of income for Haiti’s elites who provided protection and logistical support for drug traffickers;

whereas nearly half of Haiti’s population — about 5.2 million people — face acute food insecurity, with over 1.6 million in emergency levels and some 500,000 children suffering from malnutrition; whereas cholera and other preventable diseases are worsening due to collapsed health services, lack of clean water and obstruction of humanitarian access;

D. whereas there has been a massive illegal migration of Haitians to the Dominican Republic; whereas from 2016 until April 2025, the Dominican Republic returned 1,177,813 illegal migrants;

whereas gangs commit killings, kidnappings, sexual violence and forced recruitment of children, acting with impunity due to the breakdown of the justice system; whereas they also target journalists, civil society, humanitarian workers and aid convoys; whereas the UN and humanitarian organisations warn that violence prevents life-saving aid;

E. whereas the EU has provided over 538 million EUR in humanitarian assistance to Haiti since 1994; whereas in February 2025, the EU disbursed 19.5 million EUR in budget support to Haiti, aimed at reinforcing the Haitian government’s capacity to deliver essential services;

whereas the UNSC has mandated an international mission to support the Haitian National Police (HNP), but resources remain insufficient;

F. whereas Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council (TPC) was set up in 2024 by the Organisation of American States to restore governance and democracy;

whereas USAID cuts have suspended vital humanitarian services, including food, healthcare and support for vulnerable groups, leading to project closures, job losses and reduced access to medicines, worsening food insecurity and displacement; whereas these cuts also threaten support for UN security missions, aggravating instability;

Is deeply concerned that the expansion of gang territorial control is spreading violence and increasing transnational trafficking in arms and people;

Strongly condemns the escalating gang violence in Haiti, in particular the Cabaret massacre of September 2025 in which dozens of civilians were brutally killed and thousands displaced; the deliberate use of terror tactics;

Is of the opinion that the current crisis in Haiti is a political-criminal crisis in which the use of large-scale violence is used by gangs to obtain or maintain a dominant position within Haiti’s political system and to position themselves as the de facto authority in many areas of the country;

Urges the Haitian authorities to restore security and the rule of law by reinforcing the HNP and judiciary; calls for accountability for gang crimes and human rights violations, including sexual violence and attacks on journalists, civil society and aid workers;

Notes that the TPC is mired in internal conflict and corruption; considers the EU’s decision to provide budget support to Haiti a waste of taxpayer’s money;

Demands an immediate end to gang violence; supports measures to disrupt gang operations and financing, including enforcement of an arms embargo; calls on the EU and its Member States to impose targeted sanctions against gang leaders and sponsors and to halt illicit arms flows into Haiti;

Is deeply concerned that Haiti’s criminal-political crisis risks fueling further migration, straining governments in the region and deepening security challenges for the United States and other countries in the region;

Calls on all Haitian stakeholders to engage in dialogue to break the political deadlock and agree on a Haitian-led transitional roadmap; free and fair elections; supports CARICOM’s mediation efforts to facilitate consensus on restoring democracy;

Strongly supports the Dominican Republic’s return policy of illegal immigrants;

Urges the EU and its Member States to contribute to the UN-backed mission and step up humanitarian aid, including food, nutrition and health support; demands safe access for relief operations and condemns all attacks on aid and medical workers;

Notes that the international sanctions regime on Haiti is disorganised and uncoordinated;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Government and Parliament of Haiti, the Council, the Commission, the VP/HR, the Member States, the UNSG, CARICOM and the OAS.

Notes that the current UN peacekeeping mission has failed and that an expanded mission would likely be resisted within Haiti;

Calls on the actors and states in the region to coordinate more closely to choke off the resources sustaining gang power, thereby targeting illicit financial flows, combatting drugs and human trafficking, pursuing extraditions and prosecuting individuals;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the European External Action Service, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Organisation of American States and the Transitional Presidential Council.