Doctors Without Borders Closes Port-au-Princeโฃ Emergency Center Amid Escalating Gang Violence
Doctors Without Borders โ(MSF) has been forced to โขclose itsโ emergency medical center inโ theโค Turgeau neighborhood of Port-au-Prince,Haiti,after armed men opened fire on its vehicles in March 2025 while staff were โฃevacuating. The closure further cripples anโค already devastated healthcareโค system struggling to cope with a surge in gang-related violence gripping โฃthe โcapital.
The decisionโ comes as gangโข control over Haitiโ reaches alarming levels-approximately 90% of the capital is now controlled by gangs-and access to medical care plummets. Moreโ thanโค 60%โ of Port-au-Prince’s healthโ facilities,including Haiti’s general hospital,are currently non-operational due to the escalating violence. The MSF center, a critical lifeline for residents, treatedโข over 100,000 patients since relocating toโค Turgeau from Martissant in 2021, โwhereโค it originally openedโค in 2006.
“the building has already been hit several times by stray bullets due to its location close to the combat zones, which would make resuming activities too perilous for both patients and staff,” โฃstated Jean-Marc Biquet, โฃMSF head of mission in Haiti.
Prior to the March attack, the center’s staff treated overโ 300 patients between February 24 andโค March 2, โand provided more than 2,500 medical consultations in February alone.โฃ The โclosure adds to a โขgrowing humanitarian crisis, with over 3,100 reported deaths and 1,100 injuries across Haiti from January toโ June, according to the United Nations.
The violenceโข has also displacedโฃ a record 1.4 million people, a 36% increase since the end of 2024, with nearly two-thirdsโ of new displacementsโ occurring outside Port-au-Prince, notably in โขHaiti’sโ central region. Makeshiftโข shelters haveโข increased fromโ 142โ in December to 238โข so far this year, according to the U.N. International Organization for migration.