Agency workers on the ground are forced to balance the imperative of helping others with the stark reality of personal risk and displacement, the IOM Haiti team said in a statement.

After weeks of increased insecurity caused by gang activities, the IOM warned of a soar in cases of suicidal tendencies, which was once a taboo subject but now revealed with greater frequency, especially among displaced people.

For most Haitians, the prospect of regular migration remains an insurmountable obstacle, leaving irregular migration their only semblance of hope, the agency reported. “The lack of economic opportunities, coupled with a collapsed health system and closed schools, casts a shadow of desperation, leading many to view migration as their only viable resource,” the organization declared.

The agency estimates that there are 360,000 displaced people throughout the country, while almost 100,000 who were forced to leave their homes live in temporary settlements with deplorable conditions and a lack of basic needs such as food, medical care, water, psychological support, and hygiene facilities.

Nearly 13,000 migrants were returned to Haiti by neighboring countries in March, 46 percent more than last month, despite the chaos caused by insecurity and violence in recent weeks. Nearly three thousand of them received humanitarian assistance upon arrival, and another 1,200 benefited from psychosocial support thanks to IOM.

In March, IOM delivered 1.5 million liters of water to camps for internally displaced people.

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