When Displaced People Return Home Under the Shadow of Gangs

Port-au-Prince, August 2025 — The cycle seems to have come full circle once again. After being driven out, brutalized, dispossessed, and left to wander in improvised camps, hundreds of families from Solino, Nazon, Delmas 30, and other neighborhoods are returning to their former homes. But this return, far from signifying a rebirth, raises more questions than it offers answers. Guarantees Offered by Gangs No serious guarantees have been given. Jimmy Chérisier, alias Barbecue, the very person who sowed terror, is now inviting residents to return to their homes. In reality, nothing prevents the violence from recurring. Former minister Edwin Paraison, head of the Zile foundation, expresses concern about the situation; he sees this call as a strategic maneuver. « A search for legitimacy, cynical use of civilians as human shields, and preparation for potential political negotiations ». Clearly, the « guarantee » does not come from a rule of law state, but from the word of a criminal leader — a fragile, volatile, always reversible word. Is Cohabitation Possible Between Civilians and Gangs? The question seems almost absurd. Cohabiting would mean living together in a shared space where everyone respects common rules. However, gangs impose their law through violence, extort, rape, and kill. Residents, meanwhile, are reduced to survival. Ashley Laraque, spokesperson for the Haitian military association, rightly points out: « Jimmy Chérisier positions himself as an interlocutor, but there is no discussion on how to repair the losses suffered by the population. » Without justice, without reparation, without security, there can be no cohabitation, only a tacit submission of victims to their tormentors. How Could This Happen? If the state truly existed in these areas, it would be its responsibility to impose republican order, restore the police, and invest in urbanization and territorial development. Jocelerme Privert believes that energetic action by law enforcement is needed to « heal the wound and eradicate the evil ». Social and urban reconstruction is a necessity: accessible roads, public lighting, basic services. Failing this, the territory remains fertile ground for armed mafias. And the Victims in All This? They are the largely forgotten ones. Like lost sheep, they find their homes burned down, their identity papers gone, their small businesses destroyed. The psychological trauma is immense. How can these open wounds be healed? Visually, these families survey the areas to assess the extent of their losses. The observation is frightening: identity documents, small businesses burned, memories evaporated…. Faced with these sad and painful scenes, the shock of recalling memories and the uncertainty of the future leaves them perplexed, raising questions that remain unanswered for now. The committed activist, agronomist Marcel Pierre Mondesir, senses a kind of negotiation, like a secret agreement between the authorities and the bandits to allow this return. He wonders what real guarantees residents have that the bandits will not repeat their crimes? And what support will be provided for both the physical and psychological reconstruction for this return? Beginning of the Rule of Law Justice should be the first step: prosecuting the tormentors, officially recognizing the crimes. Then comes reparation: compensation for material losses, psychological support, dignified rehousing. Without this, victims will remain trapped in a cycle of humiliation and misery. In Haiti, every forced return of displaced persons resembles a bad remake: criminals enjoy impunity, politicians remain silent or profit, and the population is left to fend for itself. As long as the state remains absent, as long as victims are neither recognized nor compensated, no lasting peace can be established. More than a return home, it is a return to fragility, risk, and uncertainty. The cycle, once again, is complete.