Nearly 200,000 people forcibly returned to Haiti so far this year, UN says

Nearly 200,000 people were forcibly returned to Haiti in the first eight months of this year, a U.N. official told an emergency meeting of the Security Council on

Friday, days after a brutal gang attack killed nearly 50 people near the capital.



The forced return represents at least 20,000 more people than in the same period last year, Indrika Ratwatte, the acting assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told the meeting.



Sunday night's attack took place days after Haiti received its first U.S. deportation flight since the Trump administration won a legal battle ending Temporary Protected Status for around 350,000 Haitians. On Thursday, another flight arrived with migrants from the U.S. and the Bahamas.



Haitian security analysts have meanwhile warned that the flood of illegal arms entering the country is worsening the conflict that has claimed more than 21,000 lives since 2022.