Executive Summary
- A new UN report details the systematic trafficking and recruitment of children by criminal groups in Haiti amid state collapse.
- UNICEF data indicates child recruitment tripled in 2025, with minors making up 30 to 50 percent of gang membership.
- Boys are utilized for armed combat and logistics, while girls as young as 12 face sexual slavery and forced domestic labor.
- The report cites a lack of state protection and emphasizes the urgent need for international support and social reform.
A harrowing new report issued by the United Nations details how criminal organizations in Haiti are ruthlessly exploiting the near-total collapse of state institutions to traffic and recruit children into armed ranks. According to the investigation conducted by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Integrated Office in Haiti, widespread hunger and unchecked violence have created a fertile ground for gangs to coerce minors into dangerous criminal activities, including sexual slavery and combat roles.
The scope of the crisis has escalated dramatically, with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) stating that child recruitment rates tripled in 2025. Investigators estimate that children now comprise between 30 and 50 percent of the personnel within these criminal syndicates. The report identifies at least 26 distinct criminal groups operating within and around the capital city of Port-au-Prince, where an estimated 500,000 children currently reside in territories under gang control.
The specific roles assigned to these youths are often violent and hazardous. The UN findings indicate that boys are frequently deployed as lookouts to monitor police movements, forced to transport weaponry, collect extortion payments, and participate directly in kidnappings and armed conflicts. To ensure loyalty and severance from their previous lives, some recruits are subjected to brutal initiation rites, which the report describes as including beatings and forced participation in killings and rapes designed to "isolate the children from their families and communities."
Female minors face particularly distinct and horrific abuses. According to the report, girls as young as 12 are subjected to sexual exploitation and slavery, often under the guise of coerced "relationships" with gang members. While many are forced into domestic servitude, others are utilized for intelligence gathering or armed combat. Human Rights Watch has corroborated these findings, documenting serious abuses and noting the critical failure of Haitian authorities to prioritize the protection and rehabilitation of these victims.
International Humanitarian Outlook
The findings of this report underscore the catastrophic impact of the security vacuum in Haiti, where the erosion of the rule of law has left the most vulnerable population defenseless. The systematic recruitment of minors suggests a long-term entrenchment of criminal power structures that will be difficult to dismantle without substantial intervention. The report’s call for strengthened social protection programs and safe educational spaces highlights that the solution requires not just security enforcement, but a comprehensive rebuilding of civic infrastructure to break the cycle of exploitation.
