Port-au-Prince, Thursday, April 30, 2026 – Several major companies — Brasserie de la Couronne, Barbancourt, Séjourné — located in the strategic zone between National Route 1 and Route 9 (the road leading to Canaan from Cité Soleil) are issuing an urgent appeal to Haitian authorities.
Through a joint statement, they demand immediate state intervention to rehabilitate the road axes leading to their facilities and to allow the effective return of law enforcement to a sector weakened by armed violence.
Between April 18 and 21, violent clashes between armed groups broke out in the immediate vicinity of several industrial sites located not far from Toussaint Louverture International Airport. Although relative calm has since returned, the companies say the situation remains extremely precarious.
Employees, families, and local residents are still hesitant to return to the area, now threatened with becoming a new “lost territory,” according to the signatories.
Beyond insecurity, the companies point to a logistical problem they consider central: the advanced state of deterioration of National Route 1 prevents armored vehicles of the Haitian National Police (PNH) from effectively accessing several key points.
Among the areas cited are the former Cazeau police station and the Ministry of Agriculture. According to the signatories, armored vehicles risk getting bogged down, making any sustained operation difficult, if not impossible.
“How can the airport be secured sustainably if the forces responsible for protecting it cannot even move around its immediate perimeter?” they ask.
Faced with this situation, the companies are demanding an urgent response from public authorities around four priorities: immediately rehabilitate the strategic section of National Route 1; enable the PNH to intervene effectively; regain control of the area; guarantee the safety of populations and economic activities.
The signatories also recall the economic and social weight of the sector concerned.
Brasserie de la Couronne employs more than 1,100 people. The Barbancourt distillery has more than 1,000 direct employees and works with 3,000 growers. Brasserie Séjourné employs nearly 400 people and supports approximately 40,000 indirect jobs.
In total, these companies represent more than 2,500 direct jobs and nearly 160,000 indirect jobs, according to the figures provided.
The Barbancourt Foundation, also affected, has had to suspend its services. It usually provides care for more than 1,500 patients per month and supports more than 400 children daily.
The companies believe that inaction would have consequences far beyond the economic framework.
“Abandoning this zone means abandoning families, jobs, the economy, and a strategic perimeter at the gates of the airport,” they warn, adding: “The time for observations is over. The State must act now.”
Nearly 5,000 displaced after renewed armed clashes between Cité Soleil and Croix-des-Bouquets
The resurgence of armed violence in several neighborhoods located on the border of the communes of Cité Soleil and Croix-des-Bouquets has caused a new massive population movement.
According to the latest data collected on the ground by IOM, nearly 4,994 people, or 1,191 households, were forced to flee their homes between April 18 and 21, 2026.
The clashes broke out in many localities already weakened by insecurity. On the Croix-des-Bouquets side, the areas of Jammeau, Fourgy, Dorigol, Lerbourt, Sibert, Village La Renaissance, Les Orangers, Silvina, and Madelaine were affected.
In Cité Soleil, the violence notably affected Martial, Terre Noire–Blanchard, Sarthe, as well as Village des Rapatriés–Menetas.
Faced with the emergency, 52% of displaced people have found refuge with host families. The remaining 48% have settled in seven shelter sites, including one pre-existing site and six new spaces created following the recent violence.
A recurring crisis
This is not the first time this year that these neighborhoods have been hit by armed clashes. In March 2026, the same areas had already experienced violent incidents that forced many families to abandon their homes.
The repetition of displacements in such a short time reveals a continuous deterioration of the security situation in this pivotal zone between Cité Soleil and Croix-des-Bouquets.
With nearly 5,000 newly displaced people in just a few days, needs for food, drinking water, medical care, protection, and shelter are likely to intensify rapidly.
By Marie Farah Fortuné and Darbouze Figaro
