Port-au-Prince - Following the targeted attack on 15 March against a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) convoy travelling between our Turgeau emergency centre and Carrefour trauma hospital, and in view of the deteriorating security situation in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti, we have taken the difficult decision to withdraw from these two facilities for a minimum period of three months. This period will allow an assessment as to whether the evolving security context offers the necessary conditions for the return of MSF teams.

On the day of the attack, MSF had already evacuated the Turgeau emergency centre, as the fighting and the frontline had advanced dangerously close to the centre, with stray bullets landing in the compound every day. During the evacuation of teams from Turgeau to the Carrefour trauma hospital, clearly identified MSF vehicles, using the only access road separating the two structures, were deliberately targeted by at least one hooded man in uniform. The MSF vehicles were shot 15 times. The incident forced us to stop using this route.   

“The Turgeau emergency centre and the Carrefour trauma hospital are closely linked in their operations. Without the possibility of using this road to transfer patients, transport personnel or deliver medical supplies, these structures can no longer function,” says Benoît Vasseur, MSF's head of mission in Haiti. “This is why we have also been forced to withdraw from Carrefour as of 9 April 2025. This is an extremely painful decision, at a time when people’s vital medical needs continue to grow.”

At these two medical facilities, MSF teams noted an alarming increase in the number of victims of violence. Between January and March 2025, MSF treated more than 750 people for violent trauma. At the same time, 3,600 emergency cases were treated. They were the only medical facilities in the area to offer free care to victims of road accidents and domestic accidents, or to refer patients to appropriate facilities.

Despite these withdrawals, MSF is continuing our activities in other medical facilities in Port-au-Prince and the south region of Haiti. The Tabarre trauma reference centre continues to treat victims of serious burns, accidents and violence. Hôpital Drouillard in Cité Soleil maintains a 24-hour emergency service, which includes physical and mental health treatment for victims and survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.

The Pran Men'm clinic continues to provide comprehensive medical and psychological care to sexual violence victims and survivors, including at its main facility in Delmas and at the Isaïe Jeanty maternity hospital. Since 2021, MSF has also been sending mobile clinics to several sites for displaced people and disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Port-au-Prince. However, medical transport has been suspended for all MSF teams in Port-au-Prince. Finally, in the south region, notably in Port-à-Piment and in the surrounding area, MSF continues to provide emergency obstetric and neonatal care, as well as maternal health services.

For over 30 years, MSF has responded to the major crises that have hit Haiti – earthquakes, hurricanes, cholera epidemics – and continues to support people in the face of the current violence. However, MSF staff cannot continue risking their lives to provide this service. Previously, on 22 November 2024, we had to suspend all operations in Port-au-Prince metropolitan area for around three weeks due to repeated attacks and threats against our staff. This is the second critical incident we have suffered in the last four months, and MSF is still waiting for the results of the investigations carried out by the Haitian authorities.

“The extreme suffering of people in Haiti makes this decision all the more heartbreaking, but a dead or injured doctor or nurse can do nothing for patients in need,” says Vasseur. “We reiterate our appeal to all parties concerned to respect the medical mission and ensure the protection of health structures, ambulances, patients and staff.”