Port-au-Prince – Four Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) vehicles were fired upon in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, as we were evacuating our staff from Turgeau emergency centre. We strongly condemn this intentional shooting, in which our staff suffered minor injuries. The evacuation from the centre was taken as a precautionary measure after brutal street fighting moved closer to the centre and we were forced to suspend our activities on 15 March. This MSF convoy was clearly identified, and we had coordinated the movement with authorities.

“This attack serves as stark reminder that no one is safe amidst the ongoing violence between armed groups and law enforcement,” says Benoit Vasseur, head of mission for MSF in Haiti. “Despite our precautions, we have been targeted, and this is unacceptable. We urgently call on all parties for the respect of medical staff, facilities and patients at all times.”

Since end of February, the situation in Turgeau, where MSF runs a referral and emergency centre, has sharply worsened. On 12 March alone, our emergency centre treated 27 victims of violence, including women and children, from the surrounding area. During the night of 14-15 March, the violence escalated further. Armed groups moved within metres of the hospital, threatening to turn it into a frontline.

“We had to make the painful decision to suspend activities at the MSF Turgeau emergency centre to protect our staff and patients” says Vasseur. “Currently, it is impossible to continue operations at the hospital, but we are committed to reopening our facility as soon as the situation allows us to do so safely.” 

Before suspending activities, we successfully referred all patients from the emergency centre to other medical facilities. Between 24 February and 2 March, our teams at the Turgeau emergency centre treated 314 patients. In February 2025 alone, our teams conducted over 2,500 medical consultations and more than 400 physiotherapy sessions at the Turgeau emergency centre.

This is the second time in less than four months that we have been forced to suspend operations at the health facility. On 22 November 2024, MSF halted all activities in Port-au-Prince following multiple attacks and repeated threats against medical staff. After months of engagement with authorities and assurances from all parties regarding the protection of MSF’s medical mission, we partially resumed operations in January, reopening the Turgeau hospital on 20 January 2025.

However, the resurgence of violence and the deliberate attack on our vehicles during this evacuation make it clear that these assurances and engagements with authorities have failed to translate into real safety for our staff and patients.

Our team has been providing emergency medical care in Turgeau since 2021. MSF maintains multiple medical programmes in other areas of Port-au-Prince and Haiti, notably for maternal and newborn care, severe burns, trauma and sexual violence. Continuing these vital medical services requires clear guarantees about the security of our movements.