(Adnkronos) – For almost two days, the Cité Soleil district in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, has been the scene of violent clashes between armed groups. At the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) hospital, located in Cité Soleil, medical teams had to cope with an influx of patients with gunshot wounds and accommodate over 800 people seeking safety. As the situation continues to deteriorate, MSF has been forced to evacuate its hospital and suspend its activities until further notice. This was stated in a note released by MSF.
On the morning of Sunday, May 10, 2026, extremely intense clashes broke out between several rival armed groups in the Cité Soleil and Croix des Bouquets neighborhoods. Since then, the gunfire has not stopped, and the MSF hospital in Cité Soleil is in the midst of the clashes. “In just 12 hours, our teams treated more than 40 people with gunshot wounds,” explains Davina Hayles, MSF Head of Mission in Haiti. “One of our security guards was also hit by a stray bullet right inside the hospital compound. We managed to evacuate the injured person, who is now in stable condition, but it is inconceivable that our teams and civilians should become victims of these clashes. Furthermore, several hundred residents of Cité Soleil, as well as our colleagues and their families, sought refuge in our hospital, having no other way to shelter from the gunfire,” she adds.
MSF teams also provided assistance to patients transferred from Fontaine Hospital, including some pregnant women who gave birth overnight between Sunday and Monday. Currently, there is not a single hospital open in the area where the fighting is taking place. Faced with this unprecedented violence, MSF has been forced to evacuate its hospital and temporarily suspend medical activities in Cité Soleil. “Our goal is to protect our patients and our staff,” says Hayles. “It is impossible for us to provide assistance in the midst of a firefight. A hospital where staff are not safe cannot function. For now, this suspension is temporary, due to extreme insecurity. We know that medical needs are exponential in Cité Soleil and, more generally, in Port-au-Prince,” she adds.
MSF calls on all parties to the conflict to ensure the safety of healthcare workers and civilians. MSF has been operating in Haiti for 35 years. Last year, its teams carried out 129,458 medical consultations, including 12,984 for children under 5 years old, and assisted 2,812 births. They performed 8,469 surgical operations, assisted 4,975 survivors of sexual violence, treated 3,419 people for violence-related injuries, and conducted 19,819 physiotherapy sessions.
