Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, is at the brink of collapse as a year-long criminal insurrection continues to spiral out of control, displacing over a million people. The Haitian police officer patrolling the streets by day with an Israeli assault rifle is all too familiar with the escalating violence. By night, he returns home to an increasingly deserted neighborhood, uncertain of what the following day will bring. “Yesterday afternoon … there was panic, heavy gunfire … It was tense,” he said. “I wondered if by the time I woke up the next morning, I would still recognize the city.”

This officer, part of a rapid-response unit fighting to hold back the gangs, is not alone in his fear. In recent days, speculation has grown that Port-au-Prince may soon fall entirely into the hands of Viv Ansanm (Live Together), a coalition of heavily armed gangs. Frantz Duval, editor of Haiti’s oldest newspaper Le Nouvelliste, warned in a grim editorial that Port-au-Prince’s fall was imminent, drawing comparisons to the fall of other cities throughout history like Phnom Penh, Saigon, and Tripoli. “Since the uprising began in February 2024, the situation has spiraled completely out of control,” Duval wrote.

The violence has driven at least 60,000 people from their homes in the past month alone, with over a million displaced since the rebellion began. “Countless ministries, public services, and families have fled,” Duval reported as gang members advanced, burning buildings and threatening to seize the entire city. With all exits from the capital under gang control, escape is nearly impossible for the majority of Haitians.

Human-rights activist Rosy Auguste Ducéna described the suffering of the population, saying, “It feels like the population is suffering while the authorities stand by and do nothing.” The slow disintegration of Port-au-Prince is a product of years of political instability, corruption, foreign intervention, and devastating natural disasters like the 2010 earthquake. Today, the capital’s neighborhoods, including Solino and Nazon, are falling under gang control. Medical aid groups like Médecins Sans Frontières are under fire, and Haiti’s oldest radio station has been set ablaze.

Haiti’s mayor, Youri Chevry, admitted that the government controls only 30% of the city, with key areas in a state of war. On Wednesday, thousands took to the streets to protest the violence and the government’s failure to respond. “We are ready to die to defend our neighborhoods, our families, and our homes,” one protester declared.

UN human-rights expert William O’Neill, who visited Port-au-Prince, compared the situation to other cities overtaken by armed forces, stating, “The sense of fear is palpable. The city is on the edge of totally falling into the hands of the gangs.” The wealthy hilltop district of Pétionville remains one of the last safe areas, but for how long, O’Neill questioned.

The international community’s involvement has so far been inadequate. A UN-backed security force, led by Kenya, was deployed in the hope of stabilizing the city, but the force, which currently numbers about 1,000, is vastly under-resourced and outgunned by the gangs. Haitian police have resorted to desperate measures, including suicide drone attacks targeting gang leaders hiding in Port-au-Prince’s labyrinthine slums.

Dr. Françoise Ponticq, a French dentist working in the area, heard the blasts of these drones last week. “It’s either the gangs take us, or we take them,” she said. “It’s a coin toss, in my opinion.”

The fate of Port-au-Prince hangs in the balance as gangs tighten their grip, and Haitians continue to live in fear of what might come next.

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