According to UN reports, the associated violence left almost 6,000 people dead in 2025 alone and over 1.4 million displaced.

Criminal gangs have formed a coalition called "Viv Ansanm" ("Living Together") to consolidate their grip on Port-au-Prince. They finance themselves through kidnappings and extortion rackets, while frequently engaging in gun battles with the police. State institutions function only to a limited degree. Schools and healthcare facilities remain closed or are repeatedly targeted in attacks. Humanitarian aid reaches many neighborhoods only under considerable security risks. 

This film accompanies two people whose lives reflect the impact of developments: Carole, a mother of two, is now in a displaced persons camp close to her former home - which she lost in a raid by a gang, together with her livelihood. On the other side: a man who, after years of arbitrary arrests and imprisonment, joined Vivre Ensemble. He turned to violent crime, he says, because the state failed him.

They represent different sides of a country in decline: victims, perpetrators, and people trapped in a system that offers them few alternatives.
A UN-backed police mission led by Kenyan officers has been deployed to stabilize the security situation - but gangs are still in control in many areas of Port-au-Prince. Gang violence has left over 1.4 million people internally displaced and the healthcare system on the brink of collapse.

This documentary looks at a nation in a permanent state of crisis - and poses an urgent question: how, given current conditions, can Haiti find a way back to security, stability, and effective state authority?

 

Broadcasting Hours: 

DW English

MON 02.03.2026 – 18:30 UTC
MON 02.03.2026 – 23:30 UTC
TUE 03.03.2026 – 03:30 UTC
TUE 03.03.2026 – 09:15 UTC
TUE 03.03.2026 – 12:15 UTC
TUE 03.03.2026 – 14:15 UTC
TUE 03.03.2026 – 21:15 UTC
WED 04.03.2026 – 07:30 UTC
WED 04.03.2026 – 10:30 UTC
WED 04.03.2026 – 17:30 UTC

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