Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) strongly condemns intentional gunfire upon four of its vehicles on March 15 while they were evacuating MSF staff from a hospital amid escalating violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Nearby violence forced MSF to suspend its activities at the Turgeau Emergency Center and evacuate its teams from the hospital as a precautionary measure on March 15. During one of the evacuation movements, the MSF convoy was repeatedly and intentionally fired upon, despite prior coordination with authorities. While fortunately no one was killed, our staff suffered minor injuries.
“This attack serves as stark reminder that no one is safe amidst the ongoing violence between armed groups and law enforcement,” said 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.”
Violence forcing facility closure
The situation in Turgeau, where MSF runs a referral and emergency center, has worsened sharply since late February. On March 12 alone, our emergency center treated 27 victims of violence, including women and children, from the surrounding area. During the night of March 14-15, the violence escalated further. Armed groups moved within feet of the hospital, threatening to turn it into a front line.
“We had to make the painful decision to suspend activities at the MSF Turgeau Emergency Center to protect our staff and patients,” said 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.”
In February 2025, our teams conducted over 2,500 medical consultations and more than 400 physiotherapy sessions at the Turgeau Emergency Center. Before suspending activities, MSF successfully referred all patients from the emergency center to other medical facilities.
Crisis in Haiti: What to know
View the timelineMSF teams repeatedly targets of violence
This is the second time in less than four months that MSF has been forced to suspend operations at the health facility. On November 22, 2024, MSF halted all activities in Port-au-Prince following multiple attacks and repeated threats against medical staff. After engagement with authorities and assurances from all parties regarding the protection of MSF’s medical mission, the organization partially resumed activities in Port-au-Prince in December and reopened the Turgeau Hospital on January 20, 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.
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MSF in Port-au-Prince
Our MSF team has been working in Haiti for over 30 years, and has been providing emergency medical care in Turgeau since 2021. MSF maintains multiple medical programs in other areas of Port au Prince and Haiti, notably for maternal and newborn care, severe burns, trauma and victims of sexual violence. Continuing these vital medical services requires clear guarantees about the security of our movements.
