M.P., from Haiti, requested international protection in France, arguing a fear of persecution or serious harm in the event of return to the country of origin, due to the security situation in Mirebalais, in the centre of Haiti. He found out about criminal groups in Mirebalais in September 2023 and in November 2023 he left the city with his wife and children. On 5 November 2023 he left Haiti and arrived in France (Martinique) on 31 August 2024.
By decision of 3 June 2025, the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA) rejected the application and the applicant appealed before the National Court of Asylum (CNDA).
The CNDA allowed the appeal and provided subsidiary protection.
The CNDA observed that the deepening economic and political crisis that has affected the Republic of Haiti since 2018 has led criminal groups already established in the country to seek new sources of income and extend their control over its territory and population, committing atrocities against civilian populations, whom the Haitian state and its failing institutions are no longer able to protect, particularly after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021 which marked a major turning point in the deterioration of the security situation in the country. The court noted the sharp increase in clashes between these rival criminal gangs and between them and the Haitian National Police (PNH). A complete collapse of the Haitian state took place following the announcement of Prime Minister Ariel Henry's resignation on 11 March 2024.
The court highlighted that publicly available documentation, including from UNHCR, indicates that criminal gangs are using violence to terrorize populations and impose their authority through murder and physical attacks against civilians, with complete impunity. Furthermore, they reached a point where they target institutional and strategic locations such as prisons, police stations, and the Port-au-Prince airport area. The gangs now control the roads, along which they erect roadblocks that facilitate kidnappings on public transportation, extortion and theft, they control markets, water and electricity distribution networks, and public transportation systems. A UNHCR report confirmed their criminal activities in Saut-d'Eau (Central Department), Les Cayes (South Department), Miragôane and Petite-Rivière-des-Nippes (Nippes Department), Cap-Haïtien, Marigot (Southeast Department) and Port-de-Paix (Northwest Department). Furthermore, they are able to procure increasingly sophisticated firearms and ammunition, and they use guerrilla-style combat methods and tactics. In these conditions, the police no longer have the material and human resources to protect civilians from gangs and their violence and they often join the ranks of armed gangs, contributing to institutional confusion and chaos. Observers note that the normalization of “mob justice,” lynching civilians suspected of belonging to or supporting gangs.
The CNDA thus held that, in these conditions, the clashes in Haiti must, in view of the level of organization of these criminal groups, the duration of the conflict, the geographical extent of the situation of violence and the intentional and systematic aggression against civilians, be regarded as an internal armed conflict.
The court further noted that reports showed the widespread and systematic use of sexual violence, including gang rape, by gangs against all social and gender categories, consolidating their authority over those under their control, and ultimately, breaking social cohesion. Children are not only victims of violence and sexual exploitation, sometimes as young as 10. These children are also forcibly recruited by gangs. The humanitarian situation is also affected by the armed conflict, which constitutes a major obstacle to humanitarian operations, particularly to the delivery of food aid, considering that more than half of the Haitian population are struggling to feed themselves and are facing acute food insecurity as well as water stress.
With regard to the Central Department, the CNDA noted that reports observed an alarming escalation of armed violence. While the entire Haitian territory was experiencing a situation of indiscriminate violence resulting from an internal armed conflict, the exceptional level of intensity of this violence, particularly in Port-au-Prince, was now extending within the Central Department, to the respective territories of the municipalities of Mirebalais and Saut-d'Eau, as well as to the localities between these municipalities and the border with the West Department, which were experiencing the greatest number of clashes, security incidents, and casualties.
Therefore, the CNDA considered that the applicant, whose civilian status was established, would, if returned to his country, face a real risk of serious and individual threats to his life or person simply by virtue of his presence there, due to violence that can affect individuals regardless of their personal circumstances. Thus, the court provided the applicant with subsidiary protection.