A Mobilization for Identity Documents Amidst Political Crisis

The Collectif Défenseurs Plus organized on Thursday, January 22, 2026, a mobilization and identification operation to facilitate the acquisition of voter cards for people living in displacement camps. This initiative addresses a silent and profound crisis: the absence of identity documents for thousands of Haitians, a situation that excludes them from civil life and makes them extremely vulnerable in a context of widespread insecurity. According to Tintin Ulrick, legal officer for the Collectif Défenseurs Plus, the consequences of this lack of identity are serious and manifold.

1. Obstacle to movement: People without documents cannot move freely across the country.
2. Economic exclusion: They are unable to open a bank account or receive money transfers, which are vital for many families to combat hunger.
3. Civic exclusion: The exercise of civil and political rights, such as the right to vote, is inaccessible to them.

This exclusion renders these citizens invisible and further exposes them to abuse in an already highly degraded security context. The phenomenon of « Bwa Kale », an often violent self-defense movement, further accentuates this vulnerability. Faced with this situation, the action of the Collectif Défenseurs Plus consists of a concrete operation to help displaced persons regain an essential document for their civil existence. Through this mobilization, the Collective, a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion and effective defense of human rights in Haiti, seeks to remedy a failure of the state administration. In the past, the Collective had already sounded the alarm and called on authorities, particularly the National Identification Office, to implement a national emergency plan. Its main recommendations were:

• Issue or renew lost or destroyed cards free of charge.
• Deploy mobile registration units in areas affected by violence and in displacement camps.
• Ensure that no one is left behind in the exercise of this fundamental right to identity.

The January 22 operation is part of this logic of direct action to respond to a humanitarian and democratic emergency, as access to essential public services remains conditional on possessing a valid identity document. Jean Wesley Pierre / Le Relief