Experts say U.S. aid suspension risks worsening Haiti’s humanitarian crisis

Corinne Paul, senior policy adviser for civil and political rights at the American Jewish World Service, told the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission briefing that an abrupt U.S. cut in aid risks costing lives in Haiti and complicating an already severe humanitarian emergency.

"The U.S.'s abrupt aid stoppage will cost lives," Paul said, urging the U.S. to consider the consequences of halting programs that sustain health, food and shelter services. Paul and other panelists said more than 1,000,000 people are internally displaced and that displacement approaches levels seen after the 2010 earthquake.

Why it matters: panelists said suspension or redirection of aid can immediately reduce food distributions, health services, and protections in overcrowded displacement sites, raising risks of disease and hunger. Paul cited deportations from the Dominican Republic last year — "more than 276,000 people were deported" — and warned that changes in U.S. migration policy and the end of humanitarian parole or temporary protected status could force more people into an unstable environment.

Panelists described practical consequences inside Haiti: schools have closed or lost many students, and hospital and clinic operations have been disrupted by violence and funding gaps. Melina Alicia Cholier / Velina Shawille described hospitals and health centers attacked by armed groups and said "Patients have the right to live free from hunger and fear, and they have a right to health, which has been threatened by gang attacks on hospitals and health centers."

How aid could change: witnesses urged donors to redesign assistance to be context-specific, locally led, and accountable to Haitian communities. Isabelle Clerier suggested the international community should shift from a "needs assessment" model to one that maps community assets and strengthens local capacity. She gave a concrete example of how handwritten civil records produce errors: an official misread a cursive capital I as a Y when issuing an ID, nearly changing a person's legal name — a problem she said digital systems could help fix.

Panelists also criticized past assistance channels that routed funds through the same elites who have been accused of corruption. They urged stronger accountability linked to Haitian community oversight rather than only satisfying donor paperwork requirements.

Migration and deportations were tied directly to humanitarian concerns. "No matter how many people are going to be sent back into Haiti, they will go right back because this is hell," Melina/Velina said, characterizing the conditions that drive migration.

Ending: Panelists recommended pausing deportations when returns cannot be safely facilitated, using aid to reinforce local food and health production, and shifting funding modalities to support Haitian civil society and community-led programming rather than large, centralized contracts that panelists said have in the past empowered corrupt intermediaries.