PORT-AU-RPINCE, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Haitian gangs run schools, clinics and foundations in place of an increasingly absent government, even as their criminal rackets help gang leaders amass funds and afford luxury homes with swimming pools in the hemisphere's poorest country. That was one of the findings of a comprehensive United Nations report published on Wednesday. "Gangs are getting stronger, richer, better armed and more autonomous," according to a 156-page report from a U.N. experts panel. The report concluded that gangs frequently use rape to terrorize and extort victims, demand money and control food supplies. The Caribbean nation's gangs have significantly expanded their influence in recent years, driving mass-migration and internal displacements while plunging millions into severe hunger.

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Persons: They're, Bwa Kale, Harold Isaac, Sarah Morland, David Alire Garcia, Sandra Maler Organizations: PORT, United Nations, coalescing, Thomson Locations: United States, Caribbean, Port, Mexico City