UN extends security mission in Haiti for another year as violence increases | News about armed groups

The United Nations Security Council has extended the mandate of a multinational police mission to Haiti for another year, as the Caribbean country struggles to stem a wave of gang violence and instability.

The resolution, which passed unanimously on Monday, expressed “deep concern about the situation in Haiti, including violence, criminal activity and mass displacement.”

It extended the Kenyan-led police mission, which aims to help the Haitian National Police take back control of areas under gang control, until October 2, 2025.

The vote comes just days after the UN reported that at least 3,661 people were killed in Haiti in the first half of 2024 amid the “senseless” gang violence that has engulfed the country.

Haitian leaders warned last week that they are “far from winning” the battle against armed groups, which have been carrying out attacks and kidnappings in the capital Port-au-Prince and other parts of the country for months.

According to UN figures, the violence has forced more than 700,000 Haitians to flee.

“There is a sense of urgency because the Haitian people are watching with cautious optimism, they really hope to see clear results,” Haiti’s interim Prime Minister Garry Conille said at an event in New York on Wednesday.

Haiti has been reeling from years of violence as armed groups – often with ties to the country’s political and business leaders, and armed with weapons smuggled from the United States – have battled for influence and control over the territory.

But the situation deteriorated dramatically in late February, when the gangs launched attacks on prisons and other state institutions in Port-au-Prince.

The wave of violence prompted the resignation of Haiti’s unelected prime minister, the establishment of the Presidential Transitional Council and the deployment of the UN-backed, multinational police force led by Kenya.

Yet funding for the police mission – formally known as the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) – is lagging behind, and a UN expert said this month that the force remains under-resourced.

While about a dozen countries have committed more than 3,100 troops to the multinational force, only about 400 officers have been deployed to Haiti.

Some experts also question whether the police mission can succeed without a clear plan and oversight.

Jake Johnston, an analyst and researcher on Haiti at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, said Monday that “two years after the troop surge was proposed, there is still no real strategy for peace in Haiti.”

Edgard Leblanc Fils, the head of a transitional council governing Haiti, told the UN General Assembly last week that he would “like to see consideration given to transforming the security support mission into a peacekeeping mission under the mandate of the United Nations ”.

Such a move would allow the country to raise the necessary funds, he said, echoing a recent US proposal.

But Washington’s push to transform the police deployment into a U.N. peacekeeping mission was dropped from Monday’s U.N. Security Council resolution due to opposition from Russia and China.

The two countries, which both have veto power in the council, believe the multinational police mission should be given more time to establish itself.

“Discussing other options now will only hinder the implementation of the mission’s mandate. After all, peacekeeping operations are not a panacea,” said Chinese Deputy Ambassador to the UN Geng Shuang.

“Furthermore, Haiti does not have the conditions for the deployment of peacekeeping operations,” he said.

The UN Security Council has unanimously approved a resolution extending US-backed security forces in Haiti for another year.

I continue to believe that this is the wrong approach.

Two years after the force was proposed, there is still no real strategy for peace in Haiti. https://t.co/Xkg837JVg8

— Jake Johnston (@JakobJohnston) September 30, 2024

Many Haitians also remain wary of UN interventions, saying previous efforts have caused more harm than good.

For example, a deadly cholera outbreak in 2010 was linked to a UN peacekeeping base, and UN troops in Haiti were also accused of rape and sexual abuse.

Haitian civil society leaders have cautiously welcomed the police mission as a necessary measure to push back the gangs. But they have also emphasized that the problems facing the country cannot be solved through violence alone.

Rights advocates have called for more support and training for Haiti’s national police, and an end to corruption and a Haitian-led political process.