UNITED NATIONS, CMC—Prime Minister Garry Conille said Wednesday that Haiti is at a “critical point” as he informed the United Nations Security Council of the first batch of the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission that was deployed to the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country late last month.
“The arrival of the first contingent of the Multinational Security Support kicks off a new era in Haiti,” Conille said, adding, “Haiti is currently at a critical point with 12,000 armed individuals holding a population of 12 million hostages”.
Kenya’s U.N. deputy ambassador, Njambi Kinyungu, told the Security Council that the first contingent of 200 Kenyan police that arrived in Haiti last week had been warmly received and was beginning joint operations with Haitian police.
Conille, a former senior U.N. official, said reforming the national police was “indispensable” for restoring public trust.
Kenya is spearheading the MSS to Haiti, has been wracked with political and socio-economic problems, highlighted by criminal violence ever since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021.
The African country has offered to send about 1,000 troops to stabilize Haiti alongside personnel from several other countries, including The Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, and Jamaica.
The United Nations has said that more than 2,500 people were killed or injured in the first three months of the year in Haiti and that the spike in violence has displaced more than half a million people.
Gangs now control at least 80 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and key roads. Trapped outside the country as the international airport was closed, former prime minister Ariel Henry was forced to resign.
The Dominican Republic’s Foreign Minister, Roberto Alvarez, used the meeting to launch “an urgent appeal to all countries that have committed funding to the MSS to fulfill their pledges and to deposit those funds as soon as possible.”
The U.N. Integrated Mission in Haiti (BINUH) has said that with substantial additional funding, the mission will be able to complete a 12-month deployment, and the initial mandate ends in October.
BINUH also warned that more clashes between police and gangs meant that more civilians, including very young children, were being killed by stray bullets, and it had reports of police summarily killing passers-by.
However, the U.N. Special Representative for Haiti, Maria Isabel Salvador, told the U.N. Security Council meeting that Haiti is progressing in restoring democratic institutions.
“I am happy to report Haiti is making headway toward restoring democratic institutions through enhanced security and credible elections. The installation of the Transitional Presidential Council in April and the designation of a prime minister and a new government, sworn in last month, are clear indications of progress,” she said.
Salvador noted that the first group of Kenyan police from the MSS arrived on June 25, and despite the progress, “alarming levels of violence remain a source of great concern.
“Indiscriminate gang violence has been consistently spreading beyond the capital to other regions of the country,” she said, noting that there are 578,000 internally displaced persons, a 60 percent increase since March.
“Rates of sexual violence and abuse remain troubling. Only 20 percent of health facilities are operating normally,” she said, adding that BINUH will continue supporting transitional authorities in critical areas, including elections, constitutional reform, police development, enhancement of political dialogue and justice, and community violence reduction.
“BINUH, within its mandate on human rights, stands ready to provide support, when required, to the definition of a robust human rights compliance framework,” she added.
During the U.N. meeting, the Chinese and Russian diplomats said that stemming the flow of firearms to gangs is necessary, with most of the illegal weapons seized in Haiti and across the wider Caribbean, having been traced back to the United States.
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said the U.N. should strengthen its sanctions regime by targeting traffickers, who, unlike the five local gang leaders already sanctioned, are more vulnerable to foreign asset freezes and travel bans.
“We do not see the current embargo doing anything to prevent the flow of arms from the U.S. The committee experts are not eager to get into a disagreement with Washington,” the Russian diplomat added.
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