The United States and Ecuador circulated a draft resolution on Friday asking the United Nations to plan a U.N. peacekeeping operation to replace the Kenyan-led mission in the Caribbean country of Haiti to help police quell gang violence.
The proposed Security Council resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, says U.N. peacekeepers are needed “to preserve the gains” made by the U.N.-backed multinational mission, which has deployed nearly 400 Kenyan police since June to combat the Haitian National Police.
The distribution of the brief resolution to all 15 council members follows U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Haiti on Thursday, where he reaffirmed the U.S. government’s commitment to the multinational mission and pushed for long-awaited general elections.
The top US diplomat also said a UN peacekeeping force was an option to address a funding crisis for the Kenyan-led mission, which relies on voluntary contributions. The US and Canada have provided the bulk of the funding so far. Peacekeeping operations, on the other hand, are financed from a special UN budget.
The United Nations has been involved in Haiti on and off since 1990.
An uprising in 2004 brought the country to the brink of collapse, leading to the deployment of a UN force. It helped stabilize the impoverished country after successful elections and a devastating earthquake in 2010 that killed as many as 300,000 people and ended in October 2017.
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But the UN peacekeepers left under a cloud, with troops from Nepal widely blamed for introducing cholera, which has killed about 10,000 people in Haiti since 2010, and other troops involved in sexual abuse, including rape and assault of hungry children.
Since 2017, the UN has had a series of small missions in Haiti. The newest political mission, BINUH, has a mandate to advance a Haitian-led political process toward elections, the rule of law and human rights.
Many Haitians have rejected the proposal for a new peacekeeping operation, given the introduction of cases of cholera and sexual abuse that occurred when UN troops were last in Haiti. Some Haitians also see UN peacekeepers as an occupying force.
Haiti requested an international force to fight gangs by 2022, and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called for months for a country to lead the force before the Kenyans stepped forward and pledged 1,000 police officers. They are expected to be joined by police from the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Chad and Jamaica, bringing the multinational force to 2,500.
They would be deployed in phases at a cost of approximately $600 million per year. Currently, the UN has $85 million in commitments for the mission, of which $68 million has been received.
The gangs have grown in power since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on July 7, 2021, and now control an estimated 80% of the capital. The increase in murders, rapes and kidnappings has led to a violent insurgency by vigilante groups.
In February, gangs launched coordinated attacks on police stations and the main international airport, which remained closed for almost three months. They also stormed Haiti’s two largest prisons and released more than 4,000 prisoners.
Violence subsided somewhat before the first contingent of Kenyan police arrived in late June, with Blinken noting that economic activity has restarted in some parts of Port-au-Prince and that joint operations have led to successes, including regaining control of the largest public hospital in Haiti. .
However, gangs continue to attack communities around Port-au-Prince.
The draft resolution would state that “the situation in Haiti continues to pose a threat to international peace and security and to stability in the region.”
Expressing gratitude to Kenya, the mandate of the Multinational Security Support mission would be extended until October 2, 2025, as the UN plans a transition to a peacekeeping operation.
Security Council experts held their first meeting on the text of the resolution on Friday afternoon and negotiations are expected to continue, a Council diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the discussions were private. No date has been set for a vote.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric reiterated on Friday that any new peacekeeping force requires Security Council approval. UN member states must then provide troops and necessary equipment, and the force must then be deployed – all of which takes time, he said.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
