Pakistan demands immediate UN action to Haiti gang crisis
Pakistan has called for immediate and united action by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to help restore political stability in Haiti as gang violence escalates in the Caribbean nation.
Addressing the Council's first formal meeting under Pakistan's presidency this month, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan's permanent representative to the UN, said that the time for 'half measures' in Haiti is over.
'The gangs' stranglehold has turned Haiti's streets into battlegrounds,' he said. 'Vigilante killings are on the rise, children are being recruited by armed groups and the breakdown of basic services is forcing hundreds of thousands to live in fear and face acute food shortages.'
Read: Pakistan advances peace at UNSC
Ambassador Asim, presiding over the 15-member Council in his national capacity, said Haiti's crisis requires both political unity and international resolve, calling for a Haitian-led solution backed by firm global support.
He expressed Pakistan's support for the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, led by Kenya and other troop-contributing nations, and urged UNSC to ensure the mission is 'robust, well-resourced, and effective'.
'Anything less risks collective failure tomorrow,' Ahmad cautioned. 'The people of Haiti deserve to live in peace and dignity, free from fear and want. Pakistan stands ready to help forge consensus in the Council to deliver hope and security to Haitians.'
Miroslav Jenca, UN Assistant Secretary-General for the Americas, told the Council that state authority in Haiti had eroded sharply since January. He said gangs had virtually paralysed Port-au-Prince, cutting it off with the ongoing suspension of international commercial flights.
Read more: Pakistan urges UNSC to stop Israeli 'aggression'
Gangs now influence every commune in the capital and surrounding areas, he said, warning that 'the total collapse of state presence could become a real scenario'.
Ghada Fathi Waly, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said from Vienna that gang control over trade routes was stifling legal commerce and worsening food insecurity and humanitarian need.
'The state's capacity to govern is rapidly shrinking,' she said. 'This erosion of state legitimacy has cascading effects.'
Kashmir dispute
Earlier, Ambassador Asim had held a news conference at UN headquarters to highlight the long-standing Kashmir dispute.
'It is time that this is addressed,' he said, referring to the conflict between India and Pakistan. 'And I would say this is not only a responsibility of Pakistan, we are here temporarily for two years as a non-permanent member.'
He added that UNSC, and particularly its permanent members, must 'take certain steps to actually get their own resolutions implemented'.
The comments come just a day after Pakistan formally assumed the UNSC presidency for July, which rotates monthly among member states.
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