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Straits Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
A year in, Haiti mission leader warns of shortfalls in troops, funds, gear
FILE PHOTO: People protest against gang-related violence and to demand the resignation of Haiti's transitional presidential council, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, May 15, 2025. REUTERS/Jean Feguens Regala/File Photo FILE PHOTO: Members of a neighbourhood watch drive up a hill while patrolling a residential area after gangs torched homes, amid a surge in violence that has displaced approximately 1.3 million people in six months, according to U.N. estimates, in Furcy, Haiti June 24, 2025. REUTERS/Jean Feguens Regala/File Photo PORT-AU-PRINCE - The commander of the United Nations-backed security mission in Haiti, mandated to fight powerful armed gangs in the nation, on Thursday called on more countries to lend their support as he marked one year since the first troops deployed. The first deployment of police from Kenya, which is leading the mission, arrived last June, over a year and a half after Haiti's government had first requested urgent support. "As a new model, funded by voluntary partners, the mission faces challenges - including funding, personnel and logistics - that are being addressed to enable the mission to achieve its objectives on schedule," Godfrey Otunge, commander of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, told reporters at an event in Port-au-Prince, the capital. While the U.N. aimed for the mission, which was sent to aid the Haitian National Police, to reach some 2,500 troops, well under half are currently deployed. More than 3,000 personnel were pledged in initial commitments. In a note sent to the U.N. Security Council last week, Kenyan President William Ruto said 991 troops were currently deployed, mostly Kenyans but also 150 Guatemalans, 78 Salvadorans, 23 Jamaicans, six Bahamians and two Belizeans. He said that many were on standby because existing contracts for logistical support could not provide for them. "The MSS is also operating below the required capabilities in terms of equipment and operational support necessary to execute the mission effectively," Ruto added. "The equipment levels stand at below 30% of planned capabilities." Despite the lack of resources, Otunge said on Thursday that the mission had managed to establish two key strategic bases in the Artibonite department, the area outside the capital worst-hit by the violence. Haitian leaders have repeatedly called for the voluntary mission to be converted into a formal U.N. peacekeeping mission in order to shore up resources, but efforts stalled at the Security Council after opposition from Russia and China. Gang violence in Haiti has displaced some 1.3 million people from their homes, fueling hunger and insecurity, while hospitals have shut their doors, and much of the economy, judicial system and government remain paralyzed. Some 580,000 people were displaced before the first deployment. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Record number of people displaced by violence in Haiti, UN agency says
FILE PHOTO: A man holds placards as he yells toward a patrol car near a burning barricade during a protest against gang-related violence and to demand the resignation of Haiti's transitional presidential council, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, May 15, 2025. REUTERS/Jean Feguens Regala/File Photo GENEVA - A record 1.3 million people have been forced to leave their homes in Haiti due to a surge in armed violence in the last six months, according to the UN agency for migration. The number of people internally displaced in the Caribbean country has jumped 24% since December, according to the International Organization for Migration. It is the highest number of people displaced by violence ever recorded by the IOM in the country. "Behind these numbers are so many individual people whose suffering is immeasurable; children, mothers, the elderly, many of them forced to flee their homes multiple now living in conditions that are neither safe nor sustainable," said Amy Pope, IOM Director General. Gangs armed with weapons largely trafficked from the United States have formed an alliance in the capital Port-au-Prince and together control 85% of the city, according to the U.N. A growing number of people are fleeing the capital for safety elsewhere in the country, according to the IOM. In the Centre Department, a region north of the capital, fighting has driven double the number of people away from their homes from around 68,000 to more than 147,000 in towns like Mirebalais and Saut-d'Eau, the IOM said. Many people are living in makeshift shelters and do not have access to health care, schooling or clean water, it added. In February UNICEF reported on a surge in sexual violence against children in Haiti. Extreme poverty has also pushed children into gangs, with up to half of all armed groups made up of minors, according to the U.N. children's agency. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Haiti calls for urgent regional gang-fighting support as US shies off funding
FILE PHOTO: A man holds placards as he yells toward a patrol car near a burning barricade during a protest against gang-related violence and to demand the resignation of Haiti's transitional presidential council, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, May 15, 2025. REUTERS/Jean Feguens Regala/File Photo Top Haitian ministers called for urgent security support from neighbors at a meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS) on Thursday, while the U.S. signaled it would not continue current funding aimed at holding back the nation's armed gangs. Powerful gangs, armed with guns the U.N. believes are trafficked largely from the United States and across the land border with the Dominican Republic, have taken control of most of the capital and expanded to the central plateau and agricultural heartlands, displacing over 1 million people. "While we remain determined to assist the Haitian people achieve the peace, security and prosperity they deserve, the United States cannot continue shouldering such a significant financial burden," U.S. Caribbean Affairs deputy assistant secretary Barbara Feinstein said at the meeting. The U.S. has cut much overseas aid and frozen some funding it earlier pledged to support a U.N.-backed mission in Haiti, and earlier this week Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested that OAS should play a greater role in supporting Haiti's security, such as mobilizing a force. "The OAS is uniquely positioned not only as a forum for diplomacy, but as a vehicle for coordinated, concrete action," Feinstein added. A handful of countries have pledged troops to the mission, but only a fraction of these have deployed. The Kenyan-led force remains under-resourced and has had little success in helping police hold off gangs' advances in and beyond the capital. OAS special advisor Jared Genser recommended that unless the mission is proven capable of providing security for Haitians, the U.N. Security Council should vote to convert it to a formal peacekeeping mission - a measure repeatedly requested by Haitian leaders but opposed by veto members China and Russia. Haitian Defense Minister Jean-Michel Moise said the situation was being fueled by gangs profiting off cocaine trafficking from Colombia to buyer nations and arms trafficking from the United States by sea and across the Dominican border. "This criminal economy fuels a local war machine," he said. "Haiti is on the brink of being fully controlled by criminal gangs and we cannot allow that to happen. We desperately need the help of the international community." Haiti counts about 12,000 police and 1,000 military officers for a population of nearly 12 million, officials said. Moise also called for restrictions - including some based on implications in human rights abuses - on selling arms to Haiti's government to be eased, citing gangs' easy access to militarized weapons. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
