UN Security Council Considers Requesting UN to Plan for Haiti Peacekeepers, Says Reuters

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS – On Friday, the United Nations Security Council began deliberations on a draft resolution aimed at extending the mandate for an international security mission that is assisting Haiti in its fight against armed gangs. The resolution also requests the U.N. to start planning for this mission to transition into a formal peacekeeping operation.

The mandate for the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, which was initially authorized for a 12-month term, is set to expire at the beginning of October. However, the mission has produced limited results, with a smaller number of troops deployed than anticipated and significantly lower funding.

A draft text, circulated by the United States and Ecuador, proposes to extend the mandate for an additional 12 months and urges the U.N. to initiate planning for the transition of the MSS mission to a peacekeeping operation to help consolidate any progress achieved so far.

The 15-member Security Council is scheduled to vote on September 30 regarding the renewal of the mandate. Should the council choose to formally transition the mission into a U.N. peacekeeping operation, a separate resolution would be necessary to secure the necessary funding for this effort.

Resolutions require at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes from the permanent members: Russia, China, the United States, France, and Britain, in order to be adopted. Last year, China and Russia abstained from voting on the initial mandate, expressing caution about endorsing widespread military force.

The initial approval of the mission followed Haiti’s request for assistance in combating violent gangs that have largely overwhelmed the capital, Port-au-Prince. Delays in the response stemmed from the difficulty of finding a nation willing to lead a security assistance mission.

Kenya ultimately agreed to take on this role, with approximately 400 police officers arriving in Port-au-Prince during June and July, out of an anticipated total of 1,000. In addition, several other countries have committed to providing at least 1,900 additional troops, along with hundreds of millions of dollars in support, but so far, only $68 million has been contributed to a designated U.N. trust fund for the mission.

The ongoing conflict has internally displaced nearly 580,000 individuals, while many citizens who fled the country have been forcibly returned. Close to 5 million people in Haiti are currently facing severe hunger.

U.N. peacekeepers were initially deployed to Haiti in 2004 following a rebellion that resulted in the ousting and exile of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. These peacekeeping forces left in 2017 and were subsequently replaced by U.N. police, who exited in 2019.

There is considerable apprehension among the Haitian population regarding the presence of armed U.N. forces. The country was free of cholera until 2010, when U.N. peacekeepers inadvertently caused an outbreak by dumping contaminated sewage into a river, leading to over 9,000 deaths and affecting around 800,000 more.