NEW YORK, 11 Dec. - (ANA) - The collapse of order in Haiti is so catastrophic, Human Rights Watch is calling on the UN Security Council to authorize and deploy a full-fledged UN mission to the country urgently. 

 

This is not something we do everywhere every day, particularly when it involves a country like Haiti with a troubled history of past UN missions. So, let’s go through our reasoning.

 

First and foremost, the situation in Haiti is truly appalling. 

 

Haitians are at the mercy of increasingly organized and coordinated criminal groups involved in arms, drugs, and human trafficking. This year alone, criminal groups have killed nearly 5,000 people. Some 4,000 girls and women have reported sexual violence, including gang rape. 

 

Over 700,000 Haitians – 25 percent of them children – are internally displaced. Half of Haiti’s population struggles to afford food, making it one of world’s most acutely food insecure countries. 

 

Criminal groups now control around 85 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and its metropolitan area. They have expanded their control into other parts of the country, as well. 

 

Their activities are so extensive, it could have significant consequences for peace and security beyond Haiti, across the Caribbean region.

 

One key problem is Haitian police are simply overwhelmed. They are under-equipped and under-staffed. They are also undermined by some officers being implicated in serious abuses or having links to criminal groups.

 

The Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, which was intended to try to help the police, is also overwhelmed. 

 

Largely US-funded and Kenya-led, the MSS remains in pre-deployment status due to shortages of both money and personnel. It needed US$600 million for its first year of operations; only US$97.4 million was allocated. It expected 2,500 officers to be deployed; it has just around 400. 

 

What the people of Haiti are calling for is a strong commitment from the international community.

 

The MSS is technically authorized by the UN Security Council but is not, strictly speaking, a United Nations mission. If it were transformed into what HRW is calling for, a full-fledged UN mission, it would gain a lot. 

 

It would benefit from funding through contributions from all member states. It could leverage expertise and tools the UN has for such missions, including for human rights vetting. Additionally, it would coordinate with UN agencies already present in the country to provide a more joined-up response to Haiti’s overall collapse.

 

A full-fledged UN mission could, unlike the MSS, have a more robust and comprehensive mandate to address the various dimensions of the crisis – including the need to restore the rule of law, democratic governance, and access to basic necessities.

 

This mission should be viewed as an opportunity to address past failures . It should advance reparations for abuses committed during past international interventions and ensure mechanisms are in place to promote accountability to rebuild public trust.

 

At the end of last month, the UN Security Council asked UN Secretary-General António Guterres, to present “strategic-level” recommendations for the role the UN could play in helping address the security, economic, and humanitarian crisis in Haiti.

 

Guterres should act swiftly and push forward with a plan to transform the MSS into a full-fledged UN mission, one that avoids the mistakes of past UN operations in the country. The people of Haiti cannot wait.   - (ANA) -

 

 

AB/ANA/11 December 2024 - - -