The U.N. Security Council voted Monday to authorize an international force to support Haiti’s police amid a gang-driven security crisis.
“The vote on this text represents significant progress towards resolving the multidimensional crisis that Haiti is going through,” Haitian Foreign Minister Jean Victor Geneus told the council. “It is a glimmer of hope for the people that have for too long been suffering the consequences of a difficult political, socioeconomic, security and humanitarian situation."
Thirteen of the 15 council members voted for the mission. China and Russia abstained.
The resolution, drafted by the United States and Ecuador, authorizes the mission for an initial period of one year. Diplomats did not say how fast the force would be on the ground in Haiti or how big it would be, but it will likely take several months before it can deploy.
Speaking to reporters after the vote, Geneus said he hoped the mission could deploy quickly.
“We hope as soon as possible, because the people are suffering,” he said. “The gangs are really raising hell in Haiti, so they have to be stopped as soon as possible, with all means necessary.”
Kenya has volunteered to lead the Multinational Security Support Mission and has pledged about a thousand police officers.
“We are steadfast in the belief that your adoption of this resolution will be a seminal contribution to the renaissance of Haiti’s security,” Kenyan Ambassador Martin Kimani told the council.
Kenya’s legislature still must approve its offer to lead the multinational force.
The Bahamas, Jamaica, and Antigua and Barbuda have also said they will contribute personnel. A senior U.S. administration official told reporters Monday that several countries have expressed interest in contributing to the mission and were waiting for a strong mandate from the council before stepping forward.
The United States has committed about $200 million in support, including logistics and equipment for the mission, but is not sending any personnel.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “While this action represents important progress, the United States renews its urgent call to political actors, including Prime Minister [Ariel] Henry and members of the opposition, to broaden consensus and restore democratic order in Haiti.”
“The Haitian government and civil society, the U.N., and other international partners have long called for this mission, which will provide critical international assistance for the Haitian National Police to address gang violence and pave the way toward long-term stability in Haiti,” U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement.
Nearly a year ago, the government of Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry asked the Security Council to urgently send help.
Henry repeated that appeal during his address to the U.N. General Assembly last month. He said a force combining police and military personnel would be an initial step in creating an environment for the government to function again.
Violent armed gangs control much of the capital and have spread to other parts of the country. They have carried out massacres and kidnappings, human trafficking and sexual violence. The deteriorating security situation has also created a humanitarian crisis, with almost half the population, around 5 million people, experiencing acute hunger.
The U.N. representative in Haiti, Maria Isabel Salvador, welcomed the authorization of the mission as a “positive and decisive step to bring peace and stability to the country.”
“It is important to emphasize that, unlike recent international missions deployed in Haiti, the MSS mission is not a U.N. mission,” she noted.
Haiti has had difficulties in the past with U.N. peacekeepers deployed to help stabilize the country. After the 2010 earthquake, a cholera epidemic ravaged the country infecting more than 800,000 people and killing an estimated 10,000. The outbreak was traced to sewage from a U.N. peacekeeping camp that contaminated a main water supply. There have also been scores of paternity suits against U.N. peacekeepers.
In the new multinational mission’s mandate, both issues are addressed. There are provisions for countries sending personnel “to adopt appropriate wastewater management” and requests for oversight mechanisms to prevent human rights violations or abuses “in particular sexual exploitation and abuse.”
Personnel deployed to Haiti must also be vetted, and any who are credibly accused of misconduct while deployed will be sent home.
Chris Hannas contributed to this report.
