The top UN official in Haiti on Monday sounded an alarm to the UN Security Council that escalating gang violence is liable to lead the Caribbean nation to “a point of no return.”
Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Haiti Maria Isabel Salvador said that “Haiti could face total chaos” without increased funding and support for the operation of the Kenya-led multinational force helping Haiti’s police to tackle the gangs’ expanding violence into areas beyond the capital, Port-Au-Prince.
Most recently, gangs seized the city of Mirebalais in central Haiti, and during the attack more than 500 prisoners were freed, she said.
Photo: AP
It was the fifth prison break in under a year, “part of a deliberate effort to entrench dominance, dismantle institutions and instill fear,” she said.
Haiti’s police, supported by the armed forces and the Kenya-led force, were overwhelmed by the scale and duration of the violence, she added.
The gangs have grown in power since the July 7, 2021, assassination of then-Haitian president Jovenel Moise. They are now estimated to control 85 percent of the capital and are moving into surrounding areas.
The UN-backed mission led by Kenyan police arrived in Haiti last year to help local authorities quell gang violence, but the mission remains understaffed and underfunded, with only about 40 percent of the 2,500 personnel envisioned.
In February and last month alone, 1,086 people were killed and 383 injured, Salvador said.
In addition, , more than 60,000 Haitians were displaced in the past two months, adding to 1 million already displaced by December last year, the UN migration office said.
“These figures are expected to rise,” she said.
Earlier this month, Fritz Alphonse Jean, the leader of Haiti’s transitional presidential council, tried to allay surging alarm among Haitians over the rampant gang violence by acknowledging that the country has “become hell for everyone.”
He promised new measures to stop the bloodshed.
However, Salvador said the Haitian government’s efforts alone will be insufficient to significantly reduce the intensity of the violence perpetrated by criminal groups.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in February said he would ask the Security Council to authorize funding for the structural and logistical expenses of the Kenya-led mission from the UN budget.
However, there are no signs that the 15-member council plans to address this request any time soon.
“Without timely, decisive and concrete international assistance, the security situation in Haiti may not change,” Salvador said. “Haiti could face total chaos.”
Kenya’s national security adviser, Monica Juma, told the council in a video briefing from Nairobi that the force has entered “a decisive phase of its operation,” where gangs are coordinating operations and attacking people and strategic installations, and targeting the political establishment.
While the Haitian police and the multinational force have launched intensive anti-gang operations and achieved some notable progress, especially in securing critical infrastructure, she said a significant gap exists.
Juma said 261 Kenyan police officers are trained and ready to deploy to Haiti, but they cannot get there because of a lack of equipment and logistical support.
She urged the council to take a “more assertive and proactive role” in helping to stabilize Haiti, saying time is of the essence.
Juma said critical to stabilizing the country is stopping the flow of guns and ammunition to the gangs and implementing sanctions against gang leaders. UN experts say most of the arms come from the US, specifically the Miami area.
FAKE NEWS? ‘When the government demands the press become a state mouthpiece under the threat of punishment, something has gone very wrong,’ a civic group said The top US broadcast regulator on Saturday threatened media outlets over negative coverage of the Middle East war, after US President Donald Trump slammed critical headlines from the “Fake News Media.” The US president since his first term has derided mainstream media as “fake news” and has sued major outlets over what he sees as unfair coverage. Brendan Carr, head of the US Federal Communications Commission — which oversees the nation’s radio, television and Internet media — said broadcasters risked losing their licenses over news coverage. “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will
INFLUTENTIAL THEORIST: Habermas was particularly critical of the ‘limited interest’ shown by German politicians in ‘shaping a politically effective Europe Jurgen Habermas, whose work on communication, rationality and sociology made him one of the world’s most influential philosophers and a key intellectual figure in his native Germany, has died. He was 96. Habermas’ publisher, Suhrkamp, said he died on Saturday in Starnberg, near Munich. Habermas frequently weighed in on political matters over several decades. His extensive writing crossed the boundaries of academic and philosophical disciplines, providing a vision of modern society and social interaction. His best-known works included the two-volume Theory of Communicative Action. Habermas, who was 15 at the time of Nazi Germany’s defeat, later recalled the dawn of
The Chinese public maintains relatively warm sentiments toward Taiwan and strongly prefers non-military paths to improving cross-strait relations, a recent survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University showed. The “China Pulse” research project, which polled 2,506 adults between Oct. 27 last year and Jan. 1 this year, found that 86 percent of respondents support strengthening cultural ties, while 81 percent favor deepening economic interaction. The report, co-authored by political scientists at Emory University and advisors at the Carter Center, indicates that the Chinese public views Taiwan’s importance through a lens of shared history and culture rather than geopolitical
A ship that appears to be taking on the identity of a scrapped gas carrier exited the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, showing how strategies to get through the waterway are evolving as the Middle East war progresses. The vessel identifying as liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier Jamal left the Strait on Friday morning, ship-tracking data show. However, the same tanker was also recorded as having beached at an Indian demolition yard in October last year, where it is being broken up, according to market participants and port agent’s reports. The ship claiming to be Jamal is likely a zombie vessel that
RSS