The United Nations Security Council has approved a much larger international security force for Haiti to tackle escalating gang violence in the conflict-torn country.
The so-called “Gang Suppression Force” (GSF) will have up to 5,550 police and soldiers with the power to detain suspected gang members.
The GSF will boost the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support mission (MSS) – a force which was meant to have up to 2,500 members, but fell far short of that and has been unable to curb the violence since its deployment in 2023.
More than 5,500 people were killed in gang-related violence in Haiti in 2024. Armed gangs currently control about 85% of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Haiti has been wracked by economic chaos, a political vacuum and increasingly violent gang warfare since its president was assassinated in 2021.
The UN Security Council adopted a US-proposed resolution on the new larger force on Tuesday.
The current force numbers less than 1,000 officers and has struggled to contain the well-armed Haitian gangs.
The UN said the GSF would work with Haitian authorities to provide security and support humanitarian access.
US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said the current mission lacked the scale and resources needed to restore security in the Caribbean nation.
“Today’s vote sets that right with this vote to transform the MSS mission to the new Gang Suppression Force, a mission five times the size of its predecessor and with a strengthened mandate to go after the gangs,” he said.
It was not immediately clear when the GSF will be deployed or which countries would provide the additional police and soldiers.
Nearly 1.3 million people in Haiti have been internally displaced due to armed violence.
Gangs are continuing to expand their territory across the country and, according to the UN, have committed human rights violations such as child exploitation, murder and trafficking.
The resolution also includes establishing a UN support office in Haiti to provide “logistical and operational support”.
Haiti’s UN representative Ericq Pierre said the move marked “a decisive turning point in my country’s fight against one of the most serious challenges in its already turbulent history”. (https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn5qpkv0zq1o)
