UN Security Council authorizes deployment of a security mission in Haiti

The UN Security Council authorized the establishment of a support mission in Haiti to aid the country’s national police in suppressing the surging gang violence and in restoring security of the nation. 

The proposal of a mission had come from the Haitian government and civil society representatives in response to the months of chaos and worsening conditions for civilians that the country has been experiencing. 3,000 homicides and 1,500 instances of kidnapping for ransom have been reported this year. About 200,000 Haitians have been forced to flee their homes due to upticks in sexual violence and abuse against women and girls by armed gangs.

Haiti’s military is small and not efficiently equipped. The Haitian National Police (HNP) is unable to fully contain the outbreak of violence and is in dire need of international intervention so that Haitians can return to a “normal” livelihood, without the fear of being murdered, raped, displaced, kidnapped, or raped.

The UN Security Council adopted the resolution- penned by the United States and Ecuador- under UN Charter’s Chapter VII, with a recorded vote of 13 YAYS and 2 NAYS (Russia and China). Ambassadors in New York also authorized the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to help secure critical infrastructure and central transit areas, such as schools, hospitals, airports, and ports. The mission is also aiming to help ensure safe access to humanitarian aid for Haitians in need.