Joe Biden on Tuesday called on the United Nations Security Council to “now authorize the deployment of an international force to Haiti” to support police in the fight against gangs.
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“The people of Haiti cannot wait any longer,” the American president said from the podium at the UN General Assembly.
AFP
Violence by gangs that control most of this poor Caribbean country’s capital and reign on terror has claimed more than 2,400 lives since the start of the year, according to the United Nations.
For almost a year, Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres have been calling for the deployment of an international force to help police overwhelmed by this violence.
But in an international community burned by past experiences and the risk of being stuck in a deadly quagmire for months, no country has volunteered to take the reins of this police force.
At the end of July, Kenya finally announced that it was ready to carry out this mission and deploy 1,000 police officers.
The mission, whose outlines are still unclear but for which additional contributing countries are expected, is now awaiting approval from the UN Security Council, even if it will not be carried out under the UN flag.
Negotiations on the mandate began between council members in early September, but they were difficult, diplomatic sources said.
In recent months, several countries have expressed doubts about the advisability of a military force, particularly China, which has veto power and has insisted on the need to curb the growing arms trade from Florida to Haiti.