“The Haitian people can no longer endure” the “barbarism” of armed gangs, such as those experienced in war zones, “that are stirring the world,” the Caribbean country’s foreign minister told the council on Thursday. Uncertainty.
• Also read: Haiti: The number of homicides more than doubled in 2023
“If we, like other suffering populations, kept abreast and published statistics on a daily basis about the atrocities suffered by the Haitian population at the hands of armed gangs, you would understand that there is no difference between the bestialities we experience and those “that move the world in the face of the horrors and barbarities of wars and armed conflicts elsewhere,” continued Jean Victor Généus.
Homicides more than doubled in 2023 compared to 2022, with nearly 5,000 deaths, including more than 2,700 civilians.
“It is now almost two years since I came before you to paint an increasingly sad and gloomy picture of the security and humanitarian situation in my country,” lamented Mr. Généus.
“The Haitian people can’t take it anymore. “I hope that this will truly be the last time before a multinational security support force is deployed on the ground,” he added.
“The Haitian people have suffered enough from the barbarism of armed gangs (…) Every day that passes without this much hoped for support is one day too many for us to live in gang hell.”
Given the severe crisis in Haiti and repeated requests from the Haitian government and Antonio Guterres, the UN Security Council finally agreed in October to send a multinational mission led by Kenya to Haiti to assist Haitian police overwhelmed by crisis gangs.
Kenya's parliament approved the deployment of 1,000 police officers in November, but the mission will remain in place pending a decision by the Nairobi High Court on Friday.
“Without prejudicing the court decision, the Kenyan government has made significant progress in preparing the mission,” assured Kenyan UN Ambassador Martin Kimani. In particular, he stated that the mission's operational concept and the rules for the use of force had been developed in cooperation with Port-au-Prince.
He stressed that his government was preparing a “planning conference” for mid-February with other countries willing to send police officers, as well as a donor conference to finance the mission.
“We hope that this initiative will enable immediate deployment,” he noted, without giving a date.