PORT-AU-PRINCE- The United Nations Envoy for Haiti said Wednesday an international force must be deployed to Haiti to quell rising gang violence, warning also that further delay could lead to a spill-over across the region, according to the multinational organization.
“I would like to emphasize the urgent need for the deployment, authorized by the Security Council, of an international specialized force,” said Maria Isabel Salvador, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH).
“We need to find innovative ways to define the force to support the Haitian National Police,” said
Salvador,who was addressing the UN Security Council in her first briefing about Haiti’s situation.
Gang violence is expanding at an alarming rate in areas previously considered relatively safe in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. The horrific violence in gang-ridden areas, including sexual violence, particularly against women and girls, is emblematic of the terror afflicting much of Haiti’s population, she said.
“Time is of the essence, and the Haitian people deserve your urgent action,” Salavador said.
Salvador said, according to data collected by the Haitian National Police (PNH) and by BINUH, compared to the first quarter of 2022, criminal incidents — homicide, rape, kidnappings and lynching — more than doubled in the same period in 2023 to 1,647. Some residents have begun to take matters into their own hands, as two days ago, a group of civilians seized 13 suspected gang members from police custody, beat them to death and burned their bodies.
The decisive support of the Security Council remains crucial in ensuring security, rule of law, stability, and peace in Haiti, said Salvador, who took up her post this month. According to a UN news report, she spent the first week meeting with civil society representatives, particularly women’s groups, national authorities and senior government officials.
“The general sentiment is that it will be difficult to move forward without effectively addressing rampant insecurity,” she said.
A path for Haitians to engage in dialogue toward restoring democratic institutions in the country has been charted. However, the general sentiment among Haitians is that it will be difficult to move forward without effectively addressing rampant insecurity, said Salvador.
That is not the first time the United States Security Council has expressed concern over the rise of gang violence and the high number of kidnappings, and called on the Haitian government to take decisive action to address the crisis.
On April 24, residents set on fire at least 14 people they said were armed bandits on their way to bring reinforcements for an active attack of the nearby Turgeau and Debussy neighborhoods. Residents’ reaction underscores the desperation many city dwellers feel as Haitian law enforcement faces an unprecedented level of attacks from nearly 200 gangs that have taken over the capital region. The attacks Monday also followed a massacre that left at least 30 people dead, including eight infants, in Source Matelas that authorities failed to address.
