Haiti officially requests the UN to transform the multinational security support mission, led by Kenya, into a UN peacekeeping mission. This request was sent by mail to the head of the UN on October 21, according to the Haitian newspaper THE News writer. That is four months after the deployment of Kenyan police officers, while gangs have increased their deadly attacks in recent days.
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Solino, Saint-Marc, Arcahaie… For a week, the gangs have resumed their coordinated attacks in several areas of Port-au-Prince and in the provinces. The Haitian police, too poorly equipped to deal with it, can hardly count on the approximately 400 Kenyan and Jamaican police officers deployed without clearly defined objectives, without their own financial funds and almost invisible on the ground.
Too few results, too many “ enormous challenges still to be overcome “. In its request addressed to the head of the United Nations, the Presidential Transitional Council does not hide its face. We need to move up a gear. A peacekeeping mission of theUN with a clearly defined mandate would benefit from dedicated financial resources, with peacekeepers, most often soldiers, better prepared to fight gangs.
This was the mandate of the Minustah deployed for 13 years in Haiti. In addition to the very bad memories left to the population, this UN mission did not make it possible to overcome the roots of evil, that is to say those who finance, arm and control the gangs.
This request is likely to be met with Russian and Chinese vetoes at the UN Security Council. Moscow and Beijing have already made known their opposition to a peacekeeping mission.
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