The United Nations on Monday approved a plan to send a coalition of multinational forces to Haiti in a support mission designed to address soaring gang violence and crime in the country.
The approval is coming a year after the Caribbean black nation asked for help to fight violent gangs that have largely overrun its capital, Port-au-Prince.
“More than just a simple vote, this is in fact an expression of solidarity with a population in distress,” Haiti’s Foreign Minister Jean Victor Geneus told the Council. “It’s a glimmer of hope for the people that have for too long been suffering.”
The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution authorizing a one-year deployment of troops, which would be sent from mainly Kenya to Haiti. The deployment could come within just a few months.
In fact, 13 countries approved the resolution. Russia and China abstained from the vote but chose not to veto it, which would have killed authority for the mission.
The last time the U.N. approved a mission to Haiti was about 20 years ago, underscoring the dire crisis the Caribbean nation is facing under waves of violence and crime, which have worsened since the death of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in 2021.
Along with Kenya, countries expected to contribute to the mission are Jamaica, the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda.
Haiti has requested the support of other nations as police have struggled to rein in a growing number of gangs that have dominated the country and its capital, Port-au-Prince.
The United States announced last month it would provide $100 million for the multinational support mission.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield hailed the passage of the “historic resolution,” which she said showed the Council’s “ability to galvanize collective action.”
“But today’s vote is only the first step — now, the work of getting the mission off the ground begins,” she said in a statement. “We must act with urgency as the people of Haiti cannot and should not wait for the peace and stability they deserve.”
The Security Council also expanded a UN arms embargo to include all gangs – a measure China wanted. Haitian officials have said guns used by gangs are believed to be mostly imported from the United States. The embargo previously only applied to specific individuals.
“This is a very important decision. If the council had taken this step at an earlier time, the security situation in Haiti might not have deteriorated to what it is today,” China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun told the council after the vote.
He said nations must comply with international law and not infringe on the rights of other sovereign countries, and Zhang also scolded the international community for allowing arms to flow to Haiti.
Russian Security Council member Vasily Nebenzya said Moscow does not have any objections, but he called the resolution an “extreme measure.” Still, he conceded there was an “urgency” to the violence in Haiti.
The response to Haiti’s request for help was delayed due to a struggle to find a country willing to lead a security assistance mission. Kenya stepped forward in July with a pledge of 1,000 police. The Bahamas then committed 150 people, while Jamaica and Antigua and Barbuda are also willing to help.
Countries have been cautious of supporting the unelected administration of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who has said fair elections cannot be held with current insecurity. Haiti has been without any elected representatives since January.
The Security Council stressed an “urgent need” for Haiti to make progress toward “transparent, inclusive, and credible electoral processes and free and fair elections.”
The security assistance mission, while approved by the UN Security Council, is not a United Nations operation.
UN peacekeepers were deployed to Haiti in 2004 after a rebellion led to the ouster and exile of then president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Peacekeeping troops left in 2017 and were replaced by UN police, who left in 2019.
Haitians are wary of an armed UN presence. The Caribbean country was free of cholera until 2010, when UN peacekeepers dumped infected sewage into a river. More than 9,000 people died of the disease, and some 800,000 fell ill.
The council resolution adopted on Monday asks the countries taking part in the security mission “to adopt appropriate wastewater management and other environmental controls to guard against the introduction and spread of water-borne diseases.”
More than 2,000 people have died in Haiti this year, while hundreds more have been kidnapped by gangs.