UN Security Council meets on escalating violence in Haiti

…no consensus during talks with Haitian stakeholders – Caricom Chairman

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has held a closed-door meeting on the escalating gang violence in Haiti.
“Today the Security Council will hold a private meeting on Haiti, to discuss the alarming escalation in gang violence,” Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric, said during a press briefing on Wednesday.
He disclosed that the Head of the UN Mission in Haiti, Maria Isabel Salvador, will brief Council members during the meeting.

Following a massive jailbreak in Haiti, which has resulted in thousands of inmates fleeing incarceration, Caribbean Community (Caricom) Chairman President Dr Irfaan Ali has assured that the regional bloc is bringing all its attention to resolving Haiti’s dilemma.
In recent days, armed gangs which had already been wreaking havoc in the Caribbean country stormed two prisons and released thousands of prisoners onto the already-troubled streets of Port-au-Prince, causing a State of Emergency to be declared. Based on reports, at least one gang leader has threated “a civil war that will end in genocide” if Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry does not resign, and if the international community continues to support him. The prime minister is currently stranded in Puerto Rico as flights in and out of Haiti remain cancelled up to Wednesday.

Drumming up support
After being in Guyana last week, drumming up support for a Caricom-backed multinational force to help him restore order in his country, the Haitian PM travelled to Kenya, where he signed an agreement to mobilise troops for the multinational force. However, violence in Port-au-Prince has since escalated, with gangs attacking law enforcement and state institutions, including police stations and prisons.

UN Spokesperson Dujarric has reiterated the need for urgent action, including financing for the multinational security support mission, to tackle the security needs of the people of Haiti. He said the worsening violence increases the need for the support force to be deployed as quickly as possible.
“The Secretary-General’s concern right now is for the life and safety of the Haitian people. So, we need to have the situation on the ground calm. We need to have the multinational support force. I think it bears reminding…that a staggering 1,193 people have been killed in Haiti since the beginning of the year because of this man-made violence. There needs to be an adherence to political commitments,” Dujarric has posited.
He added that members of displaced families, most of whom are women and children, are traumatized, while access to food, healthcare, water and hygiene facilities and psychological support is among the most urgent need for civilians in Port-au-Prince.
“We and our humanitarian partners are mobilised, and have been delivering emergency aid, but the escalating violence is severely disrupting operations.
Our humanitarian colleagues also advised they’re concerned about the impact of the violence on hospitals, health centres and schools in Port-au-Prince and some other neighbouring areas in Haiti…Humanitarian organizations need unhindered access to the most vulnerable people now,” the UN official has stated.

No consensus
Meanwhile, at the regional level, the Caribbean Community continued engagements with Haitian stakeholders on Wednesday, but according to the Caricom Chairman, Guyana’s President Dr Irfaan Ali, those engagements have not been fruitful.
“We have been working on this around the clock for the last three days, and in spite of many, many meetings, we have not been able to meet any form of consensus between the Government and the respective stakeholders in the Opposition, private sector, civil society and religious bodies,” Ali said during an update on Wednesday.
He described the current situation in Haiti as “complex, with many moving parts”, a situation that is compounded by the absence of key institutions functioning, such as the Presidency and the Parliament. This, he added, is further underlined by the outbreaks of violence and the lack of humanitarian aids.
According to the Caricom Chairman, all Haitian stakeholders have been implored about the urgent need for a consensus, given their agreement that the solution must be Haitian-led and Haitian-owned.
President Ali has also underscored the important role the international community has to play in resolving the crisis in Haiti.
“Consensus, and getting a consensus, is therefore of paramount importance. We recognise that there must be a political solution to anchor any stabilization of the security and humanitarian efforts…It is clear that Haiti, even with a home-grown solution, will need the support of not just Caricom, but the international community. But to get there, we must have consensus among the key players in Haiti,” he said.
“We in Caricom are fully committed to utilising all our efforts, and all our energies are dedicated as a collective on this pressing matter of Haiti,” the Guyanese Leader assured.
Haiti has been engulfed in turmoil since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. The streets have since been overrun by gangs, and there has been a continuous cycle of violence.
During the 46th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government in Guyana last week, support for Haiti was one of the priority issues on the agenda. In fact, President Ali was vocal throughout the meeting in rallying other regional Heads of Government to provide much-needed assistance to Haiti, in order to restore the beleaguered nation to some semblance of normalcy.
At the end of the Caricom conference, it was disclosed that “major steps” were taken to move the political process in Haiti, with Prime Minister Henry committing to holding general elections no later than August 31, 2025.
Meanwhile, during the regional conference, US Representative to the United Nations (UN), Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who was in Guyana, had also revealed that during extensive discussions with Haitian PM Henry (who was in Guyana for the Caricom Heads of Government Meeting), discussions had centred on the needs of the Haitian people and the political process to restore democracy and free and fair elections to Haiti.
The Ambassador had also related that Benin, a West African country that shares commonalities with Haiti, such as language and religion, has offered to join the coalition looking to help restore order in Haiti with the contribution of up to 2000 troops. (G8)