UN approves Kenyan-led multinational force to combat gang violence in Haiti

The United Nations Security Council voted Monday to send a multinational force to Haiti led by Kenya to help combat violent gangs in the troubled Caribbean country.

The resolution drafted by the U.S. was approved with 13 votes in favour and two abstentions from China and the Russian Federation.

The resolution authorizes the force to deploy for one year, with a review after nine months. It would mark the first time a force is deployed to Haiti since a UN-approved mission nearly 20 years ago.

“More than just a simple vote, this is in fact an expression of solidarity with a population in distress,” said Jean Victor Généus, Haiti’s foreign affairs minister. “It’s a glimmer of hope for the people who have been suffering for too long.”

A deployment date has not been set, although U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently said a security mission to Haiti could deploy “in months.”

Meanwhile, Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Alfred Mutua, told the BBC that the force should already be in Haiti by Jan. 1, 2024, “if not before then.”

Hours after the vote, Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry thanked the UN Security Council, the UN’s secretary general and Kenya and other countries who agreed to join the force, saying, “The bell of liberation sounded.…We couldn’t wait any longer!”

It wasn’t immediately clear how big the force would be. Kenya’s government has previously proposed sending 1,000 police officers. In addition, Jamaica, the Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda also have pledged to send personnel.

International intervention in Haiti has a complicated history. A UN-approved stabilization mission to Haiti that started in June 2004 was marred by a sexual abuse scandal and the introduction of cholera. The mission ended in October 2017.

From Jan. 1 until Aug. 15, more than 2,400 people in Haiti were reported killed, more than 950 kidnapped and another 902 injured, according to the most recent UN statistics.