UN renews Haiti force mandate for six months after fresh gang killings

The UN Security Council on Tuesday extended by six months the mandate of an international security force in Haiti intended to fight powerful armed groups that have taken control of much of the country.

Twelve nations voted to renew the mandate of the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) and none voted against. Three nations, however, abstained: China, Russia and Pakistan, whose representatives cited concerns over insufficient funds, personnel and efficacy.

The extension is intended to provide security ahead of Haiti’s first election in a decade in December. Armed groups continue to control large parts of the Caribbean nation despite successive international deployments, and the force has struggled to deploy enough troops to carry out its mandate.

Haiti, whose leaders first called for international security support in 2022, had urged nations to renew the mandate for the force, which is currently at less than 30% of its intended size.

Seven missions have been dedicated to Haiti over the previous decades and obviously to limited success.

US ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, representing one of the countries that proposed the motion, said that around 1,500 GSF troops were now deployed in Haiti. Waltz said the remaining 4,000 were expected to arrive in the coming months.

“Seven missions have been dedicated to Haiti over the previous decades and obviously to limited success,” Waltz said. “We’re trying to do something genuinely different.”

The vote came hours after gang members in Haiti’s breadbasket region burned homes and killed at least 11 people in what a local mayor said was retaliation after a GSF unit killed three gang members in a push against illegal toll booths.

A month ago, another massacre in the hillside town of Kenscoff near the capital left at least 47 people dead and around 50 more kidnapped.

The GSF was launched a year ago after the prior Kenyan-led mission similarly struggled to reach its goals with voluntary contributions. Its troops withdrew early this year.

The mandate was renewed until March 31, 2027. Haiti is scheduled to hold the elections on December 13, and final results are due on March 7.

Successive transitional governments have long delayed elections due to worsening insecurity, which has now forced close to 1.5-million people to flee their homes.