(United Nations) The United States would like the UN to consider transforming the multinational security force currently being deployed in Haiti into a UN peacekeeping operation, according to a draft text seen by AFP.
In October 2023, the UN Security Council gave the green light to send this Multinational Security Support Mission (MMAS) led by Kenya to help the Haitian police overwhelmed by gangs.
As the mandate expires on October 2, the Americans, in charge of this file at the Council, circulated a first draft text on Friday, several diplomatic sources told AFP.
This text, consulted by AFP, plans to extend the mission’s mandate by one year, until October 2, 2025.
But it also calls on the UN “to begin planning for a transition from MMAS to a UN peacekeeping operation, with the aim of consolidating the gains” of the mission.
This proposal is unlikely to be unanimous and promises intense negotiations before the vote scheduled for September 30.
Some 400 Kenyan police officers have so far arrived in Haiti, out of the 2,500 officers planned for the long term (from Kenya and several other countries) and the funding for the mission, which is voluntary, is far from sufficient.
Residents of Port-au-Prince are losing patience with the lack of concrete results.
In this context, the United States indicated this week that it no longer ruled out a modification of the mandate of the multinational force.
“Our goal is to have an effective, strong mission that can deliver the kind of security progress the Haitian people deserve. […]”A formal peacekeeping force is one way to do that, but we’re looking at multiple ways to do that,” said Brian Nichols, US Under Secretary of State for the Americas.
After the appeal for help from the Haitian authorities, the international community had nevertheless opted for a non-UN mission in this country, which had been scalded by previous experiences.
Blue helmets from the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), present from 2004 to 2017, had notably brought cholera, leading to an epidemic that left more than 10,000 dead.
Several UN officials also insist that the fight against gangs, or against terrorism in other regions of the world, is not part of the mandate of UN peacekeeping missions.