(Ottawa) The UN Security Council gave its seal of approval Monday to the sending of a multinational peacekeeping mission to Haiti. Led by Kenya, the mission will aim to put an end to the violence raging in the country and pave the way for the holding of elections.
The United Nations Security Council endorsed by 13 votes out of 15 – China and Russia abstained – the resolution co-drafted by the United States and Ecuador, which provides for the sending of 1,000 security agents from Kenya . It authorizes force for one year, with a review after nine months.
The resolution, which also generalizes the embargo on small arms to Haiti, lays the foundations of a mission based on “anti-gang operations”, aims at “the protection of women and children” and the “prevention of sexual and gender-based violence,” the Washington representative quoted at the table.
Its adoption represents “a glimmer of hope” for the people who “have suffered for too long the consequences of a difficult political, socio-economic, security and humanitarian situation,” greeted the Haitian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean Victor Généus, at the Security Council table on Monday.
“I note with satisfaction that the resolution emphasizes the importance, for the States participating in the mission, of ensuring the highest level of transparency with regard to the disciplinary behavior of the members of their contingents,” he said. added.
The United Nations mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), which lasted from 2004 to 2017, was marred by rapes committed by soldiers against young Haitians. Nepalese peacekeepers also caused a cholera outbreak by throwing infected waste into water.
This will be the first time that a multinational force has been deployed to Haiti since this mission. The details of this remain to be determined. It is unknown, for example, when it will officially begin, and how many agents and police officers will participate in total.
The Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, as well as the Haitian Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, have been calling for the deployment of a multilateral force for a year, the country being plunged into a spiral of violence and anarchy.
Kenya to the rescue
The Biden administration, which pledged $100 million to fund the mission, had put significant pressure on the Canadian government to lead a multinational force. It was ultimately Kenya, an English-speaking nation located thousands of kilometers from Haiti, which raised its hand.
The former Canadian ambassador to Haiti, Gilles Rivard, is concerned about what happens next.
It’s far from obvious what’s coming. Kenya is an English-speaking country, which has never come close to having an embassy in Haiti.
Gilles Rivard, former Canadian ambassador to Haiti
At the same time, this force external to the United Nations, “it is not better, and it is not worse than a peacekeeping mission where countries like Sri Lanka or Bangladesh” are deployed in Haiti , explains the former diplomat.
But the fact remains that the solution to the Haitian crisis should be Haitian, Gilles Rivard persists in believing.
Canada shares the same reading: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, have often argued that it is necessary to learn from past mistakes to justify their refusal to send troops to the Caribbean island.
They also called for democratic elections to be held. The last presidential election in Haiti dates back to 2016 – and its winner, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated in July 2021. Prime Minister Ariel Henry has been in charge of the interim government since that time.
PHOTO CRAIG RUTTLE, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry during his speech at the UN on September 22
“It has been 27 months since President Moïse was assassinated, and we are still discussing how we are going to carry out an electoral process. Twenty-seven months! The country is plunged into a perfect storm, but we talk,” laments former ambassador Gilles Rivard.
At United Nations headquarters about two weeks ago, Prime Minister Trudeau would not say whether Canada would participate in the Kenyan-led mission. So far, Jamaica, the Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda have indicated their intention to deploy police forces alongside Kenya.
The Canadian government had not reacted to the adoption of the UN resolution at the time of writing on Monday evening.
The story so far
- The Security Council created MINUSTAH following the overthrow and subsequent departure into exile of President Bertrand Aristide in 2004.
- The mission ended in 2017, when Jovenel Moïse was president. He will be assassinated in July 2021, plunging the country into a serious security and political crisis.
- As proof of the chaos reigning in Haiti, a gang group, the G9, blocks a terminal in September 2022, leaving the country without fuel for several weeks.
- In October 2022, the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, wrote to the Security Council to demand the sending of a specialized armed force to Haiti.