UN-backed force in Haiti to deploy fully by summer amid political turmoil
By Sarah Morland
January 22 (Reuters) – The U.N.-backed security force deployed to Haiti to help local police fight armed gangs that have taken over much of the country should reach its new full strength by the summer, the U.N. special envoy for Haiti said on Thursday.
The announcement comes amid political uncertainty in the Caribbean country ahead of the February 7 end of the current transitional government’s mandate. No formal succession plan has been put forward.
U.N. envoy Carlos Ruiz said more troops should arrive by April and that the force should reach its full strength, projected at 5,500 troops this summer or autumn at the latest.
Approximately 1,000 mostly Kenyan police are currently in Haiti, and the deployment of this force has been plagued by delays and a severe lack of funding. Since the initial deployment in June 2024, the gangs have spread throughout much of central and rural Haiti.
By comparison, the number of Haitian police and members of armed groups in the country is estimated at approximately 12,000 each; Large amounts of weapons and ammunition are sold to criminal groups, largely from the United States.
Ruiz spoke following reports that the majority of members of Haiti’s interim presidential council, the CPT, its de facto chief executive, are moving to oust the prime minister days before their terms end next month.
If successful, this would be the CPT’s second dismissal of the prime minister since his appointment in April 2024. Their terms in office have been marked by political infighting and accusations of corruption, while worsening insecurity has repeatedly pushed back the prospect of the country’s first election in a decade.
“The country cannot avoid further civil conflict,” Ruiz said. “Current authorities should still take advantage of the few weeks they have to do what they can to benefit the country.”
If stakeholders fail to agree on a plan for the post-February 7 period, Ruiz said, “We know that the Constitution provides for the prime minister to continue in office in this case, and we need a sufficiently stable authority and government.”
US WARNING
None of Haiti’s CPT members have commented publicly on the reported attempt to oust Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime.
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau warned against taking this step on Thursday, saying such action by unelected CPT members so close to the end of their terms would undermine US security objectives in Haiti.
Landau said in his statement to
Haitian gangs killed thousands and took control of most of the capital Port-au-Prince, expanding into central Haiti and agricultural centers, committing numerous massacres, mass rapes, ransom kidnappings and arson. Approximately 1.4 million people were internally displaced due to the conflict.
(Reporting by Sarah Morland in Mexico City and Michelle Nichols at the United Nations, Editing by Franklin Paul and Bill Berkrot)
