WASHINGTON - The United States and Panama are urging the UN Security Council to authorise a 5,550-member force with the power to detain gang members in Haiti to help stop the escalating violence.
The two countries outlined their proposal to transform the Kenya-led multinational force now deployed in the Caribbean nation into a much larger force in a draft resolution to the UN Security Council obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press. The first Kenyans arrived in Haiti in June 2024 and the force was supposed to have 2,500 troops, but it has been plagued by a lack of funding and its current strength is below 1,000. Gangs have grown in power since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021. They now control 90 per cent of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and have expanded their activities, including looting, kidnapping, sexual assaults and rape, into the countryside. Haiti has not had a president since the assassination. The six-page draft resolution expresses appreciation to Kenya for leading the multinational force but reaffirms Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ finding in February that it hasn’t been able to keep pace with the dramatic expansion of the gangs and needed to be scaled up. (Jamaica Gleaner)
