UN pleads for Haiti intervention force as vigilantes take on gangs
- Vigilantes have killed 264 suspected gang members in Haiti since April, UN says
- China’s UN ambassador again calls for arms embargo to stop flow of weapons
UN representatives repeated their plea for an intervention force to stabilise Haiti, highlighting the growing number of extrajudicial killings of suspected gang members as a sign of the crisis-wracked nation’s insecurity.
Haiti, the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation, has seen compounding humanitarian, political and security crises, with gangs controlling most of the capital and terrorising the population with frequent kidnappings, rape and murder.
For months, UN chief Antonio Guterres and Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry have called for an international force to help quell the mounting violence, but there has been little action as no country has stepped up to lead the operation.
Without a sufficient security apparatus to combat the rampant gangs, Haitians in the capital Port-au-Prince have begun taking matters into their own hands, UN Haiti envoy Maria Isabel Salvador told the Security Council on Thursday.
The UN office in Haiti, known as BINUH, “has documented the killing of at least 264 alleged gang members by vigilante groups,” she said, noting the trend as adding “another layer of complexity” to the country’s security situation.