UN Security Council Approves Resolution Allowing for Deployment of Multinational Force to Haiti

UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations Security Council has approved a resolution allowing for the deployment of a multinational force to Haiti.

Haitian Prime Minister Dr. Ariel Henry, who heads the interim government, following the July 7, 2021 assassination of President Jovennel Moise, has in the past called on the international community to send in a multi-national force to his homeland, a position that had also been supported by United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the United States and the wider CARICOM grouping.

Thirteen members of the UN Security Council voted in favor of the resolution, with Russia and China abstaining.

The resolution condemns “the increasing violence, criminal activities and human rights abuses and violations that undermine the peace, stability and security of Haiti” and the multinational force is expected to be led by  Kenya, which has pledged 1000 police to spearhead the mission.

Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Jamaica and Belize have already said they would support the multinational force that would be authorized to provide operational support to the Haitian National Police (PNH) “through the planning and conduct of joint security support operations”.

The force will have a 12-month mandate in Haiti and the timing of its arrival is not set yet and more countries have been invited to participate.

The resolution also calls for a global stop to arms sales to Haiti, except for approved security purposes.

CARICOM leaders addressing the recently concluded 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) had used the occasion to urge the international and more particularly, the United Nations Security Council to pass the resolution allowing for the multi-disciplinary force to enter in Haiti.

Henry had told the UNGA that he had “come here today on behalf of the people of Haiti to tell you that we are ready for that change we have been waiting for almost two centuries”.

But he noted that “freedom can only be complete if it enables each citizen to live in dignity and descent conditions”.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had urged the international community to support the plan and to provide assistance, including personnel, and said Washington was ready to provide “robust” financial and logistical assistance.

A statement by the US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, described Monday’s decision on Haiti as “historic” and said the mission “speaks to the UN’s ability to galvanize collective action.”

But China’s UN ambassador Zhang Jun said his country had “a cautious and responsible approach” toward authorizing the use of force, saying that in the case of Haiti, China’s abstention represented a “constructive position” toward the resolution.

Russia’s UN envoy Vassily Nebenzia criticized the move in remarks to the Security Council, saying “that sending the armed forces of another state to any country even upon its request is an extreme measure that must be thoroughly thought through,” but noted “some positive elements” to the approved resolution.

Both Russia and China expressed approval of the resolution’s arms embargo.

The United Nations’ special representative in Haiti, Maria Isabel Salvador, said her office would support the mission “within the limits of its mandate,” while emphasizing that “unlike recent international missions deployed in Haiti, the MSS mission is not a UN mission”.