PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti – France has given its support in principle to a multinational force in Haiti to restore peace and stability in the country as the UN Security Council has urged countries to provide security support to the country.
France Ambassador to Haiti, Fabrice Mauriès (via Twitter)French Ambassador to Haiti, Fabrice Mauriès, speaking at an event here last weekend, said “on the security front, we have increased tenfold our cooperation with the National Police of Haiti (PNH),’ adding “we are convinced that only a firm and republican response can restore security in the country.
“We support, at the United Nations, the principle of a multinational force, whatever its status, which would make it possible to fill, in the short term, the clear deficit of equipment and manpower of the PNH,” he added.
Last Friday, the UN Security Council passed a resolution extending the mandate for a UN political mission in Haiti for another 12 months. The resolution also supported calls for security support for the Haitian police.
The 15-member Council said it “encourages member states, including countries in the region, to provide security support to the Haitian National Police … including through the deployment of a specialized force”.
It also asked UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres to submit a report to the Council within 30 days, in consultation with Haiti, outlining the full range of UN support options, including “support for a non-UN multinational force or a possible peacekeeping operation” .
Last year, Haiti’s Prime Minister Dr. Ariel Henry, sent an urgent appeal to the UN asking for “the immediate deployment of a specialized armed force, in sufficient quantity” to stop gang warfare.
Guterres, has over the past few weeks, reiterated his call for the international community to come to the assistance of Haiti warning against “what remains largely a forgotten crisis despite its severity.
“Let me be very clear. The Haitian people are trapped in a living nightmare. Humanitarian conditions are beyond appalling. Brutal gangs have a stranglehold on the people of Haiti,” Guterres told reporters in New York last Thursday.
“Port-au-Prince is encircled by armed groups that are blocking roads, controlling access to food and health care, and undermining humanitarian support. Predatory gangs are using kidnappings and sexual violence as weapons to terrorize entire communities,” he added.
Mauriès said that Paris would continue to promote dialogue so that the political forces overcome their mutual mistrust.
“Free and transparent elections, within a renewed constitutional framework if necessary, are the only democratic way to overcome the crisis,” he said, adding that “the EU will equip itself in the coming weeks with a specific instrument to fight against impunity in Haiti, following on from the initiatives taken by our partners and the Americans and Canadians”.
While there is widespread support for a rapid action force and several countries have expressed interest in contributing, no one has volunteered to lead a deployment.
UN peacekeepers were sent to Haiti in 2004 after an uprising led to the ousting and exile of then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Peacekeepers left in 2017 and were replaced by UN police, who left in 2019.
Earlier this month, CARICOM leaders at their summit in Trinidad and Tobago “expressed “grave concern over the deep humanitarian, security and governance crisis,” in Haiti,.
“They noted the need for the immediate creation of a Humanitarian and Security Stabilization Corridor under the mandate of a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution, and agreed to seek support from international partners to help finance its establishment and the strengthening of security in Haiti,” according to the communique issued following the summit.
